Traveling over the holidays, we sometimes land so far physically and mentally from the gym that distance alone pushes the daily fitness routine quickly to the backburner. Family is around 24/7 and party obligations abound. Excuses pile up and all of a sudden we are regressing in our fitness plans right before the new year arrives.
So let’s say you’re out of town for 7-14 days over the holidays and you know you’re going to be in a tight spot for keeping on track… what exactly do you really and truly need to accomplish?
The first strength to diminish when left untrained is cardiovascular strength. In other words, if you don’t do cardio for 7 days in a row, you’re going to be cursing yourself when you get back on the treadmill much more so than if you neglect to touch a dumbbell. And I mean… CURSING yourself. It will be so much harder to do the same cardio you just did a week ago that you’ll wish the holidays never happened. So my #1 rule for traveling clients is that you must perform cardio 3x a week for 30 minutes while out of town. If you do nothing else right, do not fail in this. Guarantee it happens by stepping out your door first thing in the a.m. (maybe even before everyone else is up) and walking a few blocks before picking it up to a brisk jog.
If you can’t go outside because it’s freezing cold where you are or your family is stuck to you like glue, try to do body weight circuits in the house. Pick a combination of 10 of the exercises listed below, in any order and perform them for a minute a piece. Run in place for a few minutes to warm up, stretch any tight jet-lagged muscles. Complete three rounds with as little rest as you can without feeling out of breath until you’ve filled 30 minutes of time: jumping jacks, squats, push-ups, imaginary jump rope, hop side to side, hop forward back, crunches, planks, side planks, forward lunges, reverse lunges, side lunges, vinyasas (downward dog/plank/upward dog), mountain climbers, slow motion burpees, oblique crunches, shadow boxing, inchworms, etc. Make sure to warn your family what you’re up to so they don’t think you’ve gone bananas!
Be safe in your exercise choices and just move yourself. The energy released from this activity will help soothe the holiday stresses. So sucker a family member into joining you, jump around in your living room, run the neighborhood, and enjoy the mix up of a home-based holiday fitness routine!
