SANTA MONICA – Staying fit in Santa Monica is different from many other places in the world. With easy access to outdoor gym equipment and beaches, rather than invest in gym membership, residents and tourists can take advantage of all the nature has to offer. One simply needs to know where to start.
STAIRS
For a very intense workout, Santa Monica offers what residents know as the Santa Monica Stairs. A pair of staircases up your cardio workout and are located just off Adelaide Drive. One set of stairs records a 170-wooden stairs with a wider width than its counterpart to allow for more climbers to enjoy the workout with you. The set staircase plays host to 199-concrete steps and offer more stability with a metal guard rail to support yourself on the steep climb.
Be aware of parking though. While at the beach you can pay for all day parking, Adelaide Drive only hosts its residents and can result in a heft ticket haul if you park in the wrong place.
CARDIO DAY
Cardio is the easiest way to exercise any where in the world, but Santa Monica provides beautiful options for cardio that others never get to experience. For a nice easy cardio workout, residents can go for a bike ride along the beach and enjoy the beautiful sights as you ride. For a more intense cardio workouts, Santa Monica offers a wide variety of hiking ranging from beginner to intermediate trails to enjoy that overlook the coastline or trek through the woodlands of California.
Don’t forget that one of the best cardio workouts is running on the beach. The shifting sands under your feet require a larger amount of effort from your calves and legs as you constantly adjust to keep your balance while running. Watching out for beach goers may be your biggest challenge as you run along the sand.
CIRCUIT TRAINING
The hardest part of working out without a gym or building a home gym is the circuit workout. However, with the sun shining all year long, Santa Monica has put in the perfect playground for adults wanting to hit a wider variety of workouts. From the original Muscle Beach to Clover Beach, fitness lovers can enjoy outdoor workout equipment that aren’t even traditional to a gym.
Beach lovers can enjoy a gymnastics course on the beach of Santa Monica. The “adult playground” offers parallel bars, uneven bars and ring swings. The location plays host to many regulars and is always an enjoyable experience even for the regular joe. Many gymnast love to show off their amazing abilities while staying in shape at this location, but don’t let that scare you off. Many of the regulars enjoy sharing their knowledge and helping newcomers improve with little tips and tricks throughout their workout.
However, if you aren’t so much into the large crowds Santa Monica beach attracts, Clover Park offers a 15-station fitness course. The course offers a wider variety of obstacles and challenges than Santa Monica Beach. From a climbing rope to a stretching station, the course offers the ideal well-rounded workout for any fitness lover, and after you’ve finished your workout, the park offers several different sports fields and courts for people to enjoy as well as BBQ pits.
