How to train effectively while on holidays
When people go on holidays they either fall into one of two camps regarding training, nutrition and fitness.
A. “I’m gonna train hard EVERY day, I’m going to use this extra time to be even FITTER than I was before”
OR
B. “I’m on holidays, you’re meant to relax so I’m not going to exercise at all, I’ll get back into it when I return”
I feel like both of these approaches set you up for failure and make it even harder to get back into a purposeful training routine when you return.
The whole purpose of a holiday is to enjoy your self and use your extra free time however you choose without guilt or pressure. Whether you choose to lounge around all day or go on big adventures the freedom and choice is yours.
Now option A goes against the whole purpose of a holiday because it creates pressure and limits your ability to be spontaneous with your time and activities. No one wants to the be the guy who says “nah I can’t come to pool bar for a few beers cause I gotta my second workout of the day”…
Option B doesn’t support a holiday because as you know, people feel better when they are active and making positive choices towards their health so doing option B will eventually lead to guilt, resentment and despair as it makes it very hard when you come back.
SOLUTION
I want to present a more purposeful approach to holiday exercise that will not only take a little bit of time but will also improve your ability to pick up regular training when you return..
Now.. the first step is acceptance. You need to accept that you WILL NOT get fitter or stronger while you are on a holiday, and you actually may put on a few extra KG’s.
Accept this and be okay with this, the point of holiday exercise shouldn’t be to make your body composition your primary goal but rather to simply create a daily habit which gives you some decent movement and makes it so when you get back you can slide swiftly back into a more strenuous regular training routine.
Here’s an example from my 7 day trip away to Byron Bay last week…
We started holidays on Saturday and got back into town on Friday.
I told myself that no matter what else I did, I would simply wake up every morning and do 50 push ups. THAT’S IT. I made a commitment to do 50 Push Ups every day after my morning swim, no matter what. It was really easy to implement as 50 push ups only takes a couple of minutes and after a swim I’m already on the ground anyway so all I had to do was push my self back up.
By making this small commitment I re-enforced to myself that I am the type of person who makes time NO MATTER WHAT to do some form of training daily.
My own personal training schedule
Saturday:
5 sets
A1. 10 push ups
A2. 10 Cossack Squats (7 minutes)
Sunday:
A. 50 Push ups (2 minutes)
10 Sets (<12 minutes)
B1. 20 Split Jumps
B2. 10 Push Ups
Monday:
5 sets
A1. 10 push ups
A2. 10 Cossack Squats (7 minutes)
6 sets (5 minutes)
B1. 80m Sprint
B2. 5 Chin Ups
C1. 2 KM Bush Run (<10 minutes)
Tuesday:
5 sets
A1. 10 push ups
A2. 10 Cossack Squats (7 minutes)
30 – 20 – 10 AFAP (<7 minutes)
B1. Lunges EL
B2. BW Squats
B3. Shoulder Taps
Wednesday:
5 sets
A1. 10 push ups
A2. 10 Cossack Squats (7 minutes)
B1. 4KM Run Bush (<20 minutes)
Thursday:
5 sets
A1. 10 push ups
A2. 10 Cossack Squats (7 minutes)
Friday:
5 sets
A1. 10 push ups
A2. 10 Cossack Squats (7 minutes)
B1. Yoga (1 hour)
Saturday: Back to regular training.
My one and only training goal daily was to get 50 push ups in, first thing in the morning after my morning swim. That was it, and following that I would add exercise based on the activities / feeling of the day.
As you can see, the 50 push ups empowered me enough that I was also able to chuck in 50 Cossack squats in as a bare minimum giving me a minimum of 7 minutes of purposeful training per day.
Each day of training barely exceeded 30 purposeful minutes but that isn’t the point. The point is that It has been insanely EASY for me to get back into regular training at the gym daily since returning, due to the small daily discipline I displayed while away.
Additionally due to the mental benefits of training (especially training outside) I was able to get a small hit of some hormonal and mental benefits daily which really helped my ‘always busy’ personality enjoy and relax into the holiday.
Additionally, I paired this physical care with daily 20 minute meditation and daily ocean swim and I was in a good state of ‘well -being’.
The point is – when you go on holidays, you MUST do SOMETHING.. Just a small daily habit which will reinforce the fact that YOU are the type of person who doesn’t make excuses and looks after their health. Just make it small..
Here are some very basic examples which can be implemented daily and will tick of the ‘movement’ box but won’t take longer that 5 minutes.
Just choose one and if you want add another one..
50 Push Ups
50 Squats
50 Lunges
50 Burpees
50 Cossack Squats
50 Chin Ups
50 Inverted Row
50 is a nice number which is just high enough to leave you feeling empowered.. Alternatively you can switch a do a quick tabata of 20 sec on, 10 sec off x 4 of different core exercises:
Plank
Side Plank
MTN Climbers
Russian Twists
Pick something quick and intense and get it done daily while on your holiday. You’ll be grateful you more the small effort in.