While most people see a time away on vacation as the ultimate relaxation period, fitness enthusiasts know that in order to maintain your goals and keep your body the way you want it, you can almost never take time off from your routine.
There has to be some give and take between you and the barbells though, a week-long vacation without heavy weights is not going to leave you frail and weak upon your return.
In fact, you should take it as a time to rest from dreading squats and dead lifts and focus on having a good time while still taking the right amount of minutes to keep your heart rate up.
Even though the hotel gym likely only has weights below 35 lbs., use the lighter weights provided anyway. For example, you can use lower weights for things like chest flyes, adding a hold/pause at the top or bottom of the motion. Not enough weight to squat? Isolate one leg or do lunges. Remember, high-rep low-weight helps tone problem areas (obliques for example) and an inverted pyramid workout increases definition.
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If there are no cardio machines available you can be damn sure there’s an annoying set of stairs within a stone’s throw.
Use stairs, walking tours and nearby attractions to keep up your cardio. Plenty of people will feel embarrassed being that person doing laps around the resort, but you can always switch it up if you are in a tropical destination and look really cool sprinting on the beach like Jason Bourne. If there’s an excuse for not being able to do cardio on vacation, I haven’t found it.
Whether you’re on a staycation or a vacation…
You must set aside time for fitness. The margarita mixer and shirtless guy cooking burgers and fries on the beach will be there when you get back, I promise! My personal suggestion would be to do it in the morning or whenever it is you roll out of bed. It gets you out of bed faster, gets the routine out of the way and you will enjoy your time that much more knowing that you have likely already conquered the hardest part of the itinerary. Keeping that in mind…
Stay hydrated on your vacation, of course be aware of any drinking water warnings depending on which part of the world you are visiting, but keep water close. It’s hot on those beaches and it also of course fends off lady liquor when you are getting up to exercise in the morning to sweat out those toxins.
“But Andrew, I went to a lodge in the mountains, I won’t be sweating, right?” WRONG. Even in the cold you are losing hydration, sometimes more so as your body uses more energy to keep itself warm on top of whatever activity you may be doing.
Lastly, don’t skip meals and try not to binge eat. Even if you’re not eating as healthy as an ox, it doesn’t mean you should skip meals and mess up your metabolism. At the same time, try to limit yourself to less than 20 quesadillas (not a scientific number) if you get what I’m saying.
If you’re travelling by car or able to bring food with you, bring prepared snacks. This can include items such as fruit, veggies, hard-boiled eggs, yogurt, granola, nuts, protein bars, beef jerky and protein shakes. The sky is the limit.
So limit your bad habits while away from your nine to five, don’t over or under eat and do your best to find time to exercise. Most of all, have a great time and you will find yourself more motivated than ever to get back at it once you return.
