Build a Beach-Worthy Body Before It’s Too Late

Visiting the beach is one of summer?s greatest pleasures. The combination of sun, sand and scantily clad women just can?t be beat. Everything seems perfect, that is until you take off your shirt and expose your beer belly to a bunch of unsuspecting vacationers.

While the beach might be a great place to lie down and relax, the time you spend leading up to your visit should be anything but. If you want to impress the ladies and/or avoid looking like a beached sea lion, you?ll need to follow a steady workout regimen and diet before hitting the shore.

Summertime, like any other season, offers its fair share of poor diet choices and opportunities to be lazy. What?s better than chilling on a beach chair kicking back a six-pack? Scorching heat and vacation days mean beer, BBQ and zero exercise for many people during summer. Why exercise when it?s 90 degrees outside? Why bother eating salad when you can eat barbecued burgers every day?

Get your body in order

Hey, it?s totally cool to drink a few beers and chow down on crap during the summer. What?s vacation if you can?t lounge around in a drunken haze? If you?re totally cool with taking your shirt off at the beach and scaring everyone away with your numerous fat rolls, keep at the boozing and binging. If you want to actually walk around with your shirt off and feel good about yourself, you?ll need to cut back on the booze, ribs and afternoons spent passed out in the hammock.

The best way to achieve a beach-worthy body is by burning fat and building muscle. While you may not be able to rock a six-pack by July 4^th weekend, you can lose some weight and look more toned. It call comes down to the basics: diet and exercise.

First off, reduce your daily hotdog and beer intake. If you can?t recall how many PBR?s you?ve drank or buffalo wings you?ve eaten in the last 24 hours, it?s time for a drastic diet change. Cut out the carbs and fat and start taking in more protein. Instead of chowing down on another beef burger at your buddy?s barbecue, try a turkey burger instead. When it comes to beverages, cut out the beer and replace it with a whey protein smoothie.

In terms of exercise, you?ve got to incorporate both cardio and strength training. Cardio?s easy. With the weather being as nice as it is, morning and evening runs make for pleasant, fat-burning exercise. If you?re going to hit the beach, what better exercise to partake in than swimming? This is one of the best cardio exercises possible. In terms of strength training, you can do as little as push-ups, crunches and basic dumbbell movements.

Reduce your BBQ intake and start exercising regularly and you?re sure to look reasonably better by the time you hit the beach. Whether or not you end up sporting a horrible farmer?s tan is another story.