How To Get In Shape For Vacation
If you are going on vacation, it only makes sense to want to be in the best shape. The right physique will be essential in helping you take part in activities such as hikes while also carrying you through any tedious drives and flights along the way. To ensure you are ready for your next trip, here are some ideas on how to get in shape for vacation.
Start With Easy Exercises
If you are new to exercise, start easy with simple exercises to get you moving. Examples include cardiovascular-based movements, with 20-minute jogs or walks during morning or evening hours acting as a good start. Others such as swimming, walking, and hiring new bicycles for a ride will also be good alternatives. If you have previously done little to no exercise, make sure to check with your doctor first to ensure you’ll be okay.
After this, you can then proceed to bodyweight exercises, with the most common workout options for this being pushups, squats, burpees, and lunges. When performing these exercises, including a day of rest, to help your body recover from the increased strain on your muscles. However, your day-offs should still have a few light exercises such as walking, as this will help keep your blood flowing while also reducing any stress on your body.
Strength training follows suit, with a couple of exercises being leg presses and chest presses that you can perform in 3 to 4 sets. These come with the benefit of increased metabolism, helping you burn off excess calories and fat. If you have access to kettlebells and dumbbells, these can also work well for strength training.
Level Up With High-Intensity Interval Exercises
After mastering the above exercises, you can now begin your high-intensity training. This includes activities that target muscle building and aerobic capacity. Performing these will require you to alternate between moderate exercising and vigorous exercising, such as one minute of sprints with two minutes of walking for approximately 20 minutes. Just like moderate exercising, take a day off to let your body recover.
Remember To Stretch
Stretching may not seem like much, but when stuck on long flights or going on hikes, your body will need endurance due to the increased strain. Ensure you get in at least one minute of stretching each day to reduce any tension in your hamstrings and calves. A good stretching exercise for this will be yoga. Downwards facing dog will, for instance, allow you to benefit from increased flexibility in your muscles and back to reduce stress during movement while on your vacation.
Focus on Healthy Meals
Healthy eating will also play a significant part in how to get in shape for vacation, with food being an essential component of getting fit and adopting an overall mindset change. If you are looking for ways to reduce your body fat, begin by eliminating processed food and take away meals. This means cutting out your alcohol intake, smoking habits, sweets, and soda consumption. These items often lead to increased weight gain, a lack of focus, and decreased energy and will jeopardize any exercise plans that you may have. Replace these with fresh foods such as vegetables, healthy nuts, and vegetables. Aim for a balanced plate of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. In addition to this, increase your water intake. Water keeps you hydrated while you exercise while also ensuring you stay fuller for longer, helping you reduce unhealthy eating.
Adopt Proper Lifestyle Routines
Apart from eating the right kinds of food, getting a regular sleeping and eating routine also comes in handy when looking for ways of how to get in shape for vacation. For starters, plan your meals to ensure you reduce any impulsive takeaways when tired or hungry. Ensure you also have all the right ingredients in your pantry beforehand to help out with your meal preparation. Remember to also take your meals as failure to do so will slow down your metabolism, which will result in more body fat. In addition to this, try eating your dinner earlier, where possible, at least 3 hours before bedtime. By cutting out late-night dinners, you will allow your body to rest appropriately and get the best out of your meals, with the long-time results being a flatter stomach.
Make it a point to go to bed earlier when night-time sets in and wake up when the sun rises. The proper sleeping habits will allow your body to heal and rest, helping you boost your physique over time. It will also help you stay sharp and relaxed while performing your exercises.
Introduce Healthy Snacks Between Meals
Replacing your former go-to meals with healthier alternatives will undoubtedly be challenging to get used to, which is why you need to introduce healthy snacks between your meals to avoid going back to unhealthy snacking. The best way to go about this is to choose snacks that speak to your sweet preferences and those that come with nutritional benefits to help you replace and build worn-out muscles. Introduce protein smoothies and healthy fats to your diet, such as coconut and almond milk alternatives. You can also switch up fried potato chips for baked chips, allowing you to cut out saturated fats that often come with an increased risk of fat gain and lifestyle diseases such as diabetes.
Get a Health Check-Up
As you physically gear up on how to get in shape for vacation, your health also needs a quick check-up. Make it a point to book the following health care services:
Dental Appointment
Before heading out on your vacation, ensure you have your cosmetic dental care appointment. Numerous vacation places may lack specialized cosmetic dentist care during your trips, with some requiring expensive costs for your care. Due to this, ensure that you have your oral hygiene checked out to reduce these hassles.
Get Your Eye Surgery Appointment
If you struggle with your vision, getting Lasik eye surgery will be an essential part of how to get in shape for vacation. Chances are you want to be in charge of your vacation escapades, with the freedom to drive yourself around without extra help. This surgery comes with the benefit of improved vision, helping you take in the sights on your vacation without any need for glasses or contact lenses. Ensure you get your appointment weeks before your vacation to help you fully recover from any side effects of the procedure. This can include blurry vision, dry eyes, and sensitivity to light, which wears off after a few days.
Visit a Chiropractor
Traveling during vacation comes with the added discomfort of constant sitting, whether on your bus journey or flights. Due to this, your back, neck, and legs experience the most disruption, with long hours of sitting likely to cause stiffness resulting in long-term stress. While looking for other tips on how to get in shape for vacation, make it a point to visit a chiropractic physician. Chiropractors will help your body get ready for the new change, ensuring they ease any back and neck pains while on the move, ensuring you enjoy your vacation without any disturbances.
Get a Hearing Consultation
Getting hearing aids when hearing loss sets in is another way of getting in shape for vacation, bringing with it the comfort of improved cognitive function that keeps you in the loop of everything around you. By getting an appointment with your specialist, you stand to benefit from a better quality of life. Improved hearing allows you to be part of the conversations and sounds around you, going a long way in ensuring you enjoy time in the outdoors while also reducing your stress levels. Additionally, getting assisted hearing before your vacation comes with the guarantee of easing your way into activities such as exercising to help keep you in shape before your trip.
Tips for Health Check-Ups
Schedule Check-Ups In Advance
While getting check-ups, make it a point to schedule them at least eight weeks in advance before your trip. Depending on your preferred vacation spot, some regions require visitors to get specific vaccines, with some taking a few weeks to be effective. Some may also not be readily available, so make sure to inform your family doctor of places you intend to visit before making any vacation arrangements.
Get the Proper Advice
If you also have any underlying medical conditions, a medical check-up will come in handy in guiding you on the various ways on how to get in shape for vacation. This means adopting the correct exercises to build your strength and getting the right food if you have conditions that require special diets during traveling. If you also have allergies to certain medications and food, your doctor will make recommendations on the do’s and don’ts during your travel, helping you stay clear of any harm as you prepare for your trip.
Practice Intermittent Fasting
Intermittent fasting comprises another way on how to get in shape for vacation. Acting as a weight loss alternative that also helps with improved metabolic health, intermittent fasting comes in various forms, with the most common methods being:
The 16/8 Method
For this method, you will be required to fast every day for 14-16 hours and limit your eating to 8-10 hours. If, for instance, you finish your dinner at 8 p.m., wait until noon the next day to eat your next meal. It means skipping breakfast, after which you have the option of taking two or three meals during your scheduled eating period. To get the benefit of this method, ensure you stick to healthy food and avoid junk food. During your fasting period, you can drink beverages free of calories and water, with the latter being the best alternative to reduce hunger in between meals.
Spontaneous Meal Skipping
Spontaneous meal skipping will also come in handy when looking for alternative ways on how to get in shape for vacation. As the name suggests, this approach requires you to skip meals when you do not feel hungry. This can mean skipping breakfast when you feel full and getting your regular lunch or dinner. Take note that your meals still need to lean towards the healthier options to help you get your desired shape for vacation.
Try a New Diet
There are certain diets that can be helpful in the short term when you want to lose weight and get in shape. Below are a few of the diets you can try.
Whole 30
This diet is designed to be done for only 30 days, which can make it perfect to do right before you go away for vacation. For this diet, you cut out all processed sugars, dairy, gluten, alcohol, legumes, junk food, and grains for 30 days. This helps you with inflammation, losing weight, and other various benefits. It’s a great way to jumpstart weight loss or to see big results in a short amount of time.
The Warrior Diet
The warrior diet resembles the paleo diet, involving raw fruits and vegetables throughout the day with a large meal for dinner. For this method, consider sticking to whole, unprocessed food. This includes legumes, vegetables, nuts, eggs, and seafood.
Get a Fitness Partner
When your motivation for how to get in shape for vacation runs out, a fitness partner will be an excellent tool to have close by. Your partner can be your workout coach or a friend joining you on your trip. Make it a point to share your fitness goal with your partner to help them gauge your progress as time goes by. When your lack motivation to get up and to move, your partner will push you to your desired goal, ensuring you keep up with the right pace. Having someone guide you along your journey will be crucial in helping you get the right routine, from helping you identify the proper workout routine to meal preparation right from the start. They will also act as a sounding board for any unrealistic targets that you may have in mind.
With the above-listed methods of how to get in shape for vacation at your disposal, getting fit has never been easier. Whether your preference lies in exercising, getting track of your doctors‘ appointments, or utilizing intermittent fasting techniques, the above guide will help you keep up with your fitness journey in time for your vacation. Before making any major changes to your lifestyle or diet, make sure to check with your doctor first.