If you haven’t already, it’s time to start training at the
beach. You want to do a combination of strength (body weight exercises) and
cardiovascular (sand running) training. Your time at the beach is more
important than your time in the gym, since the beach is where the Beast takes
place. You’ll be surprised how much the sand can break down your legs and tax
muscles you aren’t used to using when you run on pavement. The sand acts as a
shock absorber for your joints, but it requires far more muscle activation from
your core and legs.
Sand
running becomes easier the more you do it, due to the micro adjustments your
body makes. You want to adopt more of a shuffling running gait, as opposed to
the gait you utilize on pavement. When
you shuffle, you glide across the surface of the beach, making you more energy
efficient and effective in your speed. It’s imperative that you don’t run along
the water and instead, stay up on the beach closer to the tree line. The sand
along the water is completely saturated, which can cause you to sink and make
it more difficult to run. The water’s edge is slanted, causing more stress on
your knees and ankles than when you are on a flat surface. When you run along
the shoreline, you will be running almost twice as far than if you run up on
the beach. The shoreline is a winding path, so by staying up on the beach, I
run a straight line and I’ve been able to pass a large number of participants
that were running along the water. Since your feet will be getting wet, I
recommend not wearing socks with your running shoes. Socks cause a lot of
friction when they’re wet, and that friction can cause blisters. Sand is going
to get in your shoes no matter what you do, and bare feet will adapt more
efficiently.
Your
strength training regimen should involve body weight exercises, which are
listed in the following table.
Push-Ups
|
Sit-Ups
|
Jumping Jacks
|
Squats
|
Lunges
|
Leg Lifts
|
Bear Crawls
|
Planks
|
Low Crawling
|
Mountain Climbers
|
Burpees
|
Alligator Walks
|
In my
Beach Boot Camp program, we perform each of these exercises partly submerged in
the lake water, at the level of our knees. Jumping jacks at this depth,
activates your abductors and adductors due to the water resistance. Mountain
climbers and push-ups at the water’s edge, are more difficult due to the water
pulling away the sand out from under your hands, requiring more abdominal
strength. I recommend including a sand bag or weighted back pack for enhancing
your beach strength training program. With these included, you can then perform
exercises from the following table.
Squat w/ Shoulder Press
|
Power Clean
|
Bicep Curl
|
Lunge w/ Shoulder Press
|
Supine Chest Press
|
Snatch
|
Running w/ Weight (25-50 lbs)
|
Farmer Walks
|
Bent-Over Row
|
We do
the majority of our training from Beach 6 to Beach 8 and utilize every natural
obstacle along the way. My favorite location is just after Pettinato Beach, and
it’s a large sand hill that we use for bear crawls, sprints and loaded carries.
It’s perfect for both strength training and cardiovascular conditioning. If you
don’t live near a beach, I suggest finding any type of hill, whether it’s made
of pavement, grass or dirt. It will definitely be a beneficial component of
your training regimen.
-Dave Hopkins, M.S. ACSM-HFS, NSCA-CSCS
Fitness Supervisor
LECOM Medical Fitness & Wellness Center
5401 Peach Street Erie, PA 16509
Phone:(814)868-7800
Fax:(814)868-7804
www.lecomwellness.com
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