The holiday is on and the beach is calling. Watermelons, white sand beaches and sun. Actually everything sounds perfect, if it weren't for the omnipresent fear of losing the fitness and muscles built up over the year.
As a rule, there are two types of fitness fanatics: one looks for a gym at the holiday destination and continues to train as usual, while the other does nothing at all and takes a break from training on holiday. However, if you are passionate about your training, it will be anything but easy for you not to touch a barbell for a few weeks or even days. Bad moods, nervousness and an oppressive feeling of being underutilised are just some of the feelings many people have to deal with.
Viewed objectively, it does not hurt to suspend two to three weeks a year. Some regenerative processes sometimes take three weeks, so a complete repair of overloaded muscle and connective tissue is a very good idea now and then. So if you do heavy fitness training all year round, then a somewhat longer break is often exactly what the body needs (urgently) in order to be able to get back on track.
Easier said than done! If you decide to continue training on vacation, this article will show you some approaches that will always help you when there is no gym available. Especially those who are not a fan of package holidays and like to travel far away from the streets and "civilisation" can even broaden their horizon in terms of training with the following 3 possibilities.
1. High repetition rates
Concentrate on the strength endurance area when training on holiday - this is too often neglected anyway. Many people train for years in the 6-12 repetition range, so use your holiday as an opportunity to improve, for example, in the 15-30 repetition range. However, realise in advance that you won't actually build muscle in this repetition range, but you will maintain your muscles and increase your strength endurance and general fitness. This in turn will help you to beat your old bests once you return to your old training plan.
Do bodyweight exercises like dips, pull-ups, knee bends and push-ups. Use what your environment offers you to make the exercise more difficult. If there is no bar for pull-ups then hang from a wall ledge or something else. You won't be able to do as many repetitions as usual, but that's the wonderful thing. You deviate from your training plan and your routine and set new stimuli. There's almost always a possibility for dips, too, whether it's stair railings, assembled chairs or children's playgrounds.
2. stretch/Stretching
Flexibility is important in strength training. Although sufficiently known, almost nobody takes the time for it. On holiday you have the time - and a few stretching exercises can be done on the beach as well. Stretching often falls by the wayside because everyone prefers to plan their limited free time with fitness training or endurance sports. But if you are deviating from your usual strength training anyway, why not use the newly gained time to improve your flexibility? No aids are necessary and stretching exercises can be done anywhere. The internet is full of tutorials and instructions for exercises for each muscle group.
3rd PAKAMA Bag
When you own a PAKAMA bag, you have an almost unlimited number of exercises for all muscle groups in the whole body at your disposal. The investment is worth it, because with the "gym in a backpack" you can train anywhere and anytime - even on a branch on the nearest tree. Fitness training on holiday is easy with the "gym in a bag".
Many of the exercises from the PAKAMA Training App require strong intramuscular coordination. If you then switch back to the machines in the gym, you will be able to work with significantly more weight. Or maybe you won't want to switch to the machines at all and you can integrate some of the exercises into your training plan in the gym.
Depending on how long your planned vacation is, it makes sense to plan some training units during your vacation. This way you can pick up where you left off after your holiday. However, holidays are primarily for recreation, so don't spend the whole day training. "Chilling" is extremely good for regeneration!
