Tropical Training

Take your training to the sand this summer! You’ll be pleasantly surprised at the different muscles you can work and new moves you can perfect— especially yoga tricks! This shoot was in the tropics on a wellness trip I took to scout out new locations for upcoming fitness retreats. HINT, HINT: Fit & Fly Girl retreats… more deets on that soon!) But even if you’re not on a paradise island, you can totally get inspired to get outside and get fit.

If you have the chance to ditch your sneakers and get your toes in the sand to mix things up, I highly recommend it. You can do anything from cardio, to cool-downs, and everything in-between, without even lacing up! Weekend trips to the beach are my fave during the summer season, so that’s where I take full advantage of using different muscles and moves to elevate my fitness routine. After a winter of running on the streets in NYC and crunching calories indoors on the eliptical, I welcome the soft sand for a sweat-sesh— any day! I like to do intervals of running, walking and HIIT moves on both wet and dry sand to make my workout more challenging than it would be on a flat surface (like the treadmill or pavement). But be careful not to jump into new terrain too fast if your legs are used to more stable conditions.

Here’s a go-to beach burn that I love to do when I get to the ocean to blast off extra calories.

1. A brisk 3-4 minute walk to get the blood flowing and legs warmed up. This helps to prevent injury and get your body adjusted to the way your feet may sink in the sand during the workout. You can also move your arms in a circular motion to loosen your shoulders and upper body. Alternate arms forwards and backwards for about 30 seconds each way.
2. Move into walking lunges, alternating sides for about 3 minutes down the shoreline to strengthen quads. Walk it off for about 1 minute, then move into squats for about 1-2 minutes.
3.  I like to mix jumping jacks in throughout a fitness session to get my heart rate up and keep my cardio in check. Try 20-30 jacks at a time. You can do this a few times throughout the entire workout to up the ante’.
4. Bear crawls on the sand is much more pleasant than on a hard surface, so I like to bust out this move as much as I can at the beach to build upper body and core strength. About 1 minute to start, or longer if you’re feeling energized! Just be sure to take a short 10 second break in between to shake it off.
5. Jog or run for about (20 minutes). Then walk to cool down for about 3-4 minutes. Sometimes if its a beautiful day and the temps are just right, I run for a bit longer. Just listen to your body and don’t push it. But if you feel up to it, then go for it!
6. Score for the core! Bicycle crunches are great for tightening the abs. I like to start with 1 minute and add on as I can. Also, knee-to-nose taps on all fours is key for tummy toning.
7. Don’t forget to stretch! Downward dog and upward dog give me a nice full body stretch after working all those muscles. I also like standing on one foot at a time, bending back the opposite leg at the knee and holding my foot to stretch my quads. Then for hamstrings, I move into a seated fold over on the ground with legs straight out in front of me, feet flexed slowly reaching towards touching my toes with a flat back.

After all that hard work it’s fun to practice and play with new moves that I’m trying to perfect. Forearm stand and headstand are super safe to experiment with on the sand but if your just starting out be sure to have a spotter for support. Handstand is always at the top of my to-do list. My goal this summer is to stick it without flipping over or using a wall for support. Wish me luck! Do you guys have any tips for perfecting that pose? Do tell!

Gear: c/o Shape Activewear