I know some peoples idea of a holiday is staying as far away as possible from exercise and the gym. Maybe I am just weird but I enjoy training and find it relaxing. I am just back from my holidays in Cuba, it was a two week all inclusive holiday which means free drink and free food. So as you can imagine it is hard to not make a pig of yourself. Fortunately my hotel had a gym although there was no working air conditioning. If you don't find fitness enjoyable I urge your to maintain some level of fitness on your holiday. It does not matter if your hotel has no gym, the beach is one of the best places to workout.
What I didn't know when I first started getting into strength training is how hard it is to maintain your results and the commitment needed to do this. I foolishly believed that once I got my results I could go back to eating what I wanted when I wanted. I was sooo wrong. What you need to remember before you start training is that this is a lifestyle change not just a 6 week challenge. Once you get results thats when the real hard work starts. You see your body changing and you become addicted to seeing new results. Once this start happening you don't want to lose all your hard work so you must work even harder to maintain and upkeep it. This takes a lot of determination and discipline.
Personally if I stopped training for a few days and was eating badly I would see myself going out of shape within days. So its important NEVER to skip your training. I know on holidays it might be more difficult but I urge you to maintain some level of fitness.
You dont have to ruin your holidays just do a 10 minute bodyweight circuit before you start sunbathing early in the morning when it is not hot. This way you wont feel guilty for eating as bad and you wont see all your hard work go to waste.
The beach is a great place to workout as soft sand is a killer to run in and builds strength in the calves, ankles and quads. It is an unstable surface, so it forces your body to work hard to balance and remain upright and it provides resistance. Push ups on the unstable surface of soft sand not only tones your arms and shoulders but also works your core as well. Add in lunges, squats etc on the sand which make you work extra hard. The beach is a perfect surface for balance exercises as the sand is on different levels and you have to adjust to that difference. Doing sprints on the beach is also kinder on your joints as there is less impact on the body.
So below is a workout you can try on your hols to upkeep your fitness an maintain your physique! No excuses!
30 seconds work/10 rest x 5 rounds
1. Push ups
2. Mountain Climber
3. Burpee
4. Elevated Knee Tucks
5. Ninja Tucks
-Shuttle runs
-Star Jumps
-High Knees
-Ski Jumps
-Prisoner Jumps
