Built On The Beach

Step away from the sandcastle — and build your body instead.

- By Carey Rossi

Ah, the beach — the sun, the sand … the workout? Why not! Sand is a forgiving surface, reducing the force of normally high-impact moves such as plyometrics. It’s also unstable, requiring all those small, stabilizing muscles to play a bigger role than they usually would on solid ground.

These eight exercises leverage those sandy benefits, giving these six workouts — designed by Andrew Watkins, director of strength and conditioning at Sports Performance Lab in Middletown Township, New Jersey — an unusual edge. “How [intense] you want these workouts to be depends on the tempo and your ability to push through,” Watkins says. He also suggests doing your workout barefoot. “The muscles in your feet and ankles are just as important as your postural muscles, especially when it comes to preventing knee, hip and low-back issues,” he says. “Standing on the sand in bare feet will help make these underdeveloped muscles stronger because you’ll need them to stabilize your body.”

So slather on the sunscreen — it’s time to play queen of the beach.

THE MOVES

HOVERING HAMSTRING CURL