Tips To Maintain Your Personal Fitness Goals On Holiday
If you’ve worked really hard so far this year to build up strength and muscle mass, you might be in two minds about an upcoming holiday: sure, everyone likes a break from the daily grind, but you are worried about stalling or reversing your progress. Here are some easy tips for staying on track during a break that don’t involve packing a barbell.
Aim for a maintenance phase
It’s not realistic to expect progress or your personal best while you’re away. Instead, aim to move into a maintenance phase so that you don’t lose your momentum, but aren’t pushing to break new ground. This will preserve strength and muscle mass and keep those positive mental habits alive, without the hard work of actively bulking or burning fat.
Work out your minimum effective dose
The minimum amount of training you need to do will depend on your current fitness and individual goals, but if you’ve already made reasonable progress this year, there’s no need to pack in six sessions a week: even two or three well-planned sessions will do the trick. Aim to train each major muscle group at least once per week.
Prioritise compound movements (those that work multiple muscles together) rather than isolation movements that focus on a single muscle group. Even 20 to 30 minutes of resistance training per session will keep you ticking over.
If you think you will struggle with motivation, or just aren’t sure how much or what type of training to do while you’re away, consider using an online fitness coach for guidance. They’ll be able to offer you expert tailored advice because they’ve already been there and done that.
Work with the availability of equipment
It's possible that you don't have access to a hotel gym or enough luggage space to pack resistance bands. If this is the case, don’t panic: it’s still possible to maintain with bodyweight only exercises. Don’t underestimate the power of slow-tempo squats, push-ups, wall sits, and planks with shoulder taps to maintain strength.
Aim for 10-12 reps or 30-45 seconds for each movement, pushing yourself hard but keeping each session to no more than 20 or 30 minutes. This way, you will keep those muscles and habits alive without eating into the time for the rest of the stuff you want to do on holiday.
Factor activity into your days
If your usual holiday mode is lying by the pool with a glass of something cold, try to change things up a little this year. Plan a daily swim, games on the beach, paddleboarding: whatever inspires you to stay active. Even a stroll after a heavy meal will help to improve your fat metabolism and blood sugar regulation.
Don’t deprive yourself of holiday food
Part of enjoying a holiday is trying new foods or just eating what you want. Aim to eat some protein with every meal if your goal is muscle retention, and stay well hydrated.
Remember that holidays are for relaxing, and if you follow these simple tips, you won’t undo your progress.