The easiest holiday exercises…

The question of what exercises to do whilst away seems a particularly pertinent question to answer, as holiday season is upon us!

If the accommodation you are staying in doesn’t have a gym and with the meagre baggage allowance on most airliners these days, there is no chance you can take any equipment with you over and above a swimming costume. You don’t want all your hard work pre-holiday to be lost, but you also don’t want it to be really tough, so here are a few exercises that won’t take you long and will incorporate what you have around you. Try 2-3 sets of each, depending on time:

In the hotel room/Villa

• Using the bed or a chair/sofa as a bench/box – 10 x incline press ups, 10 x decline press ups, 20 x mountain climbers, 10 x crunch sit ups, 10 x step ups, 10 x burpees, 20 x squats, 10 x Bulgarian split squats

• Using a bath towel on the floor – 10 x diamond sit ups, 10 x bicycle crunches, 10 x Russian twists (weighted if you can), 10 x single leg lifts.

• Using the stairs instead of the lift – running up and down the flight of stairs for 5 minutes (see how many sets you can do and if you can improve on it the next day)

Around the pool

• Using the sun lounger – (using your bottle of water as a weight) 20 x Biceps curls per arm, 20 x triceps extensions per arm, 10 x lateral arm raises per arm, 20 x glute/hamstring extensions (per leg)

• Using the pool steps – 20 x step ups with a knee drive at the top if its safe to do so, 50 x leg swimmers, Russian lever on the handles of the steps or if no handles then by the side of the pool (see how long you can hold it for and try to beat your time each day).

In the pool

• 50 x high knees, 10 x lunges (side and front, in the shallow end), 20 x star jumps.

To add to the intensity, improvise with your weights by using a full bottle of water instead of a dumbbell. If you are away with the family, using one of your children (if they are a bit younger 😉 as a weight is always fun. Ask them to stand straight and still like a soldier and pick them up so their weight is across your chest and you are using your arms to hold them up. They make good core bags!

And of course, remember to stretch out your muscles after your workout so you are able to repeat this the next day and avoid the midday sun when working out!

Happy Holidays!

PS – I have demonstrated a few of these workouts on my Instagram page – check them out and have a laugh at me by the pool! @work_in_your_work_out