What Exactly Is Beach Pilates, and Should You Try It?

Moreover, regular Pilates, there’s a new and refreshing workout in town that’s making waves. It’s a unique and invigorating fitness regimen combining the strength-building and flexibility-enhancing benefits of traditional Pilates with a soothing beach backdrop.

It’s called Beach Pilates and if you’re looking for a way to improve your fitness routine or simply a change of scenery, this may be the answer.

So, should you try it? What are the pros and cons? How often should you practice Beach Pilates? Read on and find out more about this exciting form of exercise to see if it’s the right fit for you.

Why Is Beach Pilates So Trendy?

Beach Pilates has become a trend for several reasons. 

Firstly, it fuses the benefits of traditional Pilates and the soothing environment of the beach. Traditional Pilates is recognized for its ability to enhance strength and flexibility, improve posture and body awareness (2). However, when these exercises are performed on the beach, a calming and invigorating dimension is added to your workout.

Secondly, Beach Pilates provides you with an efficient full-body workout. Similar to conventional Pilates, it serves to promote muscle balance, flexibility, and strength (2).  And in addition, the sandy, unstable surface of the beach can present a new challenge, increasing the balance and stability demands, which can engage more muscles in particular, smaller stabilizing muscles. (3).

Thirdly, Beach Pilates is popular due to its accessibility. Several online platforms, including YouTube, provide a variety of Beach Pilates workouts. This enables anyone to undertake this workout at any beach location, making it a flexible and convenient fitness option without common barriers such as cost.

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Is Beach Pilates a Girl Workout?

While Beach Pilates is often targeted towards women and many online classes and resources feature women, this workout is not exclusively for females. Similar to any other form of exercise, beach Pilates can be beneficial for anyone, regardless of gender or other characteristics. Its main focus is on core strength, flexibility, and mind-body connection, which are universally important benefits for all individuals. 

Therefore, while you may see more women enjoying Beach Pilates, it’s certainly not exclusive just to women.  With the rise of the popularity of Pilates, more and more males are indeed incorporating this beneficial training method into their porgram. Beach Pilates can be done by anyone who is interested in improving their fitness level and enjoys an outdoor workout experience.

Read More: If I Were You, I’d Use This Wall Pilates Program To Activate My Body’s Natural Movement Patterns

What Can  You Expect From Doing Pilates On The Beach?

Pilates on the beach offers a unique exercise experience combining the benefits of traditional Pilates with elements of nature. Here’s what you can expect:

Environment

You’ll exercise in an open, outdoor setting with a view of the ocean. The sun, sand, and salty air add to your session and can help enhance your workout enjoyment.

Functional Training

Beach Pilates goes far beyond traditional exercises such as planks and squats, incorporating elements of functional training and focusing on exercises that mimic everyday movements and activities. This can help improve your strength, balance, posture, and overall mobility (2).

Full-Body Workout

As with other forms of Pilates, Beach Pilates offers an effective full-body workout. The exercises target a variety of muscle groups, with particular emphasis on the core. The unstable sand and shifting surface can also add an additional challenge, requiring more muscles to be engaged to help stabilize yourself during movements (3).

Low-Impact

Pilates is known as being a low-impact form of exercise, which makes it a suitable option for people of all fitness levels and ages. While it can be challenging, it is gentle on the joints, and the intensity can be altered to suit your individual level (2).

Variety

Depending on the class or instructor, your Beach Pilates workout may include additional elements, such as equipment to assist movements or add additional resistance, as well as deep breathing components..

Community

Performing Pilates on the beach can also provide you with a sense of community if done with others. Exercising with other people can enhance motivation, create a sense of community and belonging through the shared bonding of an activity and make it more enjoyable.  

What Are Some Examples of Beach Pilates Exercises?

Beach Pilates combines the principles of traditional Pilates with the challenges and benefits of performing it on a sandy beach. Here are some examples of exercises you may encounter during a Beach Pilates session:

Pilates Hundred

This classic Pilates move is great for warming up your body and engaging your core. Lie on your back, lift your legs and head slightly, and pump your arms up and down as you inhale and exhale rhythmically.

Roll Up

In a lying position, use your abdominal muscles to slowly roll up to a sitting position before slowly rolling back down. This move is perfect for spinal articulation and abdominal strength.

Single Leg Stretch

Lie on your back, pull one knee into your chest while extending the other leg out straight, and then switch sides. This provides a great stretch through your glutes while incorporating your hip flexors and core muscles too.

Teaser

A more advanced Pilates exercise, this involves balancing on your seat bones while forming a V shape with your torso and legs. This is a challenging move that works the entire core.

Swan Dive

This exercise strengthens the back muscles. Lie on your stomach and lift your chest off the ground, using your back muscles to ensure your arms and legs keep hovering above the sand.

Side Kick Series

This series of exercises is performed while lying on your side. They target the hips, thighs, and glutes and include moves such as leg lifts, circles, and bicycle kicks.

Pilates Plank

This is similar to a traditional plank but emphasizes maintaining a neutral spine and engaged core. It can help strengthen the entire body.

Remember that the uneven, shifting surface of the sand can make these exercises more challenging than performing them on a solid floor. However, this aspect is also effective in   engaging stabilizing muscles and improving balance. 

As always, you should work s at your own pace suited to your current fitness level.  Modify any of the exercises as required to ensure the difficulty is suited to your needs.

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Is 20 Minutes of Pilates a Day Enough?

Yes, 20 minutes of Pilates each day can be enough to see noticeable benefits. Consistency is key when it comes to Pilates (or any other form of exercise), and a daily commitment, even just 20 minutes, can result in gradual improvements over time.

Pilates incorporates strength of all major muscle groups, with a key focus on the core and deep core muscles. Pilates can improve strength, flexibility, balance, and overall body awareness, all of which can be  effectively targeted during a short, focused session. 

A 20-minute daily routine can help tone your muscles, improve your posture, and enhance your body awareness. It can activate and strengthen the deep abdominal and pelvic floor muscles, which are often underutilized in normal life (2).

However, those with specific goals such as significant weight loss, muscle building, or injury rehabilitation may benefit from longer or more individualized sessions.

Is Beach Pilates As Good As Swimming?

Both Beach Pilates and swimming provide unique benefits and are complementary to each other, but t have different focus Points and associated benefits due to their methods.

Beach Pilates focuses on strengthening the core and major muscle groups, improving flexibility and mobility, and improving postural alignment. Pilates can also effectively improve the strength and function of the deep core muscles. Furthermore, the uneven, sandy surface of the beach can add an additional challenge and engage more muscles as a result. Beach Pilates is certainly an efficient full-body workout (3).

At the same time, swimming is a great aerobic exercise that can improves cardiovascular fitness, contribute to a reduction in body fat, and engage all major muscle groups in the body. It is particularly beneficial for those who require low-impact exercise due to joint issues or injuries (1). 

An essential part of swimming is maintaining a streamline position as a means of improving efficiency,  Pilates can further help with this as it incorporates the work and function of your spine and limbs.

Depending on your personal fitness goals and preferences, you may find one type of exercise more enjoyable or beneficial than the other.

Read More: Swimming Workouts For Weight Loss: Why The Work & Tips To Get You Started

Frequently Asked Questions

Can You Get Abs From Pilates?

Yes, Pilates can help develop your abs. Pilates targets the core muscles, including your abdominal muscles, and can help sculpt a strong and toned midsection when you perform it consistently in combination with a well-balanced diet.

Why Is Pilates Better Than Yoga?

Pilates and yoga both have their unique advantages and claiming that one is inherently better than the other is inaccurate. 

However, some people may find Pilates more appealing due to its larger focus on core strength, muscle toning, and overall body strength. It’s also known for emphasizing proper alignment, which can result in improved posture.

What Will Pilates 3 Times a Week Do?

Practicing Pilates three times a week can promote many positive outcomes. A consistent routine can help improve postural alignment, increase core strength and total body strength, improve flexibility, and enhance overall body awareness. 

It can also contribute to improved balance and coordination. It is important to remember that individual results can vary based on factors such as the duration of sessions, intensity, and other lifestyle habits.

The Bottom Line

Beach Pilates is an excellent workout combining the benefits best of Pilates with the added challenge of an uneven, shifting surface. It can be an effective method to increase overall strength and flexibility while also promoting core stability and improved posture. Whether you would like to workout for 20 minutes or 1 hour, Beach Pilates can be tailored to suit your individual fitness level, lifestyle, and goals.