CrossFit Vacations Take Your Burpees to the Beach

Ammentorp Photography/iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — After spending months getting in shape for a long-awaited beach vacation, you all too often find that hard work undone within days because of high-calorie drinks, indulgent meals and zero workouts.

But what if you could maintain your edge while enjoying paradise? That’s the inspiration behind a new series of CrossFit vacations hosted in exotic locales with built-in workouts and no-guilt cuisine.

It’s heaven, for a certain brand of a health nut.

“They’re doing all kinds of things right now,” said Stephanie Vaughan, head coach at CrossFit Giant in Englewood, New Jersey, and Edgewater, New Jersey. “Lots of [locations] are organizing vacations to attend the CrossFit Games for inspiration or to different tropical islands or to use it as a challenge, like, ‘How fit can you get while you’re away?'”

Based on a health regimen developed by Coach Greg Glassman, CrossFit training circuits are typically performed inside minimalist gyms called “boxes.” But, sometimes, an athlete needs to get outside the box and take in the scenery, say proponents of the high-intensity retreats.

“Life needs balance and at Destino you’ll find that we have brought together everything that our community values. Be ready to drink hard, laugh hard and WOD hard,” Destino Retreats founder Ty Texidor said on the website. “Destino is the culmination of wanting to engage others in learning about the capability of their bodies, share with others incredible destinations around the world, and wanting to raise a glass to toast life in the presence of good company.”

Destino Retreats takes its clients to destinations including Mexico, Arizona, Mammoth and Hawaii, combining stunning outdoor surroundings with two workouts of the day (WODs), plus meals that hew to the paleo diet.

Another CrossFit excursion company, StayFit Travel, takes its athletes even farther from home, with trips ranging from Los Angeles to Belize to London.

“StayFit Travel offers full vacation packages with all the usual ‘tourist highlights’ of the area, but will also include visits to local boxes for a WOD every day,” StayFit Travel founder JD writes. “You’ll get the chance to work with different coaches on their home turf who will motivate you to lift heavier, run faster and work harder.”

If all of this leaves you feeling like you need to book a plane ticket, you’re not alone.

CrossFit Giant has previously hosted day trips and three-day ski strips, but Vaughan said she is in the early stages of planning an extended tour out to the West Coast.

“It’s a very community-oriented group,” Vaughan said of her athletes. “The people who start it and continue, we definitely are like-minded.

“So planning a trip somewhere for the summer, we know we can enjoy doing the things we like to do with people who are all supportive of one another.”

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