If you're looking for a ball-busting outdoor workout, let me introduce you to the Malibu Sand Dunes of the Pacific Coast Highway in sunny California. This 300-400 yard uphill sand dune is one of the hardest workouts Show Up Fitness athletes has come across in years. With an incline between 25-35 degrees, this workout humbles superior athletes. I suggest performing an outdoor workout at least once a week to compliment your athlete's strength and conditioning program. Here are some of the benefits and difficulties of sprinting at the dunes.

Benefits of sprinting in the sand:
Pros: Beautiful scenery, less impact, improves stride length and overall power. The equation to increase horizontal speed is stride length and stride rate. Resisted speed work (seen in the video with bag) will increase stride length while running downhill will help with stride rate.

Cons: SAND EVERYWHERE! Seriously, your truck, house, and every crevice of your body will have sand pebbles in it for a few days. There's also an added degree of exposure to injuries. By implementing agility drills (lateral movements), the ankle joint is could get stuck in the sand which could make twisting movements an added risk. The purpose is to expose the athlete to a higher intense conditioning workout, not injure them.

So if you're willing to give the following workout a try at the Malibu Sand Dunes:
2x Back Pedal into sprint (5 yards apart)
2x Side Shuffles into sprints (5 yards)
2x Broad Jumps downhill
2x Bag resisted sprints
2x Kettle Bell throw
2x Sprints with side shuffle
2x Sprints into drops
1x End off with max sprint

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