Sand Man Intervals

Now that beach weather is here, I am going to try the "Sand Man Intervals" workout that I found in "The Abs Diet Get Fit Stay Fit" book. (Great information in this book, by the way. I highly recommend it.)

The premise of this workout is that sand is unstable, and doing intervals on sand forces your body's core to work extra hard.



Exercise * Reps * Rest * Sets

Shuttle Runs 4 runs * 1 min * 2

Sand Skips 5 each leg * 1 min * 2

Dive Bombers 5-10 * 1 min * 2

Squat Jumps 5 * 1 min * 2

Jump & Stick 4 each side * 1 min * 2

Rotational Pushup 6 each side * 1 min * 2


Shuttle Run (I call these suicides, because if you do them properly you most definitely will feel it) - SUI: Make 2 parallel lines in the sand, 5 yds apart. Straddle the middle line with knees and elbows slightly bent. Run to your right, reach down and touch the line with your right hand, then turn and run to the left and touch the far left line with your left hand. Return to the middle. (That's one run)

Sand Skips - SKIPS: Skip forward so that you are jumping and landing on the same foot. Work on leaping as high as possible by driving your knee upward as you push off the ground with your opposite foot.

Dive Bombers - DbPU: Put your hands and feet in the sand so your body forms an inverted V. In one fluid motion, bend your arms, sweep your upper body down and forward and drop your butt. Then push your torso back up until your head is up, your back is arched, and your arms are straight, with your elbows locked. Hold for a few seconds, then push back to start. (Only your hands and toes ever touch the sand.)

Squat Jumps - SqJ: Hands behind head, thighs parallel to sand.

Jump and Stick - J+Stk: Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, hands beside thighs. Jump straight up, then land on only one leg with knees bent, shoulders slightly forward, butt and hips back. Hold for 2 seconds, then return to starting position and jump again (alternating legs).

Pushups with Rotation - PU+R: Perform the pushup motion; once ascending back up, rotate to one side and bring the opposite arm off the ground aiming it straight towards the sky while extending the opposite arm straight. Hold with body perfectly perpendicular to floor, then slowly bring arm back down to beginning push-up position.