Exercise Travel

I wish I could could say that I am sad I will miss some workouts as I take a vacation to Costa Rica in 9 days, but that would be a total lie. I'm so excited. That said, the last time I took a week off for vacation (and I mean OFF) I drank to much, didn't move a lot, and generally enjoyed myself in a totally slothful manner.

Let's be honest. A week off won't make me fat, weak, or out of shape, but my muscles shortened up, I lost some fine motor skills, and almost pulled a hammy taking two stairs at a time when I came back. So this time I want to stay moderately active. Just 5-10 minutes a day. Push-ups, running, squats, sit-ups, handstand practice. Nothing too planned, nothing too weird, just something to keep me loose so I can hit the workouts hard when I come home.

Anyone have any thoughts? Jerry Hill at CrossFit Challange suggests practicing skills when you are away and can't get in a real lung burning workout. Do L -Sits and handstand practice since these are things you probably neglect. Not bad advice. Many suggest tabata workouts since they are low tech and relatively short but pack a huge metabolic hit. Also good advice. Maybe grease the groove with some movements you want to improve on. I want to be able to do 100 push-ups in a row and I want to do Cindy (currently at 25 rounds) without having to break my push-ups. Maybe I should do 10-30 push-ups several times a day just to get the work in. Play is good exercise. I could run on the beach, sprint, jump in the water and swim. Who knows! It will be fun and I don't want to stress about it so I will do whatever seems best at the time.

What are your creative strategies for staying active on vacation?

Daily Workout:

Real Endurance! 30 minutes of 5 burpees + 200m run + 20 dumbbell swings.

For some reason, endurance is always equated with doing a single exericse for a long period of time. Why shouldn't it be constant movement of a varied type for a long period of time. The goal of this workout is not to go super fast (though fast is good) it is to not take any breaks. Pace yourself and don't use anything to heavy. This will be much better for you than 3-5 mile run in 30 minutes.