Fed up with your fitness routine? Beach volleyball is a great way to have fun while getting a hot volleyball player’s body at the same time.

As the name suggests beach volleyball is played on the beach, an unstable surface meaning players have to tackle the sand and wind while playing. These additional challenges help to increase strength, balance and burn heaps of calories – approximately 472 per game.

“Running and jumping/diving in the sand works on the stability muscles and really sculpts the core,” says Vic Beach director, Greg Jury. “It also works the quads and calves quite well.”

In fact, a 1998 Belgian study concluded that walking on dry sand requires 2.1 to 2.7 times more energy than does walking on a hard surface at the same speed.

And although players might experience sore muscles after their first few games, Jury says that beach volleyball is one of the safest sports in the world because of the soft impact of the sand.

How it is played?

Beach Volleyball is a sport played by two teams on a sand court divided by a net. Each team is made up of 2-6 players although beginners often start with 4-6 players. The object of the game is to send the ball over the net in order to ground it on the opponent’s court, thus scoring a point.

Each team is allowed to have three hits of the ball before returning it to the other side of the net and no player can hit the ball twice in a row.

The first team to 21 points with a break of two points wins a set, and the best of three sets wins the game. The first two sets are first to 21, and the third set is first to 15.

How to join?

Grab a group of friends and head to your nearest beach volleyball venue. Visit vicbeach.com.au for details, or avf.org.au if you live outside of Victoria.

South Melbourne Beach has 8 permanent nets which are available to the public for social matches, except during tournament times.

St Kilda Beach is currently offering sunset sessions every Wednesday night including DJs, prizes and free drinks.

For details email tony@vicbeach.com.au or call 0416 152 119.