![\"micheal](\"https://www.neighborhoodtrainer.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/michaelbuckley-198x300.jpg\")
by Michael Buckley, personal trainer
Here are five exercises you can easily do on the beach that will hit your entire body. Warning: prepare to get a little sandy.
![\"walkout](\"https://www.neighborhoodtrainer.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/walkouts-300x225.jpg\")
Walkouts and Pushups. This is a great exercise to warm the body up as, at some point, you will hit every muscle in your body. You are going to start from a standing position, walk your hands out in front of you until you end up in a push up position, give a slight push with your palms and walk your hands back to where you started and return to a standing position. Pushups/ pushup variations. You can even add pushups in combination with your walkouts as the walkout places you in position to perform a perfect pushup. If you can’t do a traditional pushup, you can do them from your knees. Don’t worry about going all the way down to the sand. The pushup for the Presidential Fitness Test counts a pushup once you form a ninety-degree angle with your elbows. If that’s good enough for the leader of the free world, it’s good enough for me. Pushup variations and progressions include doing them while raising one leg at a time, putting your legs up on an elevated surface, or if you’re in especially good shape one –armed pushups. Changing the positioning of your arms also changes which muscles you are emphasizing.![\"burpees\"](\"https://www.neighborhoodtrainer.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/burpees-300x174.jpg\")
Burpees. Burpees suck, yes. But burpees suck because they’re awesome. Here’s how to do one.- Prisoner lunges and twists. Place your hands behind your head without putting pressure on the back of your neck. Make sure your elbows are behind your ears so your chest is wide and your shoulders are flat. Keep your torso long and your core engaged. From this position, take a step forward one foot at a time and lunge toward the foot in front. Before bringing your foot back to return to your starting position, twist your torso toward the knee in front. Alternate sides.
- Body weight squats. Start with your feet slightly wider than shoulder width apart, your abs tight and your arms at your side. From that position, keep your torso elongated as your hips move back and your arms move out straight in front of you without letting your traps come up.
![\"planks\"](\"https://www.neighborhoodtrainer.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/plank-300x169.jpg\")
Planks. Your elbows are going to get sandy on this one. Facing down, up on your heels, pull your belly button back toward your vertebrae, engage your glutes (squeeze your butt cheeks, in laymen’s terms), keep your back flat without rounding the shoulders or arching the back. Hold.
You can build a solid workout based around those five exercises alone, progressing by adding reps and changing the length of your rest periods in between sets. Have fun (and wear sunscreen!)
