This past week I had the amazing opportunity to visit the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in Colorado. These dunes are the highest dunes in North America. Our first intention was to check out the dunes from afar– after all, we still had at least 3 hours of driving to do before we got to Copper Mountain to get in a half day of skiing; however, as we got closer, we realized what we had to do; we were going to get a “run” in on the dunes.

We paid $3 per person to enter, drove to the parking lot, and A-framed our skis to our packs. We then started our walk up the dunes; it was a lot harder than we expected! The sand was so soft and hard to walk on, but we could tell that we were getting a good workout out of this experience.

Walking in sand requires more effort than walking on hard surface, because your muscles and your tendons are going to work hard to keep your foot strong and supported. Not only that, but walking slower actually has its benefits when it comes to exercising. Studies have been done to show that walking slowly in snow requires 2 to 3 times more energy than walking on hard surfaces. It is even requires more energy than jogging in the sand as well!

There are a few workouts you can do while walking in the sand to make your workout even more strenuous. One of these workouts includes calf raises– pretty self explanatory. Another option is to do lunges. Something else to do in the sand is yoga, specifically the tree pose. All of these poses and exercises can help to exercise your legs and body to make them even stronger than they were before.

If you have the chance to work in a sand walk workout into your routine, try it out! You may find that it will work wonders!