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Routine is key to staying in shape. Healthy breakfast at home, gym in your lunch hour or pickleball after work, a fresh-cooked meal at dinner time.
But what about when you’re on holidays or travelling for work? Routine goes out the window, the siren song of the breakfast buffet can be impossible to resist, and your local gym or tennis court is hundreds of kilometres away.
To the dedicated fitness fanatic, skipping workouts for more than a day or two is like going without sleep. You feel worse physically, your mental acuity plummets, and special holiday treats such as an ice cream or a glass of wine with dinner start to weigh on your mind and your waistline.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. Below are seven ways you can have your cake and exercise it off, too.
Note: If you are over 40 or have not exercised regularly in a long time, you should consult your doctor before starting any new fitness program.
This is a terrific option if you’re staying in a holiday park or near the beach, as you can simply step out of your cabin or caravan, have a quick stretch, and set off. Things get trickier when you’re staying in a hotel room in an unfamiliar city, but check Google Maps to see if there are any parks or boulevards nearby that will give you enough space to get your heart rate up without getting run over. Additionally, the Strava app is a great resource for finding popular running routes (together with an obligatory time to beat if you’re that way inclined). Best of all, Jogging is a terrific way to explore the geography and attractions in a small town.
Fitness experts are sometimes asked, “If you could only do one exercise for the rest of your life, what would it be?” The answer, almost invariably, is push-ups. When done properly, the humble push-up works nearly every muscle group in your body, making it extremely effective at burning away last night’s crème brûlée. Best of all, you can do push-ups just about anywhere, from a six-star penthouse apartment to the crummiest shoebox motel. Gym rats can simulate incline/decline bench press by doing push-ups with their hands or feet on stairs if available.
Depending on whom it belongs to, a suitcase can weigh anywhere between 10kg and 25kg. That’s more than enough for the average person to get anaerobic and keep muscles in shape. Probably the best suitcase exercise is upright rows – brace your legs and back and use the rubber handle to lift the suitcase from the floor to just below your chin. Provided it’s not too wide, you can also wrap your arms around the suitcase and deadlift it to work your legs and glutes. Bicep curls are possible with a smaller suitcase. If you’re a muscle head or your suitcase is on the lighter side, simply up the repetitions – you’ll be surprised how quickly light becomes heavy.
Drifting from the spa to the swim-up bar and back isn’t going kill many kilojoules, but if you’re holidaying near the beach or at a resort with a larger pool, swimming laps is the ideal way to stay in shape during summer. It’s low impact, great for aerobic fitness, and a swim followed by a shower is an invigorating way to start the day. Some larger hotels and resorts have indoor and heated pools, making swimming an all-year-round option.
More and more councils around Australia are installing exercise equipment in parks for public use. A chin-up bar, sit-up bench, and back pulldown and chest press machines are common inclusions. While this equipment relies on the user’s bodyweight for resistance and might seem remedial to seasoned exercise junkies, combining 20-50 repetitions at each station with jogging or running will deliver a full-body workout in just 15 minutes.
Today’s travellers, especially those away on business, want a place to work out – and many modern hotels understand this. Before booking your accommodation, check each website’s facilities list and see if it includes a gym, or at least a partnership with a local gym. Some hotels take their gyms more seriously than others and ‘gym facilities’ could mean a single bench, a few dusty dumbbells, and a treadmill that doesn’t work. Multiple professionally shot photos depicting what’s on offer is a good sign.
Keeping trim is 80 per cent diet and 20 per cent exercise. No one can outrun a week of junk food and few have the willpower to say no to dining out while on holidays, but there are simple steps you can take to minimise the damage.
If you’re driving your car and there’s a fridge at your destination, leave some space in the boot to bring along an esky of the basics – cereal, milk, bread, cheese, spreads, fruit etc – or do a quick shop on arrival. When breakfast and lunch are readily available in your cabin or holiday house, it’s much easier to make healthy choices for two thirds of the day’s meals (and it ends up a lot cheaper!).
When you are eating out at a restaurant or café, try to choose healthier and protein-rich options that will fill you up without piling on the calories. Egg, fish, beef, and chicken dishes are usually a sure bet, but try to avoid anything creamy or fried. Hot chips are the worst – a high calorie food with minimal nutrition.
All of the above will mean you can enjoy that chocolate lava cake or gelato without it weighing on your conscience or your waistline!
