Your Guide To Fitness on Vacation
Staying Jacked While Traveling on Vacation
Welcome to this edition of Jungle Gym Hacks. As Summer approaches most of us will be traveling, due to Rona killing our travel plans last year (Nice and Cannes was going to be nice, no pun intended). If you are anything like me, you like to continue your progress year-round and hate losing momentum in terms of your fitness goals.
When enjoying the pleasures of vacation, it’s super easy to fall off your plan which can do some damage. Realistically, you’re not going to completely ruin your progress in a week or two, but ultimately you’re better off maintaining continual progress, or at the very least not undoing any progress.
Below I have a series of tips that will help you adhere to your plan and goals, while enjoying some well-deserved time vacationing. Without further adieu, Ox’s Fitness Travel Tips:
Gyms
You need access to a gym. At the very least, book a hotel with a decent gym (dumbbells and potentially some machines—barbells if you’re super lucky). Proper planning is your friend. If you’re serious about the gym-life while traveling, the first thing you need to do is find a good (check pictures and reviews) gym within 15 minutes of the place you’re staying, and go ahead and get a pass for however long you will be visiting. Some gyms will work a deal with you to get you a reasonably priced pass while you’re there (way cheaper than a $10 day pass every day).
Alcohol
If you don’t drink, skip this section. For the majority of us we will kick back and enjoy a nice beverage or ten while we are on vacation. You don’t have to feel bad. Remember it’s vacation! As long as this isn’t a habitual event, you will be fine. Stick to straight liquor over beer, as liquor will net you around 70 calories per serving, the lowest of all alcoholic beverages. If you’re craving beer try for light beer or Michelob Ultra, this will net you under 100 calories per drink which can add up if you’re pounding 200+ calorie beers.
I only drink on nights before a rest-day because I will be inefficient at the gym otherwise. If you’re going to drink on a night before the gym, try to manage your intake or you feel like garbage and either perform terribly, or let’s be honest with ourselves, skip the workout.
Diet
Again, if you meal prep and stick to your diet plan, you can skip this section. For the rest of us, stick to the basics, high protein, complex carbs, and healthy fats. Get a well-balanced breakfast first and foremost if you’ll be working out earlier in the day. The reason I like to workout out earlier in the day is because will be more insulin sensitive for whatever you’re going to eat post-workout, whether it be an all-you-can-eat buffet, or something on the healthier side. If you manage your food around your workouts you have a little more flexibility with food choices. If you load up on high volume food, think tons of leafy greens, you will be too full to eat large amounts of pizza and ice cream. Eat intelligently. Opt for the steak and salad versus the burger and fries.
Another option will be intermittent fasting, not my preferred method of diet, especially if trying to grow, but this will most definitely mitigate the damage of the typical vacation diet. If you choose this route, disregard what I said about breakfast, skip that meal. Only caveat I will have here is schedule your workout before you east your first meal of the day, that way you can replenish the body when you finish.
Activity
Walking around and staying active is your friend here. Personally, if I’m in a new location with attractions to see, it’s effortless to walk over 10,000 steps a day. The more active you are, the more indulging you can get away with. Bonus points if you are doing activities like swimming or golfing on your trip (walking not the cart), you have even more leniency. As long as you are cognizant of your activity levels and make the effort to keep them high, you can mitigate a lot of damage from eating tacos 3 meals a day.
Bonus: Time-Saving Workouts
If you absolutely do not want to spend a lot of time in the gym, I’ve constructed a few workouts you can follow to accelerate your workout and get back to what matters most—family and fun. These workouts will be more than enough to maintain your current level of fitness, rather, with the amount of food and snacks you will be eating, you can actually see some growth.
Do these plans 2-3 times a week. I recommend you do this before your planned activities or you most likely skip the workouts, again if we’re being honest with ourselves.
Workout A Full Body (Chest, Lat, Quad Focus)
2 Sets Chest Fly 8-12, 12-15
2 Sets Incline Chest Press (Machine or Barbell) 6-9, 10-12
2 Sets Pullover (Dumbbell or Machine) 8-12, 12-15
2 Sets Lat Pulldown (Bonus Points if Unilateral Machine) 6-9, 10-12
2 Sets Leg Curl 12-15, 15-20
2 Sets Leg Press/Hack Squat or Squat 6-9, 12-15
Workout B (Shoulders, Back Thickness, Hamstring)
2 Sets Shoulder Press (Machine, Dumbbell, or Barbell) 6-9, 10-12
2 Sets Dumbbell Later Raise 12-15
2 Sets Row (Machine or Barbell) 6-9, 12-15
2 Sets Seated Cable Row 10-12, 12-15
1 Set SLDL/RDL
2 Sets Laying Leg Curl 8-12, 12-15
No Gym? No Problem
If you don’t have equipment, you can substitute with this; every other day work these into your plan:
100 Push-Ups
100 Body Squats
200 Crunches/Sit Ups
50 Burpees
When you hit failure, switch to the next exercise, take 1 minute between rounds. Try to beat your time/rounds each workout.
Summary
Find a good, local gym
Liquor instead of beer. If you want beer, do light beer.
Eat your protein first, then eat your cake. Eat intelligently; salads are your friend.
Keep activity up, 10k+ steps everyday. Bonus points if you go swimming/play some type of sport.
2 Efficient Programs: one needs a gym and/or one that can be done anywhere at anytime (maybe not at the grocery store or local restaurant).