7 Fun Ways to Beat the Heat (and still get a good workout)

Okay, obviously swimming is a given, but if you’re fed up with people grabbing your feet and smacking you in the head as you try and do your lengths in an overcrowded pool while perverted kids ogle you underwater with their new industrial strength snorkel masks, then try these various activities to keep cool and toned. Some are free and some require a little expenditure, but when it feels like Hell has relocated from the depths below to your own neighbourhood, there’s room for a little spending!

1. WINDSURFING
If you can do 1,000 reps of bicep curls non-stop then you’ll have an inkling of what windsurfing is like. The bonus if you’ve never done it before is that you’ll spend lots of time in the water (re: falling off the board). It takes a while to master the art of windsurfing, but the amount of work you’ll do just to get up on the board and balance for three seconds while fighting the crush of the wind is more effective than an average workout at the gym. After one beginner lesson I could barely lift my arms to feed myself (another added bonus if you tend to overeat). Plus, did I mention the water part?

Check out Windsure Adventure Watersports at the Jericho Sailing Centre in Kitsilano.
http://www.windsure.com/

2. GO FOR A RUN (THROUGH THE SPRINKLERS)
The key here is to make sure your route runs through as many residential areas as possible—there’s less traffic and more sprinklers. And if your run lasts at least one hour you’re going to want lots of sprinklers. Ideally you want to run through a sprinkler every 3-5 minutes before you’re completely dry and you start crying from the burning heat. If you have to maneuver onto someone’s lawn a bit to get the most of the sprinkler system, that’s okay too, people do crazy things in the heat. Just don’t trample any rosebushes.

3. WATERSLIDES
Go with some friends and make it a fun competition—see how many times you can go down the slides in one hour. The workout part: climbing the umpteenth amount of stairs to get to the top of each slide (think of how toned your legs will be). The fun part: seeing how fast you can go down the slide without incurring a self-induced atomic wedgie by the end.

Check out Splashdown Park in Tsawwassen.
http://www.splashdownpark.ca/

4. BIKRAM’S YOGA
Like the saying goes: “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em!” So if you’ve been doing the yoga thing for a while now and you’ve been wanting to try out Bikram’s Yoga, but can’t justify paying the exorbitant cost (or dealing with the eye-watering stench), then now’s your chance to try it out on your very own for free! And you don’t even have to be locked indoors in a stinky, secluded room. You can enjoy the heat of Bikram’s while admiring the beautiful scenery of the outdoors.

5. SURFING
You don’t have to travel to Australia or Hawaii to catch a wave (although if you can afford it, by all means, travel away)! Just hop on a ferry and head over to beautiful Tofino for some board action. One of my all-time favourite water sports, surfing is a blast, and a fantastic workout (even if you are only able to stay up on the board for two seconds at a time). In addition to being an exhilarating activity, it is an intense upper body workout. From paddling out to pushing yourself up into a surfer-dude pose atop your board, it’s like doing a Burpee but without the jump-up at the end (although when you finally manage to get up on that board without falling over, you do feel like jumping for joy).

6. WATER BALLOON FIGHT
A really cheap and oh-so-fun workout. Enlist a group of friends and stock up on some balloons from your local dollar store. Big ones or little ones work well, but from experience, I say in this case, bigger is better. The little balloons are a bitch to fill up and induce serious finger cramping by the time you’ve filled your fifth balloon. Plus, they aren’t nearly as satisfying as the big balloons to throw at someone as they only deliver a tiny spray of water upon explosion. Pick your teams, add some water guns to the mix and you’re ready for all-out war. Try and pick a park that has some equipment (i.e. benches, bushes, a playground, etc.) so that you can run and hide for some real commando fun. You’ll find yourself running, jumping, sliding and diving (just like a regular boot camp class) in no time, all the while staying wet and cool and having a ball.

7. TREAD WATER FOR AN HOUR
You’re keeping cool in the water and you’re getting a full body workout. What more could you ask for? Be sure to pick a body of water that isn’t overheated and that hosts some hot beach-bod lifeguards so you have something tasty to look at as you struggle to stay afloat. If you start to get bored, try humming the theme from Jaws or dunk your head under water a few times while splashing spasmodically and you’re sure to get a closer look at the hot lifeguard.

Whatever activity you choose, just enjoy the heat while it lasts, thank your lucky stars it’s not as hot as India or Sri Lanka and have lots of water and sun block on hand.