Summertime is in full swing, and that means vacation season. While people look forward to exciting trips to the mountains, the beach, family and friends, they don’t look forward to getting out of their consistent workout routine.
There’s good reason to be nervous. Studies show that it’s easy to lose fitness momentum with even a mild disruption. If it’s a longer vacation (more than 2 weeks), there’s a very real risk of metabolic shift and loss of muscle mass.
Sure, you’re not going to be devoting your entire vacation to working out (unless you go on one of these no-kidding CrossFit-centered getaways), but there are ways to keep your momentum going and your overall fitness strong while you’re away from home.
Here are some tips:
Less Time, Same Intensity
Jill Brown writes in The Huffington Post that you should try to fit in some short, intense workouts, cutting the frequency of these workouts by one- to two-thirds of normal–but keeping the intensity up. Tabata workouts (20 seconds on, 10 seconds off) and other high-intensity interval training (HIIT) workouts pay big dividends in situations where you’re trying to save time.
Cross-Train
Brown writes: “By doing workouts your body is unaccustomed to, you’ll burn more calories, develop new neural pathways and new skills plus avoid burnout. It’s the old principle of “muscle confusion” you’ve no doubt heard about by now. We all like surprises from time to time — so does your body.”
Find Bodyweight WODs
Don’t have access to barbells or a pull-up bar? No problem. Plan in advance to find some bodyweight-only workouts you can do while you’re on the road. Bodyweight workouts may not involve lifting heavy bits of metal overhead, but they can be quite effective and keep your momentum going. Whether you use an app for your WODs or head over to sites like this (or this, or this), there are plenty of places to find grueling exercises that only require proper workout attire (or in some cases, a jump rope). The convenience will make these exercises easier to do while you’re on the road; you could even do most of them in a hotel room.
Use Your Surroundings
Alyssa Ages of Men’s Health shares: “Take a look around your hotel room–there are probably a bunch of things you can use to add some challenging elements to these movements (put your feet up on the bed or a chair to turn your pushups into decline pushups; try plank-to-pushup on the couch or bed to add some instability; fill up the ice bucket and hold it overhead or to your chest for squats and sit-ups.”
Visit a Nearby Box
There are CrossFit gyms everywhere these days, so before you leave home, maybe instead of trying to go it alone, research what’s near your vacation destination and hit the local box. Texan Fitness has visitors all the time! There are, of course, visitor’s fees at many of these places, but the trade-off is that you won’t skip a beat when it comes to your fitness regimen, and you’ll meet some like-minded new friends while on vacation!
Fitness site Every Last Rep gives 5 important rules for visiting another box: 1) Don’t drop the weights (check to see if that’s allowed or not); 2) Show up early because you’ll have to sign a waiver and meet the staff; 3) Do your homework–check with the gym you’re visiting to know their exact qualifications for visitors; 4) Respect the trainers and the WOD; and 5) Wear a shirt.
There’s no reason to lose perfectly good fitness momentum during your well-deserved vacation. Need more help? Talk to use at Texan Fitness about what to do when you’re away from your Southlake CrossFit home.