How To Have An Epic Beach Workout

We live our lives in a box. As great as it is to be inside of a gym featuring high technology equipment, sometimes we just need to get outside and breathe in the fresh air. There are several places that make for a fantastic outdoor workout and the beach is at the top of the list.

Why Workout at the Beach?

Our lives are stressful and while working out is therapeutic, often the crowded indoor gym can overstimulate our nervous system. Weight training and cardiovascular activity stimulate our sympathetic nervous system, known as our fight-or-flight system.

For optimal health and fitness, we also need to train our parasympathetic system, which is known for rest and relaxation. Exercise activities such as yoga, breathwork, and tai chi help with this. But the right environment helps promote this type of fitness as well, which is why the beach makes for such a perfect workout location.

flow of the water

Bruce Lee said it best when he said “we should be like water”. Matching our energy with the coming and going of the tide can helps us in several ways. It can keep us focused, calm, and breathing correctly through our workouts.

Feel the Sand on Your Feet

We have a shoe for everything. A shoe for work, socializing, hanging around the house, and, yep, working out. Wearing shoes all day binds our feet, preventing them from moving as they should.

Also, wearing shoes disconnects us from the ground. It is important that our bare feet find find the earth which is appropriately called earthing. Earthing is when you connect your feet directly to the ground as God made it, which research indicates an electrically conductive contact with the earth can be beneficial to our health. Being barefoot on grass, dirt, and sand may help train our parasympathetic system while we get in a little exercise activity.

Freedom to Move

A beach workout offers much more space than most indoor locations. There is plenty of room to sprint, lunge, or toss an exercise ball. You don’t have to worry about smacking the person who is working out next to you because you went too far to one side or didn’t look behind you.

Things to Know Before Working Out on the Beach

It doesn’t require a lot of thinking to get a basic beach workout. You can perform bodyweight exercises by simply showing up. But if you want to have the best beach workout, and be comfortable while doing it, there are a few considerations.

Breathable Clothing

Make sure you choose the right clothing for your beach workout as the added moisture of the water can lead to more humidity. To ensure you are comfortable throughout the workout, wear breathable clothing that prevents sticking.

Towels

You should bring three towels with you for your beach workout. The first is to lay out your personal items, the second is to dry off after going into the water, and the third is for wiping sweat during the workout.

Water for Hydration

It is always a good idea to bring water with you when working out. Here, you will want to bring a canister that is large enough to prevent it from tipping into the sand. Nobody enjoys drinking water with sand particles hitting your lips.

If we are honest, we have all experienced this in our life.

Post Workout Nutrition

Whether you plan to head home after the workout or stick around and enjoy the beach, bring a post workout protein shake and snack items along with you. This way, you can give your body back the fuel it burned during the workout.

Workout Equipment Needed for Beach Workouts

As we mentioned, you don’t need any equipment for a basic beach workout, but we are talking about the best beach workout here! While you should incorporate exercises found in a bodyweight workout, here is a list of low cost fitness equipment that you will need to add resistance to your workout.

Resistance Bands

A resistance band set will be your tool for muscle hypertrophy. The bands let you provide muscle isolation exercises that you would find in a gym. We can use them to make exercises like squats harder, but we can also use them for a curl, shoulder press, lateral raise, and other strength training exercises.

Sandbag

Having a sandbag on hand makes this beach workout functional and brings in more of your stabilizer and core muscles. With the sandbag, you can perform dynamic upper body and lower body exercises into your workout.

With this tool you can perform exercises such as the walking lunge, squat and press, and single leg deadlift. The sandbag gives you an all-in-one solution for a full-body workout that raises your heart rate to the optimal zone for fat loss training. You can purchase a sandbag or create your own DIY workout sandbag.

Medicine Ball

Sometimes it just feels good to throw something. Whether it is thrown up to the sky or as far as front of you as possible, tossing medicine balls is a fun exercise. It gives us a rush of excitement, but it also trains our explosive muscle fibers.

Keep a medicine ball on hand for granny tosses, overhead tosses, lateral scoop tosses, and squat tosses. Your abs will thank you later for this max effort movement.

Weight Vest

Make the basic exercises more difficult by adding a little extra resistance. Having a weighted vest limits the amount of reps you can perform for the squat, pushup, and walking lunge. This way, you train the fibers that help us build more muscle.

How to Plan Your Beach Workout

Just like when you go to the gym, you should have a plan for your beach workout. This starts by setting up your workout routine in advance. If you want to achieve your fitness goals, you need to know what the goal is.

Be sure to create your beach workout and set your workout expectations. You will want to create your workout program so that it includes a proper warm up and cool down and time dedicated to strength training and cardio conditioning. And don’t forget to save some time for getting the health benefits found from being in the water.

Where to Find a Beach Boot Camp

The beach is a great place to join a group of people for a boot camp workout. Beach boot camps are an affordable way to get accountability, workout programming, and coaching. But you shouldn’t just join any beach bootcamp since anybody can start one with little experience or expertise.

When looking for a beach boot camp to join, be sure a certified personal trainer who has personal trainers is in charge of the workout.

Sample Beach Workout Program

Want to try a beach workout to see how you like it? Great, because we have the perfect beach workout routine for you. Give this sample workout a try to see for yourself why working out at the beach can be good for your health and fitness.

Beach Workout Warm Up

1/4 mile walk on the beach in soft sand while moving the upper body limbs in various directions. The soft sand will help to wake up your lower body to protect against potential issues like pulled hamstrings. It will also help to elevate your heart rate so that the blood is pumping throughout your body and increasing your core temperature.

Beach Strength Training

Perform 3 sets of each exercise with approximately 1-minute rest in between.

Standing Shoulder Press With Resistance Band: Press for 15 reps while looking straight ahead. Be sure to keep your arms by your side and your core muscles contracted.

Walking Lunge With Optional Weighted Vest: Lunge for 10 reps for each leg. The sand can be a little tricky, so be sure you firmly plant your foot in the sand to prevent your ankle from slipping.

Pushup With Optional Weighted Vest: Give it your all for 10 reps or until your body fails. Digging your hands into the sand can help shorten the distance between your chest and the ground. This can be helpful for those who do not have enough strength for the full range of motion.

Beach Strength Training Circuit

Perform 3 rounds of this circuit with no breaks between exercises.

Sandbag Carry: Carry for 40 yards by holding the sandbag on top of your forearms with your palms facing up.

Lateral Scoop Toss With a Medicine Ball: 12 total reps back and forth while jogging between tosses. Really squeeze your glute and ab muscles when you toss the medicine ball.

High Plank: Hold a proper high plank position while squeezing the abdominal and glute muscles for 1-minute. Retract your shoulder blades and keep your elbows by your side.

Beach Workout Conditioning

Running: 1/2 mile jog on the beach in dry sand with optional weighted vest. Wear sand socks or minimalist shoes for this exercise to protect your feet from unknown objects in the sand.

Beach Workout Cool Down

Beach Walk: Calmly walk on the beach in wet sand for 1/2 mile. Focus on your breath with slow inhalations and exhalations.

Water Plunge: Jump into the water at a depth where your feet are still on the ground and the water is up to the tops of your shoulders. Spend 5-10 minutes relaxing and drifting through the water.

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