A Sweaty Christmas: 5 Exercises to Take to the Beach these Holidays

Feeling guilty about skipping your workout to go to the beach on a hot summer’s day? Opt to exercise in the sand instead! The holidays are all about relaxing and unwinding but it’s important to remember to stay active and avoid the festive season slump. Transferring your workout from indoors to the shore offers a refreshing change of scenery and a high-intensity exercise session that’s guaranteed to work up a sweat. The loose sand makes muscles work harder to maintain grip and balance, and can double the number of calories you burn. Not sure about which exercises are the best to do? Keep reading for 5 easy, equipment-free beach workouts courtesy of Virgin Active.

1. The sand sprint

Place two towels 15 to 20 metres apart and sprint as fast as you can from one to the other. Do five sprints there and back (10 in total) and focus on maintaining your speed throughout.

2. The beach crawl

Get your body into a plank position on dry sand and crawl forward using your forearms and toes. Keep your core engaged and crawl for 60 seconds. 60 seconds too long? You can also try crawling between two towels as you did the the sprints.

3. Surfer get-ups

Fancy yourself a bit of a surfer girl? Take your surf moves to the sand for a killer workout. Start off in a low plank position with your hands on the sand at shoulder height. Hoist yourself up into a squat with one foot in front of the other as if you were standing on a surfboard. Repeat.

4. Walking lunges

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Make use of all the open space you have at the beach with a set of walking lunges. Step forward on one foot and bend so your other knee touches the sand. Repeat six times on each side.