10 ways to stay active on holiday

Everyone likes to indulge on holiday. But holidays don’t need to adversely affect your fitness goals. You may be jetting off to a resort that includes a gym, pool and yoga classes – in which case, staying on track is easy! – but you may need to take a more ad hoc approach to your fitness routine. Check out our 10 ways to stay active.

Use an app

Let your smartphone be your personal trainer and use a fitness app. Providing step-by-step instructions for little to no cost, there are pages and pages to choose from. We love the Nike+ Training Club (free for Android and iOS) which categorises its workouts into strength, endurance, or mobility with varying levels of difficulty. There’s also a Nike+ community where you can share your progress with others.

Make resistance bands your new best friend

Bored with your run-of-the-mill body weight exercises and looking for that extra oomph to make sweat a little harder? Add in resistance bands to your workout. Requiring hardly any room in your suitcase, this small addition to your holiday suitcase will work wonders.

Commit to swimming

If your hotel has a pool or access to the sea, don’t just use it as a means of cooling down between intense sunbathing sessions. Take a swim rather than a dip by wearing goggles and counting your laps. The sea can also be a great natural workout, the current adding some extra resistance that makes you work that bit harder.

Buddy up!

Enlist a family member or friend to use the hotel gym or pool with you. Having someone to hold you accountable, or someone you can hold accountable is a fail-safe method for staying active. Travelling solo? No worries. New app FitMate Social means you can swipe to find workout partners in your area.

Go au natural

When nature’s at your doorstep why not use what you’ve got. New jogging routes, hiking trails and cycling paths will be a change from your usual haunts at home – an interesting and fun alternative that is sure to keep you motivated.

Explore a city by bike or foot

Rather than jump in taxis or take a bus tour why not meander around a new city on foot. Not only will your step count surge, but if you do happen to get lost you can think of it as extra distance covered. Who knows, you might even discover some hidden gems along the way.

Get a local gym pass

If you’re lucky enough to be going on holiday for an extended period of time, then why not live like a local and get a gym pass. This is also a good opportunity to see how they do things abroad – how their yoga varies from your go-to class at home or how their trainers approach fitness.

Stay hydrated
The golden rule to successfully staying active, at home, or abroad is stay hydrated – especially when on holiday in hot countries. Drinking water is vital to replenish your system so you’re able to carry out your workouts. So don’t forgot to throw an empty bottle in that suitcase.

Be sensible

It’s OK to relax your regime on holiday – after all it’s supposed to be a break. Have a little fun, but keep moving and don’t go overboard on the cocktails – the excess of sugar will leave you feeling groggy and will take a toll on motivation to work out. Try sticking to spirits and healthy mixers such as soda water instead.

Set goals

Set your intentions before you go and you’re likely to stick to them. Fail to prepare – prepare to fail.