If you love to work out, being away for such a long time can be a bit of an issue. Whether you are lifting iron, kettlebells or focusing on calisthenics or martial arts, you know that you are addicted to your physical game and you can’t wait to get back on it. This article will teach you how to work out while on vacation.

People who train for aesthetic purposes are always afraid they will get off track and lose all their hard-earned muscle and gains.

This article will show you exactly what to do to be able to enjoy your time off on vacation while at the same time keeping your muscles and perhaps even making some new gains!

ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS IS TIMING YOUR WORKOUTS CORRECTLY

Since you are officially off, your mind (and body) will be more occupied with having fun rather than working out.
With that in mind, the best and safest time to work out in terms of focus and time management would be the start of the day.

Aim for a small workout, a few minutes after you wake up. This will burn toxins and prepare your body for the first feast of the day. It also corrects your cortisol and balances your hormones. Remember that the idea of a vacation is to take it easy so no 1-hour workouts here.

I will assume that you are at some tropical destination and the sea and beach are accessible. If you are more of a mountain person, then mentally replace beach in text below with ‘outdoors’.

Here are a few choices for a great morning workout:

• Take a low intensity 30 minute walk by the seaside. It is relaxing, grounds your body and spirit, and the vitamin D from the sun will recharge your hormonal batteries.
• Do a few sprints by the beach. 5 sets should be enough.
• Swim! 10-30 minutes is awesome.
• Do a few sun salutations by yourself or join a yoga session by the beach (or by the pool, up to you). If you are not familiar with yoga, use the same time to perform some stretching and mobility exercises. This will get your blood flowing, relax your muscles, boost your metabolism and wake up your body.
• Do 1 set of the following: lunges, pushups, squats and pull ups if you have access to a pull up bar. If you are really athletic go for spiderman crawls. Aim for 20-50 reps for each (depending on your fitness level)

Don’t forget that training with medium intensity is key here. You are on vacation and the idea is to give ourselves both a mental and physical break in order to recuperate and make more progress  when we get back to our regular lives.

You can run a few sprints by the beach or you can swim. Or both!

IF WORKING OUT IN THE MORNING IS NOT AN OPTION, TRY TO SQUEEZE IN A GOOD 15-MINUTE WORKOUT BEFORE LUNCH

Since the body is more warmed up at this time, it means better motor skills, so you can do a couple of different routines.

Here are a few choices for a great mid-day workout:

• Skip rope for 5-15 minutes.
• Do some gymnastics. I focused on my pseudo-planche and peacocks for 3 minutes.
• Isometric holds are great if done safely. Remember to breathe shallow and hold for 20-40 seconds. Avoid this if you have high blood pressure as this type of exercise raises arterial blood pressure significantly.
• Aim for 100-150 pushups in 10-15 minutes. Start with normal pushups and then try different ones such as reverse, lalanne, hindu, diamond, 1-arm pushups and if you are really strong, go for handstand and 1-arm/1-leg pushups.
• Aim for 100-200 hindu squats.
• Aim for 100 kettlebell swings with a 16kg/20kg/24kg (depending on your level and strength)
• Do static holds for time such as handstand holds, pull up dead holds and planks. 5minutes of each will be more than enough.

What about working out at night?

If you had a full day and no time to work out, late at night would be your only option but I do not recommend that. If you do have to work out at night, do a few pushups or squats. (Shoot for 100 of each)

Alternatively, do some yoga or balance exercises followed by a stretching routine. A good exercise that hits all 3 targets (strength, balance, flexibility) is Cossack squats. (Aim for 20-50)

Do not workout for more than 5-15 minutes at night and keep the intensity low or you will have trouble sleeping. Unless you are planning to have sex afterwards, in which case, you will sleep like a baby!

To sum things up:

• Choose your timing right. Morning, midday or before bed.
• Keep it short. 5-15 minutes are enough.
• Do not make your workouts too intense but don’t make them too light either.
• Listen to your body.
• Try experimenting with new exercises.
• Focus more on gymnastics and flexibility.
• 1-2 exercises are enough.
• If you have the time, have 1 good workout session per week and 1 light one.
• If not, do 15 minutes every day.
• Stay physical.

Right click and Save this image so that you can have a small guide to take with you.

Follow these guidelines along with the tips from my previous article on nutrition and you will stay in shape and perhaps even gain some extra muscle and lose fat.

If you want to know what I did in my last vacation, check out the article with my vacation training log.

I hope you enjoyed this article as much as I did writing it. Putting together this article took a bit of time but it will only take you a second to click on Share buttons and show your support to this blog.

Also if you have any comments or questions, feel free to leave a comment and I will get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks!

by Nick Sigma SHF
C.W.C, E.H, YRT-200

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