This is MedMind. The newsletter for science backed tips to optimise your diet, sleep and exercise.

In this edition, we cover:

🏄‍♀️ What you need to do to maintain your fitness on holiday.

🧘 Is working out on holiday worth it?

🤸‍♀️ How to get a full-body workout with no equipment

When I first started working out seriously about five years ago, I would equally seriously stress out about holidays. More precisely, I would be worried about how to work out when I was away from the gym at home.

“How long before I lose all my progress?”

“Can I sneak a workout in between travelling?”

“How can I hit my protein target for the day?”

⬆️ All questions I would ask myself before and during a holiday.

Over time, it was easy to forget that workouts are meant to be (at least a little bit!) enjoyable, and I found myself not enjoying them at all. This may be something that you also experienced. A sense of repetitiveness when you are supposed to take a break from the routine. The fine line between staying disciplined but also thinking, “This isn’t as fun as it used to be”.

If so, maybe you need a change, and what better time to do that than when you are on holiday…

How to stay fit on holiday. And enjoy it.

It is easy to get bored of repetitive activities. It is therefore easier to skip workouts that you have done many times before. So, if you do want to stay active on holiday, you could find an alternative to your usual routine.

There are many ways to give your body a cardiovascular and resistance workout on holiday. And the beauty of it is that it all depends on where you are going.

If you are by the sea, you might want to try:

• Surfing/ windsurfing

• Running on the sand

• Beach volleyball

• Beach Yoga

A trip to the mountains might see you:

• Mountain biking

• Hiking

• Trail running

If you are going for a city break:

• See if there are any clubs in the area offering free tryout sessions. This could be any sport or activity you have been interested in doing or something completely new, such as martial arts, Pilates, or basketball.

• Going for a swim at the local swimming pool

Wherever you are, there will likely be a vast array of new things to try out and challenge yourself with.

What’s more, is that new activities are likely to activate muscle groups that you have not used much before or that are not required for your usual workouts. You might also discover a passion for a sport you would never have tried otherwise.

If you are on holiday with your family or friends: get them involved too. It is a great way to make your workouts more enjoyable and motivate yourself. Working out by yourself can sometimes be isolating and studies have shown that group workouts can lead to more consistent workout patterns and improved mental health benefits.

Is it even worth it?

You may (rightfully so) be wondering if working out on holiday is worth your time. A good starting point in answering this would be to address the questions that my younger self had asked:

“How long before I lose all my progress?” - you will start seeing a decline in muscle strength after around three weeks of non- exercise. The timeframe is similar for cardiovascular endurance.

“Can I sneak a workout in between travelling?”- yes you probably can, but will it be a good quality workout?

“How can I hit my protein target for the day?”- by eating largely the same things you would at home. Protein is protein.

These answers guided me to question whether a week off from my usual workout routine really would be a massive disaster. They might have done the same for you. You will unlikely lose strength or endurance after only a few weeks off. And do you really want to stick to your keto diet at an all-inclusive hotel? Enjoy the food on offer!

When you started your fitness journey, you might have been told that regularity and discipline are key to achieving your goals.

This is true, but when your mental/physical wellbeing suffers it may be time to discipline yourself in other ways.

If you suffer a knee injury, you don’t keep squatting the same weight you did before or play sports at the same intensity as pre-injury. You give it a week or two of rest and then slowly ease it back into the routine. In the same way, our mind and body need to rest from the routine of regular, identical workouts.

And a holiday is the perfect time to do that. You can maintain discipline by committing your time on holiday to other activities; you might even find them more challenging than working out. Some examples:

• Dedicating 20 minutes every day to meditation.

• Reading 20 pages of a non-fiction book every day

• Not using social media/ your phone for the duration of the holiday

These activities nourish and challenge your mind in ways that exercising your body rarely does. If you have never meditated before, I can guarantee that sitting still and focusing on your breath for 15 minutes will be harder than a 45-minute HIIT circuit!

Plus, some of them (like not using your phone) would be virtually impossible UNLESS you were on holiday. Digital detox holidays are rising in popularity and have been shown to improve sleep and mental health.

So when thinking about if exercising on holiday is worth it, consider whether you could use that time to give your body a rest and challenge yourself in ways that you usually don’t have the time to do.

Full body workout with no equipment

Below, you can find three levels for the full body, no equipment workout: one for beginners, another at intermediate level, and another that is more advanced. At all levels, it is important to do some dynamic stretches before your workout to minimise the risk of injury. If you are unsure of your level, start at the beginner workout, and if you find it easy, work your way up.

If you happen to come across a pull-up bar or a bench during your workout, you can use these to modify and improve the workouts (also detailed below)

Beginner level

1. ½ mile warm-up run

2. Complete the following sets of exercises as many times as you can in 10 minutes. Each set should consist of 10 reps with 20 seconds of rest in between.

   • Knee push-ups (if you find these easy, you can do regular push-ups)

   • Squats

   • Mountain climbers

   • Lunges

   • Reverse snow angel

Intermediate level

1. 1 mile warm-up run

2. Complete the following sets of exercises as many times as you can in 20 minutes. Each set should consist of 12 reps with 20 seconds of rest in between.

   • Push-ups, varying hand position to target traps and chest

   • Squats

   • Leg raises

   • Lunges (can modify this to single-leg lunges with one leg raised on a bench or platform)

   • Reverse snow angel (if you can find a bar, this is a great time to start practising pull-ups. If you cannot do a pull-up just yet, start by hanging for as long as you can)

3. ½ mile warm-down run

Advanced level

This workout will require a pull-up bar and a bench/ platform for single-leg lunges. You can usually find bars in a nearby park or recreation centre. You can also buy one like this that hangs onto your doorframe.

1. 1 mile warm-up run

2. Complete the following exercises. Try to aim for no more than 1 minute rest between cycles. Complete the following cycle 5 times.

   • 5 pull-ups

   • 10 push-ups

   • 15 squats

   • 5 chin ups

   • 10 push-ups with diamond grip (even better if you can do a tricep dip)

   • 15 single-leg lunges

3. 1 mile warm-down run

So, in summary:

• Consider changing your usual workout routine when on holiday

• Challenge your mind in ways that you normally wouldn't through reading or meditation

• Try a no equipment full-body workout

MedMind Weekly Wellness Challenge

Pick a new sport or activity and make the first step in engaging with it. This could be signing up for a session at a local club, downloading a meditation app or choosing a new book to read for 15 minutes every day.

It should ideally be something that you have wanted to do for some time but have “never found the time to do it.”

As always, leave any questions you have in the comments and make sure to check your inbox for the next issue!

All the best,

Jan