Many people manage to stick to a fitness routine when they are at home, but on holiday they swap the gym work and running for drinking and big meals. It doesn’t have to be this way! Fitness is a journey and it doesn’t end when you get on the plane. Of course, you can indulge, but with a plan in place you can stay fit on your holiday and come back looking just as good as when you departed. With the help of Maxinutrition, retailers of protein bars, you can make sure you’re feeling fit throughout your stay.
Cardio is key
Use the sea for a work out.
On holiday, cardio is the first thing to leave your mind. This is a surprise when you remember one of the main things in any holiday: The pool.
Swimming helps to burn calories, as it is a great cardio exercise. It’s also a low-impact exercise and is suitable for every body type and shape.
Swim lengths of your hotel pool, alternating between medium pace and swimming as fast as you can. Train early in the morning to give your body a calorie-burning boost that will last all day. Alternatively, take to the sea and swim against the waves for resistance.
Either classed as a chore or a thrilling exercise, running on holiday has its benefits and drawbacks. Running barefoot along the beach is one of the best ways to give your cardio system a real boost because running on sand uses more energy as your foot sinks into the soft surface. It’s less impactful on the joints than conventional road running, too.
Body conditioning
If your hotel or resort doesn’t have a gym, there are workouts that you can do in your room to condition your bodyweight.
Press-ups are a great exercise and build your arms, chest, shoulders and core and can be varied with narrow-grip, wide-grip and plyometric pushups (throwing yourself up from the ground with every rep).
The king of all exercises is the pull-up. Finding a suitable spot to do them can be tough, but often a doorframe or door itself can be used. Alternatively, try a tree branch but make sure it can hold your weight.
These will build your back, arms and chest like few other exercises. Pull-ups — where you invert your grip so your palms are facing towards you — are known as chin-ups and help build the biceps.
With a chair, or even a sunbed lounger, tricep dips can be a great exercise to perform. Just sit on the chair, put your hands behind you, scoot your bum off so your legs and rear are hovering off the ground, then dip down and come back up.
Squats can also be performed anywhere and build your legs, back and glutes. Do straightforward squats or jump up each time you come up (plyo squats).
You can keep your core in check by performing ab crunches and leg raises. Alternate sets of these will keep your holiday dinners hiding behind solid abs.
Nutrition
A holiday is your time to splurge, eat and relax. By following some simple tips though, you can mitigate the damage done and keep yourself healthy.
To start, avoid drinks that bloat your stomach. You could also switch heavy carbohydrates for meatier dishes with a variety of fruits and salads.
Salads and fresh fruit always taste better in warmer weather. You can always pack some nutritional supplements too, such as the bite size products from MaxiNutrition, as they will help keep your goals on target.
