In honor of my upcoming vacation to fabulous Las Vegas for the Viva Las Vegas hot rod show this week, I am answering the age old question: Hey Coach, I’m on vacation. What do I do? I’m going to give you a few valid and possibly surprising Vacation Strength Training Options.
With that said, your Vacation Strength Training Options depend on many factors, including:
- Age
- How often do you vacation
- How long is your vacation
- Are you a competitive strength athlete
- Got a meet coming soon
- Are you strength training for fitness and health, or another reason
- What will you have access to while you are away
- And a few I can’t remember now because I really want to get out of the office and go on vacation
So, here’s my usual response to maybe 95% of clients for the past three decades:
Do nothing. Go on vacation. Enjoy it. Don’t worry about your fitness. It’ll be there when you get back.
But, I do encourage movement. Motion is lotion, so go see the local sites, walk. A lot. You see much more on foot than from a car or tour bus kids. And, if you’re feeling antsy, use the hotel gym for a fluff and buff session. Or find a local gym and go try it out, or not.
The above suggestion if for the majority of us who do not go on vacation often; once or twice a year. For people like me where that is the case, your training program should be the last thing on your mind. Go and destress. Have fun. Live life.
Really.
You will not lose all of your strength and fitness in a week.
As a mater of fact, you’ll most likely be strong(er) when you get back because your 2X fibers are fully recovered. This is like when you take a week off before a meet and are strong as balls on meet day.
Now, let’s look at other type of people who have a little more money than me, and much more ability to travel. I’ll use a very good friend and former client, we’ll call him Mr. Unpredictable.
Mr. Unpredictable was a monster in the gym. He killed it every session. I remember the first time he asked me for Vacation Strength Training Options.
I told him to go on vacation and enjoy it.
So he did.
And then a few weeks later, he was going again.
And then again.
And again.
For most of the summer and fall.
You see Mr. Unpredictable unpredictably owned a few pieces of vacation property on Martha’s Vineyard and went away every weekend. And by weekend I Thursday to Monday.
This dude had better find a gym. Or use his body as resistance.
Bodyweight training is highly under rated and is excellent on vacation, or a Deload week. No gym, no problem.
Use your body.
- Pushups
- Pullups
- Lunges of all types
- Squats
- Sit Ups
- Planks
- Glute Bridges
The list is endless.
What about strength athletes?
Well, depending on where that are in a training cycle I’d say they might need to find a gym. They’ll definitely need to find one if they are in meet prep. I’ll defer to their coach on this, but will add that if you are off season, enjoy the time off and supplement with body weight and walks.
If you are in meet prep, you should have chosen your vacation timing better! You have to get the training in.
I listed age as a factor as well.
I believe older people need the time off more than those under 35-40 given that we are talking about non athlete populations. Our older bodies with more miles on them will appreciate the rest. You might see some nagging bullshit go away after a week off too (the vacation caloric surplus won’t hurt either).
I can continue on with more details on Vacation Strength Training Options, but I think for the most part, it’s simple.
Don’t worry about training.
Enjoy your time off.
Walk and move a lot.
Unless you’re an athlete in prep mode. If that’s you, find a way to get your job done.
I’ll see you next week.
I’m off to fabulous Las Vegas to look at Kustom hot rods.
Did you miss last week’s log?
Read it here.
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Vincere vel mori
C.J. Murphy
April 17, 2024
