Life Video·Video

A 20-minute beach HIIT workout to take with you on winter vacation

Halifax fitness coach Kayla Davis shares a routine to help you stick to your goals when you’re not sunbathing.

Halifax fitness coach Kayla Davis shares a routine to help you stick to your goals when you’re not sunbathing

(Credit: Kristen Brown and Jane Nicholson)

Bringing your workouts to the beach can be a great way to switch up your regular regime during the summer months — or stick to your fitness goals while on vacation down south. 

This HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) is designed specifically for sandy terrain. Since sand tends to be soft and uneven, it can be a challenging (but fun!) surface to train on. With a combination of bodyweight movements and cardiovascular exercises, you're going to have a full-body burnout by the end! 

To get warmed up, start with a sprint tabata:

The goal is to sprint back and forth between two landmarks for 20 seconds, then rest for 10 seconds. Repeat that eight times (for four minutes in total).

Next, you'll be doing a circuit of five exercises, each for 40 seconds on/20 seconds off. Repeat the entire circuit three times for 15 minutes in total.

Exercise 1: Surfer get-ups 

Exercise 2: Forward/backward lunge

Exercise 3: Plank jacks with shoulder taps 

Exercise 4: Squat jump + long jump 

Exercise 5: Lateral bear crawl (feet in and out) 

Ready to get started? Check out the video below to follow along and be sure to take breaks when you need them and have a water bottle nearby. Let's do it! 

A 20-minute beach HIIT workout to take with you on winter vacation

5 years ago
Duration 4:27
Halifax fitness coach Kayla Davis shares a routine to help you stick to your goals when you’re not sunbathing.

Produced by Kristen Brown and Jane Nicholson for CBC 


Kayla Davis graduated from Dalhousie University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Kinesiology. She's a former competitive gymnast and certified personal trainer based out of Halifax, Nova Scotia.