Picky and Healthy

This is going to be a post where I’m really freaking pleased with myself. Normally I am not good at working out on vacation. When I was running regularly it was somewhat easier, I could do that any where, or if I stay in a hotel with a gym easily accessible I can be somewhat better, but really, I kind of suck at working out when I go away.

That’s why, this vacation, I went into it with a plan.

Before I went away I found five workouts online, printed them out, along with instructions for stretching, and tucked them away in my suitcase.

How did it work out? Pretty damn well! I worked out four out of six days. I had planned to do five out of six days, but I was tired and sore after three days of intense workouts so I decided to give myself a break.

Here’s what I did:

Sunday: No Equipment Needed Cardio Circuit
Monday: 1000 Calorie Workout (for the squats and crunches I did different types each time)
Tuesday: No Nonsense Circuit Workout (I did the squats without weights and regular crunches)
Thursday: Jump Rope ‘n’ Abs Circuit (the last three sets of crunches I did different types since I didn’t have a ball or weights)

And the workout I never got to.

My original plan was to run a mile, do the circuit, and run another mile. The only day I did that was Sunday. On Monday I ran a mile, but my right achilles killed my the whole mile so after that I said enough running, I’ll do the things I actually enjoy.

One thing I found really helpful was the Seconds Interval Timer that I downloaded for my iPhone. I entered the intervals for Sunday and Thursday and it made the easy workouts that much easier. I found that I preferred the time intervals to the intervals where I had to count to a certain number of reps.

I really liked how my plan worked and it’s definitely something I plan on replicating on future trips. I think now that I’ve been taking kickboxing I’m used to having my workout be planned out for me and be varied. When I’m away I have no choice but to plan for myself, but planning in advance give me so much more motivation to get out of bed than if I would have had to come up with something that morning.

I also managed to get in my 10,000 steps every day when I was away, another thing that I am very proud of. Some days it was easier than others, but I made sure I did it every day (I don’t wear my pedometer when I workout so the total doesn’t include the miles I ran or any of my movements during the intervals). The only bad thing is that my pedometer, which resets at midnight, is set to eastern time (obviously) so at 9pm Pacific time it would reset for the day. I’m sure it came out even, but it kind of irked me.

What’s your favorite way to get in a workout while on vacation?