Jean brings a good comment up after yesterdays post, regarding the dangers of running on sand?
I have done many, many years of training on sand pretty much everywhere, and enjoyed it immensely.
There are downsides too though, and let me explain.
I tend to love training on hard sand, the surface is much better, is firm and likely to keep your footing much more sure.
The looser softer sand can be a different kettle of fish.
It can make your footing less sure as stated, this is simply because the sand is often loose, and you have to work hard just to get a good footing.
Soft sand can sometimes put more stress on your knees, and especially your knees and ankles. Your body has to do a lot of work just to stay still seemingly, and everything seems much harder!
This is not to say that soft sand training is not any good, in fact it can be very beneficial for leg strength, leg toning, lung power enhancement and overall fat burning. As said, i have used this method extensively. Once you have a problem though with knee or ankles, it may be prudent to avoid that type of training, especially if you have longer term problems.
I always like to play the safety first game though. Always assess your options first, what’s going to work best in terms of not only results but never threaten any injury too!!
It’s never pleasant to do a workout and worry about the pain afterwards!!!
The hard sand like grass will never give you any issues. Loose sand by its nature will take much more getting used to and create an unstable surface at times. You never get any guarantees in life but taking out any unnecessary risks may be just the smartest thing you will ever do!!
It wasn’t a choice for me Keri, she wanted to go to the beach and I had to try and keep up with her. Am regretting it tho, couldn’t do much in the Gym today in the way of CV. Going to see my Consultant on Thursday, have had the GEL injected into the right knee at a cost he tells me, of £300 per knee, and 7 weeks on it has worked, no pain or problem. It is the left knee, the one I had Cortozone injected into twice, hoping to get the Gel injected into the left knee on Thursday, I may be layed up for a few weeks, but it will worth it in the end.