Checking In... At The Gym
By Beau:
When on holiday one of the last things most people think about is getting enough exercise and keeping on top of their training, but then there are the other people who want to make sure that when they get off the plane home they haven’t put on 8kgs of Thai street food (ME).
The last holiday I went on in June 2013 I came back home at 96KGs, now I'm around 83. Its funny, I've had so many clients go away on holiday and be like, “I actually didn’t put on any weight” or “I've lost weight being overseas!!” well the fact is that weight is a measurement of mass, but it doesn’t calculate the loss of muscle and the addition of fat.
The main thing to remember that this is a holiday, it's for relaxing and enjoying yourself, so don’t stress! That’s what goal setting is for, when you get home now you have a new goal to achieve and work towards. If you’re like me and you have been working and training hard the long rest is probably well needed. So I thought I would put together a few tips and ideas to make sure that new goal when you get home is not as hard as it could be!
1. GYM Most hotels and resorts have gyms! So this is great to try and maintain that muscle mass. You can lose your gains after a week of not working the same muscle groups in a weight training program which can result in slowing in metabolism, loss of strength, loss of lean muscle and core stability, so try and work out every 5 days on weights to maintain muscle. Make the work outs cover all of the body and make the exercises compound (several muscles at once): chest, back and legs.
2. WALKING Your first few days in a new city and country should be about exploring and being on foot. Rachel and I worked out that we had walked around Phuket for 5 hours in one morning in 30+ degree heat, our legs were sore, so so damn sore! No Tuk Tuk for us! When walking the body is working at a low aerobic state, so its burning fat sources, and walking for hours on end is going to help burning extra calories, especially when it comes time to walk up hill.
3. SWIMMING Like gyms, pools are commonly found in hotels and resorts and usually have one or more pools depending on how swanky it is. Like walking, swimming is a low intensity aerobic exercise, which if sped up can turn in to a high intensity activity. If you’re like Ian Thorpe in the pool, and can go “HAM” make sure you go as early as possible to avoid running over little kids!
4. ACTIVITIES There are so many things that you can do to have fun and get fit one how ever I don’t recommend is the grab and run! Stealing items from a market stall and running as fast as you can is a great way to get in shape, but can usually end in major injury or death, so this is not recommended. What is recommended how ever depending where you go are things like *Snorkeling *MORE swimming *Shopping (Yes, shopping ladies) *Go Karting *Learning Muay Thai *Zorbing *Joining in on local sports *Surfing *Hiking *Rock Climbing These are just some of the things that are around us in Patong right now. Asking tour guides and at reception of where you are staying can help you choose some fun activities! Now lets go do karate in the garage!
5. CALISTHENICS The art of exercise without equipment is one of my specialties. There are so many combinations of movements and angles you can work your body to get your heart pumping and head sweating! This is just a “short” list of things you can do: *Push ups + Girls *Bench Dips *Plank Up *Jumping Squats *Lunge walks *Squat hold *Pull ups *Towel row *Cycle Crunches *Leg raises *Planks *Mountain climbers *Kick twist *Bridges *Sprawls *Frog Hops *Crawls *Step ups *Sumo Squat Switch
6. YOGA/TAI CHI/STRETCHING Walking around most Asian citites you will be able to find Yoga and Tai Chi, but also in most western countries these practices are commonly found in and around city centers, if you haven’t seen any after walking around then simple use your friend Mr. Google to find one close to you.
As soon as I finish writing this blog, Rachel and I are off to shoot our Stretching guide! So if you’re not sure on how to do stretching, don’t panic! Its just around the corner. With that I say happy travels and don’t forget to stretch!
