Do you ever go on vacation, pack your workout clothes, get there and realize there is no gym? It’s hard to adapt your usual workout outside your usual gym routine. And you’re on vacation so who wants to workout long and hard anyways? Why not get the workouts done in a quick amount of time so you can enjoy your vacation? The best option for the vacation workout scenario is a high-intensity interval training or HIIT workout. Short HIIT workouts can assist with increased overall athletic endurance, lean muscle gain and fat loss. Pairing a strength move with a plyometric explosive move (like jumping) is an effective way to amp up your short workout.
Whether you’re going to the beach or just getting away, here are some fun and helpful tips while working out away from home. The first big thing I always do before a workout is check the temperature! You don’t want to be doing your workout when it’s 90 plus degrees – always check and try to plan your workout when it’s going to be the coolest part of the day.
Start with a warm up, especially if you are doing a beach workout. The sand adds a ton of resistance to an exercise and you are using more muscles than normal to try and stabilize your body in the sand! Here are some helpful tips for a quick warm up:
How to Warm up for a Beach Workout
Go for a light jog on the beach for 5-10 minutes and perform the following exercises to loosen your muscles and get them ready for the HIIT workout that’s coming up next:
• 30 seconds of high knees and butt kicks
• 30 seconds of walking lunges
• 30 seconds of side shuffles
• 30 seconds of inchworm pushups
How to Workout on the Beach
Go explore: I love exploring while I’m on vacation, seeing sites and looking to see what kind of adventure I can find. If I am vacationing on a beach, I always go for a beach run. On a beach, you have two choices: you either go all out and run in the soft sand and potentially have five extra pounds of sand in each shoe when you’re done or you go for the hard sand hoping your shoes don’t get wet by the end (I go for the hard sand). These workouts can be performed anywhere – beach, deck or grass.
HIIT Beach Workout Program
HIIT Beach Workout Set 1:
• High knee runs
• Burpee push-up
• Lateral lunges
• Mountain climbers
HIIT Beach Workout Set 2:
• Walking lunges
• Jumping lunges
• Down dog pushups
• Lateral plank walks
HIIT Beach Workout Set 3:
• 20-yard sprint
• 180-degree squat jumps
• Plank hold
• Surfer get-ups-start in a plank position, push up from the ground and jump into a squatting position (one foot in front of another) as if your balancing on a surf board.
Do each move for 30 seconds for 3 rounds with a 30 second break after each set. For a bonus, do as many sets in the soft sand as possible. This HIIT beach workout can challenge your body if you go as hard as you can for each move. Ready to soak up some rays and feel the right kind of burn? This is a short, sweet, sure-to-leave-you-sweating kind of workout that’s perfect for your vacation. Now it’s time to go HIIT the Beach!
Guest blog written by Mallory McDonald
Woodside Group Fitness Instructor
Catch one of Mallory’s classes at Woodside:
Body Pump Express | Monday 6:00am – 6:45am
GRIT Plyo | Monday 5:20pm – 5:50pm
GRIT Cardio | Wednesday 6:00am – 6:30am
Crunch Time | Wednesday 6:30am – 6:45am
