3 Equipment-Free Beach Workouts

Hold the beer and bring on the burpees. Your next beach vacation is the perfect excuse to bust your ass instead of sitting on it.

From hitting the road early to snag a parking space to staying late to watch the sunset, a trip to the beach quickly becomes a full-day experience.

Hours spent in the sun mean hours not spent in the gym.

But Reebok trainer and seven-time CrossFit Games competitor Spencer Hendel points out that you don’t have to sacrifice your workout next time you hit the sand.

“People always get caught up in not having gym equipment,” says Hendel. 

“You don’t need it!” he continues, noting that an absence of dumbbells or a rig  at the beach will not make a workout any less effective.

“You just need to be creative,” Hendel adds. 

“Have a cooler full of beer? Congrats, you have a weight. Look at the objects surrounding you, and almost every time they double as perfectly good workout equipment.”

Hendel programmed three easy-to-understand beach workouts, only utilizing the objects you already have on hand at the beach—a cooler, a towel and a beach chair.

While the workouts may look simple, Hendel  attests they’re walk on the beach.

“These three workouts are meant to be performed at max intensity,” he says. 

“No one wants to sacrifice their full beach day, so I made them short for that exact reason.”

“They won’t take more than 10 minutes each, but if you perform them at the desired intensity, 10 minutes is all you’ll be able to handle. Go hard from the start!”

Workout 1: Keep It 'Cool'

21-15-9:
Cooler cleans
Burpee cooler jump overs

21-18-15-12-9-6-3:
Air squats, using your beach chair as a target to make sure you break parallel
Cooler pushups
Situps

Workout 3: Embrace the Environment

10 minute AMRAP (as many reps as possible):
10-meter walking lunge between targets
100-meter sprint to the water and back
Bonus: On the last round, dive right in!