Gym Session At The Beach: 5 Easy Exercises
Even if the warm sand is an invitation to laze around and get a tan, the seaside is also a perfect place to work out and build muscle. We suggest you discover 5 easy exercises to do a gym session at the beach.
1- Tone your legs
To start this beach gym session, we suggest you take advantage of the sea water to tone your legs and boost your blood circulation with an easy first exercise.
Get into the water, waist-deep if possible, and walk along the beach for at least 15 minutes to activate venous return while toning your thighs and calves.
It's best to walk barefoot if you can, paying attention to the sensations in the arch of your foot and rolling your foot out well from heel to toe.
Gradually speed up your step until you are moving through the water at a fairly fast pace. This coast-to-coast style walk in the water is a good way to warm up before doing other exercises.
2- Slim down your waist
The second of our 5 easy exercises also uses water to help you slim down your waistline.
Enter the water up to your torso. Legs slightly bent, place your feet about the width of your pelvis and stretch your arms out in front of you.
Without moving your pelvis, pivot your waist, chest and head to the right as you exhale. Return to center as you inhale and pivot to the left on the next exhale. This twist helps to engage the obliques and shape the waist.
If you remembered to bring a fry to your beach gym session, you can perform the same twisting exercise while suspended in the water.
Simply place the fry under your armpits and bend your legs as if you were sitting, before performing the same torso twist to the right and left.
3- Work on your balance
For the third of our 5 easy exercises, we suggest you work on your balance by incorporating a yoga pose into your beach workout.
Stand near the water, where the sand is more compact and therefore more stable. Anchor both feet in the ground first and feel your weight distributed equally between your two feet.
Carry your body weight on your right leg and bend your left leg to come and place your left foot on the inside of your right ankle or knee.
Keep your gaze fixed on a point on the ground in front of you to find your balance and join your hands in front of your chest. If you feel stable enough, you can even stretch your arms over your head with your hands together.
Hold this yoga pose called tree pose for a few calm, quiet breaths. Then return to the starting position with both feet anchored to the ground before assuming the posture on the other side.
To develop your balance and coordination, you can also have fun climbing rocks, as long as you don't tackle too difficult a wall and don't take any risks.
4- Muscle your abs
If you want to show off those killer abs in a swimsuit, start by doing some exercises for that purpose during your beach gym session!
Lie on your stomach resting on your forearms with your toes firmly planted in the sand. Inhale and, on the exhale, push down on your forearms to raise your pelvis off the ground.
There's no need to go very high: just a few inches is enough to work the abdominal muscles especially if you can hold this position for 20 to 30 seconds.
Then rest your pelvis on the floor and relax for 15 seconds before repeating the exercise 3 or 4 times.
5- Take a deep breath
The last of our 5 easy exercises invites you to take advantage of this beach gym session to breathe deeply. The purpose of this exercise is to open up the rib cage and let in the good sea air to enjoy the health benefits of the seaside.
While sitting or standing, cross your hands behind your back. Straighten your spine and pull your shoulders back while breathing deeply and calmly.
If you're flexible enough, uncross your hands from your buttocks to better stretch your shoulders back and engage your chest muscles. Feel your ribcage as it opens up.
Hold the stretch for 30 seconds and then release. Do one or two sets of 5 stretches focusing on the air entering your rib cage.
To finish this series of beach exercises, make yourself comfortable, sitting on a rock or on the sand. Close your eyes and be aware of all the sensations that come to you :
- perceive all the sounds around you
- enjoy the feel of the sun and/or wind on your skin
- smell all the odors that reach your nostrils, without trying to identify them precisely.
For about 5 minutes, enjoy feeling, without judging or interpreting your perceptions. To help you stay mindful during this mindfulness meditation exercise, you can also tune your breathing with the rhythm of the waves.
