Generally, when we think about training our ‘core’ we think about doing sit-ups and crunches. Recently, a lot of fitness professionals have been saying that there are other ways to train the core, even without using sit-ups, crunches, or other seemingly ‘old school’ exercises. They’re saying you can do standing exercises like running with high knees, single-leg knees lifts, and tuck jumps. They’re saying you can do planking exercises like holding plank for a period of time, going from high-plank to low-plank, and planking while running on the spot.
Archive for the ‘Travel Fitness’ Category
What is your Favourite Vacation Workout?
As a fitness professional, it is important to keep clients on the right track when it comes to health and fitness. There is an excess of information in the media constantly bombarding people with information about how to lose weight, new fad diets, exercise regimes, etc. Whether this information is reliable or not is a whole other story. One thing that we as professional have to continuously do is stay away from unreliable sources and encourage our clients to do so as well.
However, when it comes to exercising, I have always believed that the more you talk to and watch people, the more you can learn about how to incorporate variation into your workout regime. The last thing you want is for your body to become complacent with a certain mode of exercise that you’ve been doing for years. If the body isn’t constantly being challenged, introduced to new movement patterns, or higher intensities, it will plateau and you will no longer see results.
In previous blogs I have outlined some great travel fitness ideas. To see my travel workout tips, check out Last Minute Vacations’ Travel Fitness Blogs: ‘Travel Fitness 101: No Equipment Workout’, ‘Beach Yoga for Intermediates’, ‘A Different Kind of Cardio’, ‘How to Sculpt Killer Beach Abs’, ‘Beach Workouts 101: The Skinny on Swimming’.
Like I said earlier, in order to keep your body guessing, it’s always good to introduce new exercises to your regime. So, tell me. What is YOUR favorite vacation exercise? Lets get a discussion going and help each other out so that the next time we’re on a vacation, the exercise room treadmill won’t be so daunting.
Looking forward to hearing your ideas!
Gillian Johnson, BA CSCS
Gillian Johnson is the blogger and editor for LastMinuteVacations.ca, Canada’s source for last minute vacations from Vancouver with great deals on packages.
Beach Yoga for Intermediates
Whether you are an exercise enthusiast, or just enjoy the pleasures of being outdoors in a new location, it is always a cathartic experience to exercise in a beautiful environment. If you are looking for a relaxing yet challenging exercise routine for your beach vacation, try this intermediate beach yoga routine. It will not only awaken and strengthen the muscles of your legs, arms, upper back and core, but it will invigorate your senses and allow you to take in and appreciate your surroundings. So, grab a beach towel or a yoga mat and hit the beach nice and early in the morning before it gets too crowded for a relaxing workout.
Keeping the Kids Active on Vacation
Childhood obesity is on the rise in North America. In Canada, childhood obesity has tripled over the past three decades. On average, 7% of young people attain the recommended level of 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per day. These soaring numbers, along with the increasing waistlines of our children, present a major problem when it comes to the health of our future. We have to start teaching our children to be active and remain active, whether they are at home, at school, or on vacation.
A Different Kind of Cardio
When we are traveling (or at any time for that matter) we don’t want to fall back into the same monotonous workout routine. The stationary treadmill or elliptical is a great way to escape the cold weather back home, but when in a new place, why not try something different? And when I say different, I mean completely different. Jogging and other repetitive motion cardiovascular exercises are one-dimensional and do not mimic how the body moves. Here are some exercises that will not only challenge your cardiovascular system, but will also play with different planes of movement which will in turn engage many muscle groups.
Working Out in Your Optimal Heart Rate Range
Whether you are working out at home, at your gym or on vacation, a good tool to monitor your level of exercise intensity is to calculate your optimal heart rate range. By knowing your target heart rate range, you can determine your exercise intensity to achieve your exercise goals.
The first step is to calculate your maximum heart rate. This can be done most easily (although not always accurately) through the age-predicted maximum heart rate equation. The reason it is not always accurate is because if we are testing an elite athlete, they will always exceed these numbers. Therefore, for extreme groups, a lab test must be used in order to calculate more accurate results. However, for an average individual, the following equation will work just fine:
Drink this, Not that
The swim up bar, the beach tiki hut, and the bracelet that allows unlimited access to both. This, my friends, is what all-inclusives are all about!
If your mentality is anything like mine, then this guide is for you.
Usually on vacation, we throw caution to the wind and load up our plates with breakfast sausages, bacon, French fries, and whatever else we feel we must take advantage of on the buffet table. However, not only do we tend to eat what we want, we drink what we want as well. Without hesitation, we order margaritas, pina coladas, and other sugary drinks that we just love to indulge in while basking in the sun.
The question is, if you were properly informed, would you still make the same decisions?
Here is a list of drinks that are commonly ordered as well as suggestions for some alternatives, along with their calorie counts. You might be surprised at what you are allowing yourself to sip on.
Working Off Holiday Indulgences
The holidays are here, and so are the bottomless jars of Christmas cookies, glasses of egg nog, and the endless supply of gravy soaked turkey leftovers. Like every year, there is no shortage of calorie consumption.
As we know, it is much easier to pack on the pounds than it is to shed them. This poses even more of a problem when you plan your family vacation down south during, or directly after, the holidays! Here are some ways to burn off some of those holiday calories:
Controlling Your Travel Stress
Somewhere amongst your travel experiences you’ve probably run into a delayed/cancelled flight or a hotel that has had no record of your reservation. Immediately, your nervous system kicks in by releasing a flood of stress hormones including adrenaline and cortisol. Your heart pounds faster, muscles tighten, blood pressure rises and your breath quickens. These are physical responses to a stressful situation. These are responses that you do not want to be burdened by while on vacation.
Travel Fitness 101: The ‘No Equipment’ Workout
The perfect workout to do while traveling uses little equipment and allows you to exercise in your new surroundings. In this workout, no equipment is involved and you will need somewhere to jog (or substitute with jumping rope if you are not outdoors).
For intermediate – advanced exercisers, do the following exercises 3x with 20 repetitions of each.
For beginner exercisers, do the following exercises 2x with 15-20 repetitions of each.