Hit the beach running

Sandy GYM Don't worry about missing your workout when you head to the seaside this summer. You can make up for it with these fun beach sports

Besides the sun, surf and sand,the beach offers one of thebest places to continue yourfitness regime when you'reon a vacation. Don't break intoa sweat about packing in the pounds,as you can continue losing those caloriesand keep up with your strengthtrainingand cardio-vascular workoutswith this bunch of beach sports.

Go running
Imagine standing at the start of a longstretch of the beach with the sound ofcrashing waves in the distance. Soldalready, aren't you? For one, there's nocrowd to tackle, if you choose the righttime to run. Secondly, you end up gettinga good strength endurance workout.Heath Matthews, physiotherapistwith Elite Athletes Performance, trainssportspersons on the beach by makingthem do several short sprints ratherthan long runs. "We keep a mark at 20mor 30m and ask them to run to it andwalk back. This increases their strengthendurance," he says.Matthews' advice is to start your runon the firm sand near the water to warmup, then shift to slightly looser sand,which ups the ante in your workout."The impact is lesser when one runson the soft sand, but because the sandgives, running on it is more tiring." Then,take a break from running on loose sandand return to the firm sand. Rememberto balance the impact of the beach'sslight slope on both sides of your body."You can do that by running up anddown the same stretch instead of a singledirection," adds Matthews.Precautions: Try to run with properrunning shoes since the sand couldcause blisters on toes and soles.

Try kayaking
When he's not pumping ironin the gym, Rajeev Bhatia(40) is in Goa kayaking,and encouraging othersto "give it a try"."Not only does therowing offer agreat upper bodyand core workout,it does so withoutthe vigour of asea on either a sit-on-top or a sit-inkayak in low tide and return at hightide. It's simpler to learn kayaking onthe sea and it's great fun," says Bhatia.Kayaking happens at the Morjhim,Palolim, and Candolim beaches in Goa.Precautions: Carry your mobile, weara life jacket and don't venture out toofar until you're sure of your kayakingskills and stamina.

Beach volleball
Running on the beachis such a good cardiovascularandstrength workoutthat even tossing afrisbee or playingcatch has its benefits.Fitness instructorDaniel Vaz feels agame of volleyball on thebeach is one of the bestways to get a full workoutfor the body andstill have fun.After all, youcan only lie ona sun-bed for so long, right?

"You leap into the air and use yourupper body strength to strike the ball,putting your body through differentdirectional movements," said Vaz. "Evenif you fall, you won't injure yourself,since the sand breaks the fall."Precautions: Stay hydrated, keep theshades on and don't play if it's too sunny.

Cool off with a swim
Wash the sand and sweat off your bodywith some salt water that not only promisesto heal all bruises, but also leavesyou feeling blissfully weightless.Swimming is not an impact sport, soeven though you're giving your body agreat upper and lower body workout,you won't feel as tired.Precautions: Don't swim out too far. Ifyou can't stand on the seabed, you'rein the deep, so be careful.

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