You are going on vacation and urgently need a break from everyday life, but you also don’t want to break the workout routine that you have worked hard for. What to do?
You may be considering packing your yoga mat, free weights, and resistance bands to try and hold out, but before you do, here’s some helpful advice from a local fitness professional that could literally relieve your shoulders and leave a little extra space in your trunk.
According to Jeffrey Harrison, personal trainer and owner of Jeffrey S. Harrison Fitness of Lower Pottsgrove Township, consistency is the most important thing when it comes to fitness on vacation.
“The more consistently you stick with things, the better,” said Harrison.
There are many things you can do in a vacation setting to keep yourself active so that you have no problem getting back to your regular training schedule when you return.
“You can kayak, run and run and ride bikes to keep your constancy,” he said.
The idea is not to repeat your workout at home by lugging the equipment to your vacation destination, but instead use what is available to you on land or in the water.
“There are so many opportunities and opportunities to optimize nature outside,” said Harrison. “There’s a boardwalk, bike paths, the beach – swimming in the sea or in the bay is also a good source of activity.”
Overall, Jeffrey said that vacations shouldn’t be an excuse for not resuming daily physical activity, but rather that you shouldn’t feel like you have the same expectations of yourself.
“Your vacation workouts don’t have to be as involved as your home workouts,” he said.
Harrison suggests committing to a specific amount of time each day that you devote to physical activity, but it’s okay not to commit to a specific time like you might be doing at home.
“As long as you can manage it, time doesn’t matter,” he said, adding that some may still prefer to get up than their household to do it and get the day out of the way.
But since one of the nicest things on vacation is not the daily routine, you can get your fitness together with your family at a time of the day that naturally suits everyone, e.g. a group kayak tour.
Of course, for those who feel like they absolutely cannot give up their normal training routine, virtual personal training sessions are an option, but Jeffrey notes that his clients who go on vacation are usually not inclined to sign up for to register this service that it offers.
“We joke about it and then nobody takes me in,” he said.
Harrison reminds us that ideally a vacation should be about taking a step back.
“Life is super fast and everyone is talking about how busy they are,” he said. “When you are on vacation, you have this time to relax, unwind, rejuvenate and refocus.”
A real vacation experience can actually work in your favor when it comes to getting back on track when you return home.
“You will come back refreshed and in a better position to take better steps to achieve the goals you want to achieve,” he said.
Harrison said it was also beneficial to unplug while on vacation. He personally checks his e-mails in the morning and then switches off his phone for the rest of the day to avoid the fear of always having to check in with his technical devices.
For those who are always on their fitness trackers, Harrison recommends leaving them at home or tucking them away on vacation to give the watch and yourself a break.
“For some, it has become so much who they are – they always look at their numbers,” he said. “Try disconnecting your watch for vacation.”
Vacation is a time to take a break from monitoring your heart rate while exercising and forget about counting steps and calories burned. Instead, just make it a point to do daily physical activity without meeting any conditions.
“Don’t worry about any of the other stuff,” Harrison said. “Just get your body moving.”
