In the first half of the year it looked like we may not be travelling for some time but now as we head towards the end of July it seems that more and more of you are either able to get away to warmer shores or are taking a break in a cottage or caravan in the UK.
It’s at this time of year we get asked the usual question “I’m going away on holiday, what can I do to exercise?”
Our immediate response is “it’s your holiday, take a break from training!” but so many of our members are so keen to continue doing something how can we say no!
The good news is that we are blessed with an amazing piece of equipment, our bodies! These extremely versatile tools can be used with great effect with simple movements so we can continue training easily while away from the gym.
The first thing that comes to mind in the absence of a gym is walking.
Find a good local route or beach and start the day with 20- 40 minutes at a brisk pace. Enough to get your heart rate up and be slightly out of breath. Time how long it takes you to cover a certain distance or to reach a landmark and see how far you have progressed over the length of your stay by how much quicker it takes for you to cover the distance.
Chances are you will have a much better holiday experience this way and you will have earnt that breakfast! We promise you won’t feel as lethargic or guilty either so we highly recommend it.
If you want to do something a little more energetic we highly recommend one of these workouts:
30/30
Set a timer for 30 seconds and repeat each bodyweight movement from the list below as many times as you can, wait 30 seconds the repeat the exercise again for a total of 6 minutes. Then move onto the next exercise.
Squat
Lunge
Push up
Burpee
Mountain climber
Star Jump
It’s simple, quick and effective!
Tabata
This workout is slightly more challenging as it involves less rest. Pick a movement from the list above and repeat as many times as you can in 20 seconds, rest for 10 seconds then repeat for a total of 4 minutes.
To make it even more challenging count the number of reps in each 4 minutes and the next day see if you can beat your total from the day before.
Repeat for as many exercises as you can in the time you have available.
Ladder
Ladders are a sequence of exercises back to back with as little rest in between each exercise as possible for a total time.
You can use the sequence below as an example:
10 x squat
20 x press up
30 x lunge
40 x burpee
50 x mountain climbers
60 x star jump
You can also come back down the ladder to make it tougher. Record your time and try to beat your time the following day!
AMRAP
Choose a time, 10 or 12 minutes is usually a good place to start. Then choose 3 movements from the list below, let’s say squat, press up and burpee.
Choose a realistic rep target (harder movements have less reps) so for example:
20 squats
10 press ups
5 burpees
See how many times you get round this sequence in the time allocated and look to improve next time!
There is a whole load of simple bodyweight workouts you can do while away, but it is best to keep it simple which is why we have given you 4 variations.
If it’s simple it’s going to be much easier for you to stick to it whilst you are away.
If you have any questions, please feel free to send us a message to either [email protected] or [email protected]
Or if you need more help and support with finding an exercise and nutrition programme that works for you, give our 30 day trial a go and let us help you get in the best of shape you’ve ever been in. And not just for the short term, but for life.
WANT MORE?
Subscribe to our newsletter and we’ll send you all the latest news and updates just like this. Don’t worry, it’s totally private and spam free