Staying Fit While Traveling
July 22, 2010 in General by Allison Crerie
Several of you have asked about workouts you can do while on vacation or traveling (tis the season!) and my answer is simple: body weight. Some of the best exercises you can do only require your own body weight and a little bit of space: push-ups, squats, lunges, planks, hip bridges– all winners.
Body weight exercises are great when done in a circuit, this way you can kill two birds with one stone by keeping your heart rate up (cardio) while also getting in some strength training. This will also will abbreviate your workout, because who really wants to spend all their time working out when they’re on vacation?
Here’s an example of a good body weight circuit:
Squats: 1 minute
Push-ups: 1 minute
Plank: 1 minute
– 30 sec rest and repeat–
Walking Lunges–> drop down into push ups—> walking lunge back to start
–30 sec rest and repeat–
Squat Jumps: 5-10
Crossbody Mt. Climbers: 10-12 on each side
Side Plank: 15-30 sec
– 30 sec rest and repeat–
Single-leg Hip Extension (like a hip bridge with one leg): 12-15 on each leg
Close-Grip Push Ups: as many as you can
Bird-Dogs: 5-10 on each side, hold for 5 seconds
– 30 sec rest and repeat–
That’s about a 30-40 minute workout, which will train your cardiovascular system equally as well as your muscles (assuming you don’t dawdle around). Also, let’s not forget that fun activities like swimming, surfing, kayaking, and hiking are all great forms of exercise; try something new this summer!
If you want more good workout plans that you can do while traveling, I have some for you to check out on my website:
- Body Weight Exercises: Totally Legit
- Italia! (which documents my exercising while I was backpacking through Italy)
- Staying Fit While Traveling
When it comes down to it, a vacation is a vacation and you shouldn’t stress about anything, including exercise. This does not mean you shouldn’t exercise, this means that you should stick to something simple, something that you like, and try circuit training to abbreviate your workout time.