Summer, Vacations and Exercise? Fitting It All In!

July and early August are traditionally heavy vacation and/or traveling months for many people (gas is $4 a gallon!)! Your workouts don’t have to take a vacation! Just be a little creative and you can have fun this summer and still workout. Here’s a good goal: try to at least maintain your pre-vacation body fat and weight upon return from your vacation and try to decrease your body fat and weight by at least 5% during the summer!

The picture above is my vacation condo location in Kissimmee, FL. It was easy to run in this location (just watch out for the alligators)!

Sometimes the location of your vacation or summer travel spot can make working out fairly easy. For instance, if you are going to the mountains, hiking is an ideal exercise activity. And, if you are going to be close to a beach, running in the sand is a good exercise. If you are staying in a hotel, most hotels have exercise rooms. Just plan your workouts along with your summer travel. Afterall, you want health and fitness to be a part of your lifestyle.

Here are some more pointers for your workouts during the summer or on vacation:

1) Keep your stability (swiss) ball and a set of dumbbells with you. You can get in a good 30 minute workout anywhere with these two pieces of equipment.

2) If you don’t want to keep equipment in your car, you can do a bodyweight workout anywhere. 

3) Keep a jump rope with you.  A 30 minute jump rope workout always works and is one of the best exercises for burning calories and fat.

4) Plan fun games (such as water basketball, water polo, relays) for the weekend with friends. The best exercise is fun exercise.

5) Visit the local health club where you will be visiting or vacationing.  Some health clubs have agreements with your health club. A new workout atmosphere can be great motivation and a great place to meet new people!

6) Plan a hiking expedition if the vacation location allows for this type of activity.

7) Take your workout DVDs with you. They will probably work in your hotel television!

Stay on your nutrition plan at least 85% of the time! This is a tough one but you can do it!

I think you get the idea. Have a great summer and vacation and stay safe!

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Mark Dilworth, Performance Enhancement Specialist   My Fitness Hut