Vacation Workouts: Part II

Sometimes, exercise and vacation just don’t mix.

Sometimes, you just want to take a break from the day-to-day grind of regular ol’ workouts and relax. And that’s ok.

But that’s ok. It’s important to remember that a week (or a few weeks) off isn’t going to be detrimental to your progress.

If you lose strength, it’s likely just a lack of recent technical practice. 

If you lose muscular endurance, it’s probably because your body has down-regulated its muscle glycogen stores, contributing to fatigue on at the end of longer sets.

And if you’re worried about gaining weight, have no fear. Walking 15k or 20k steps per day (or more) will probably be just as beneficial (if not more so) from an energy-burn standpoint than your typical one hour of exercise a few times each week.

But if you’re really craving some extra movement during an otherwise sedentary trip, here are a few other ideas:

· Get to know the town/area you are visiting by going for a walk or a run in the neighborhood to take in the scenery and local culture.

· If you have access to a pool or body of water, do some laps in between lounging.

· Take a fitness class in the area.  Many yoga, pilates or kickboxing studios have deals for one time sessions. Also, Groupon sometimes has deals for 3 or 4 sessions to local fitness studios.  Even if you only go once or twice, it’s usually still a great price.

· Do the warm-up routine.  Hip circles, 90-90, pigeon, spiderman, single-leg deadlifts and the hip flexor stretch can all be done in the comfort of your room and will get your blood flowing and relieve any tightness you may have from traveling.

· If you don’t mind bringing some equipment, a lacrosse ball is a great item to pack to roll out any areas of tightness, like your back or glutes, that may be incurred from long periods of sitting while en route to your vacation destination.