15 August 2016 in Lifestyle, Motivation, Training

ACTIVE SUMMER!

“I’m going on longed-for vacation, and nothing’s gonna make me move either my leg or arm even a bit. It’ll be just about eating, sleeping, and umbrella drinks.”

Two weeks off, and the plan is to do nothing at all. Sun, a sunbed, dinners out, and not a single thought about training, because that is what a holiday is for. Result?

You come home tired with a bonus in the form of extra kilos that you tried so hard to lose before the vacation. Simply put, you’re back where you started.

Just do yourself and me a favor and include physical activity in your vacation life!

Why train on holiday at all

Why not? It’ll help you develop a good habit and improve your health. Someone who’s a professional athlete certainly does not need any additional motivation, incentive, and explanation. These people continue training while on vacation to work on self-discipline, shape character, and cultivate good habits.

And the habit is really the point. Two or three weeks away is long enough to break a routine that took months to build, and starting again from zero in September is far harder than keeping a short session going while you are away. This is not about training hard on holiday. It is about not stopping.

Start with the morning

What? You tempted to try? That’s super. Let’s start then with a morning warm-up. It may be 15 minutes of functional training or a 3-kilometer run (on an empty stomach; you can drink only a glass of water beforehand). You have a swimming pool or something more natural, like a lake, close to you? Then go and have a morning swim.

The morning is the slot that survives a holiday, because nothing has had a chance to be planned over it yet. By the afternoon there is a trip, a meal, or somebody else’s plan. As for running before breakfast, it suits some people and leaves others weak after twenty minutes, so treat it as an option rather than a rule. There is more on that in the pros and cons of working out on an empty stomach.

Other suggestions

Work out before breakfast using the Diet & Training by Ann app, or give the “Friends Training” program a try with your vacation companion.

You’re in the mountains? Then admire the beautiful views, while trekking, jogging, or riding a bike.

One of my favorite ways to burn fat during vacation is circuit training. Here’s how it works: I’m taking the latex bands from Thera-Band with me together with bottles of water to serve as weights, and good music. I put on the right tunes and get to work. Keep in mind that a training like this improves metabolism.

The “I have no time” excuse doesn’t work here, as finally you do have it. And quit whining with “I don’t feel like it”, all you need to do is just start doing it.

The vacation circuit, exercise by exercise

Here’s a workout program I recommend:

10 minutes of warm-up or running
Circuit training, the ten exercises below
Stretching

Jump rope or shadow-box
Squats
Chair dip (a triceps exercise)
Side lunges while holding bottles in both hands
Do crunches while lying, with your legs held up straight (so that they form a 90-degree angle with the floor). Using your fingers, try to reach your toes.
Burpees, my favorite
Jump squats
Ordinary push-ups or alternatively women’s ones (the knees are bent)
Mountain climber, raise your left knee to your right elbow
Exercises for the lower abs. Lie flat on your back, keep arms at your sides, legs straight, raised up. Lower your legs (without touching the ground) and then get them back up so that they form an angle of 90 degrees with the floor.

Perform each of the exercises for 1 minute. Repeat every circuit 3 times.

How to scale the circuit to your level

A minute per exercise with three rounds comes to about 35 minutes with the warm-up and stretching, and that is a real session, not a token one. If the last round falls apart, the honest fix is to shorten the work rather than to push through with collapsing form: 40 seconds of work and 20 of rest for each exercise keeps the same structure and the same time on your watch.

The order is deliberate. Jumping, squats and burpees are the heaviest items and they are spaced out, so no two of them land back to back. If you swap exercises for ones you prefer, keep that spacing, otherwise the circuit turns into one long interval and the third round stops happening.

Going the other way is just as easy. Add a fourth round, hold a bottle of water in each hand during the squats and lunges, or cut the rest between rounds from two minutes to one. Changing the rest is the simplest way to make the same ten exercises harder without any equipment at all.

Training in the heat

A circuit that felt comfortable at home in May is a different session at 30 degrees, and the usual mistake on holiday is to keep the same pace and wonder why the third round is impossible. Train early or late, stay in the shade, and accept that everything will feel heavier in the middle of the day.

Drink before you are thirsty, because thirst shows up well after the fluid loss has started, and take the bottles you are using as weights as your water supply once the work is done. A session in the heat costs noticeably more fluid than the same session indoors, so how you handle the heat matters more than what the circuit contains.

What to pack

Two latex bands and a pair of empty bottles weigh almost nothing in a suitcase and cover everything in this circuit. Fill the bottles at your destination, and you have adjustable weights you did not have to carry. Bands travel better than anything else because they give resistance in both directions and take up the space of a pair of socks.

A towel or a mat is the one extra worth finding room for. Push-ups and crunches on a hot terrace or hotel floor are the reason most holiday sessions get abandoned after day two.

Frequently asked questions

How long does the vacation circuit take?

About 35 minutes in total: 10 minutes of warm-up or running, three rounds of the ten exercises at a minute each, and stretching at the end. If the third round falls apart, switch to 40 seconds of work and 20 of rest rather than pushing through with collapsing form.

What equipment do you need?

Two latex bands and a pair of bottles you fill with water at your destination. Bands give resistance in both directions and take the space of a pair of socks, and the bottles double as adjustable weights for the squats and lunges. A towel or thin mat is the one extra worth room in the suitcase.

How do you make the circuit harder without weights?

Cut the rest between rounds from two minutes to one, add a fourth round, or hold a filled bottle in each hand during the squats and side lunges. Changing the rest is the simplest lever and needs nothing you did not already pack.

Can you train in the heat?

Yes, but early or late in the day and in the shade, and expect everything to feel heavier at midday. Drink before you are thirsty, because thirst appears well after the fluid loss starts, and keep the bottles you used as weights as your water supply afterwards.

Is it worth training on a two-week holiday at all?

Two or three weeks away is long enough to break a routine that took months to build, and starting from zero afterwards is harder than keeping a short session going while you are away. The aim is not to train hard on holiday, it is not to stop. A different 15-minute routine for each day of the week, which works in a hotel room as well as at home, is in the Diet & Training by Ann app.

Fifteen minutes a day is enough

Start working out for 15 minutes a day. In the Diet & Training by Ann app you’ll find a different workout routine for each day of the week: cardio, a challenge workout, abdominal workout, exercises for legs and buttocks, back and shoulder training, a set of exercises for pairs, and stretching. These routines will allow you to achieve different fitness goals, and they work in a hotel room as well as at home.

Enough excuses, come on, you can find fifteen minutes for exercises every day. Think about it: it’s only 15 minutes. You can do it, even if sport has just entered your life. It didn’t work out the first time for some reason? No worries. Keep exercising, both your skills and form will get better with every day.

Give it a try, it’s really worth it. Keep your body pretty when your vacation’s over, too. And if you are wondering whether it is worth training on holiday at all, I wrote more about it in active summer holidays.