Exercising at the Beach

 

If exercising while you are on vacation seems like a good idea to you, you have a good number of options. Here at Clearwater Beach, we know a few good ways to get the job done.

First, assess where you are staying. Is it a hotel? If so, the chances of having a rec room are excellent. We don’t think they build hotels without exercise areas anymore. Thank the 1980’s for that, perhaps? In any case, you will minimally find exercise bikes or treadmills in the hotel exercise center, hopefully more.

Condo fitness room

When it comes to vacation rentals, it gets a little more hit and miss for exercise rooms. If you are staying a rental unit that is part of a condominium, your chances are good. Ask your rental booking company if the building you’re looking at has a fitness room. Sometimes you will get lucky and find a full-blown fitness center with weights and perhaps even saunas.

The next option for indoor exercise is a community rec center. Here at Clearwater Beach, our rec center includes a library, meeting rooms, and a fitness room with a fair range of equipment. Outside is a basketball court, tennis courts, and a swimming pool with lanes. That’s not bad considering the density of beach real estate. The fees are cheap too. Check with your rental company to see where the nearest rec center is to you.

basketball court

The last bastion for those who do not want to exercise outdoors is a standard commercial gym. Ours was created by Hulk Hogan, the famous wrestler. It has since been sold but the gym is in great condition. There are several more on the mainland within reasonable driving distance. Whether you go to those lengths will depend on how dedicated you are to your exercise. For those who weight lift regularly, paid gyms might be the best choice. Most have a pay per use policy, at least the ones that want vacation goers to use them.

Clearwater Beach

If you eliminate the consideration that you want to be indoors when you exercise, then you open a whole world of possibilities. Most of the choices are obvious, like running, walking, or cycling, but when you add the beaches and waterfront to those options, they take on a new life. Running or walking on the beach is fantastic. It is one of the best ways experience the beach. The hard sand down at the waterline lends perfectly to long runs or walks at the shoreline. Even if you’re not out for exercise, you should be walking on the beach! Beaches will almost always have other options for running and walking that also include the opportunity for cycling. In Clearwater we have fantastic trails, boardwalks, and bridges with terrific views. Along the coastal route to St Pete Beach is a 20 mile dedicated bike lane. Community improvements in our current era often include bike paths. If your vacation destination has become well-known, it probably has exercise trails. Ask the locals about bike paths. They will probably direct you to something nearby.

bike path

If you don’t want to feel like your working out, the beach has plenty of sneaky options to fool your mind into believing your not exercising. Volleyball is a perfect way to get your lungs and heart pumping, and it’s lots of fun. Frisbee, or any thrown-object-of-your-choice, is another similar method. Diving into the sea is even better, as your body will not know it is sweating. Plenty of people enjoy a swim along the shore as their means of exercise. Then, of course, are the purely recreation choices of kayaking or paddle boarding. You will truly not care how many calories you burn getting from one point of interest to another while out on the water.

paddle boards

We know we’ve missed some options for a healthy workout at the beach. If you have some favorites, put them in the comments below. And we’re very sorry to those who were planning to skip their exercise during vacation. We know we’ve blown your excuses. The bright side is that you will be exercising at the beach.

Other posts you might enjoy:

The Amazing River of Hanging Pumpkins

Crossing Tampa Bay on a Bike

Long Way Home via the Best Beaches in America

 

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1 Comment on "Exercising at the Beach"

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Sherry Mehem
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This is such a great idea, exercising while enjoying at the beach.
I especially liked the idea about volleyball, frisbee, and diving.

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