As you get prepared for your vacation get-away, one thing that you should start thinking about is how you plan to maintain your fitness level. While it would be easy to write off your regular workout routine and say that you’ll carry on when you get back, maintaining some sort of fitness program while you’re away can not only help ensure you have as much energy as possible to enjoy the holiday but can also help keep weight gain at bay.
It’s not uncommon to see a five to ten pound weight gain when away on holiday for a week but if you add a half and hour to an hour of exercise to your day, you can easily help to offset this.
The problem is many people don’t plan for any type of exercise while they are away so they don’t have any type of action plan to turn to.
Using the following tips, you can easily come up with your own strategies to make fitness a part of this holiday. Let’s have a quick look at a few things to remember regarding holiday workouts.
Factor Your Equipment Availability
The very firs thing that you should be thinking about when going off on holiday is what equipment you will have available to you. If you’re vacationing in a first class resort then there’s no question that you’re likely going to have a high scale gym to get those workouts in and will have no problem maintaining what you’re currently doing.
If you aren’t though, you’ll have to get creative. Many hotels will provide you with the basics – some cardio equipment and possibly a few free weights so that will give you a great start.
You may also want to consider investing in a quality resistance band before you go as this can easily be stashed in your suitcase and used right in your room. Given the fact that they are making these now in various resistance levels, they can prove to be challenging even for those who are more advanced as far as strength level is concerned.
Another smart idea if you aren’t going to have access to any type of cardio equipment would be a skipping rope. Skipping is a fantastic way to blast calories in as little as ten minutes and really get your heart beating hard.
If you aren’t going to have any equipment whatsoever, a skipping rope and resistance band will be all that’s needed to maintain those workout sessions.
Think About The Temperature
Moving on, the next consideration you must not overlook is the temperature and humidity of the environment you’re going to be in. If you’re going to a tropical location, you can bet that you’re going to be facing the heat.
For this reason, try your best to get up early in the morning and enjoy the sunrise while doing your workout. It’s going to be least warm at this point in the day so you’ll be best able to focus on maintaining a higher intensity.
Many people do find that as the heat rises the intensity of their workout does drop, so this is something that you have to factor in.
If mornings are just not an option for you, then a late-night workout will do the trick instead.
Focus On Maintenance
Another vital point to make sure to keep in mind with regards to your holiday workout is that you should be focusing on maintenance. Don’t go into the holiday expecting to make fitness gains – that will likely only stress you out and make you more tempted to forgo the workout altogether if you aren’t feeling 100% like your usual self. Remember, any time you do change the entire environment around you it can have an influence on how intense your typical session is so you may not quite feel ‘in your zone’ like you do at your home gym.
Instead, simply set the goal to maintain your fitness level. If you focus on maintenance instead, you should be more motivated to keep up with the workouts and enjoy yourself that much more. Maintaining is much easier to accomplish then actually making fitness gains, so make this the expectation.
Make Fitness Fun
Finally, last but not least, try your best to make fitness fun. Perhaps there are some active pursuits that you can do while you’re on vacation that will get you up and moving around and experiencing new things.
If you’re vacationing on a beach, a morning beach run or a game of beach volleyball is a perfect way to really challenge your leg muscles over and above that of which you would on regular land.
Or, consider going on hiking excursions to see the sites in the area you’re staying at and get a great cardio workout at the same time.
By looking into what’s available you can help maintain your fitness level while providing a nice break from the usual workout sessions you’re typically doing. Sometimes this fresh change can invigorate you and will also help you return home even more motivated then ever to get back into those old sessions again.
So be sure that you keep all of these points in mind regarding vacation workouts. Having an active vacation is always going to be a more positive experience and will help you stay in the healthy mindset.
Those who do make an effort to keep up some type of fitness plan also often consciously choose to eat wiser as well, so the benefits with these workout sessions don’t just stop when you leave the gym (or put down your workout equipment).
A simple 20 minute session each day could mean the difference between you returning home looking your best and you returning home with a few more pounds than left with.
