By Anthony Dyson
Last year I wrote a piece on our mindset for holiday/ travel workouts and how we had spent an extensive period of time looking at it the wrong way. We were stuck in a cycle of thinking we needed to improve our fitness while on holiday but the case was that if you can just maintain, you will have a much more relaxing and enjoyable time away. You can read that piece here (Holiday Fitness: My mindset switch! ) if you want to catch up.
Today I thought I would follow that blog up with one based on the gear;
– we have taken in the past
– we do currently take
– and the stuff we don’t bring along with us anymore
Plus a few of our go to workouts and some links to collections of bodyweight travel workouts for your perusing.
Let me start by saying that we have found that an elaborate collection of gear is NOT needed. We have been super guilty of that, even to the point of leaving life stuff out of the car to fit in equipment. That’s just insane but hey, we have made the mistakes so you don’t have to. And remember that this isn’t an exhaustive list by any means, just some of the gear that we like to take and some of our go to workouts. There is an infinite amount of combinations out there so have fun putting it all together.
Equipment that’s in our high rotation:
• First things first, the number one bit of equipment that you can take on your trips is YOU…yep you, the owner of that amazing human body. You can spend 1min googling bodyweight workouts and have a list for weeks or you can just go to a park and roll, crawl, flip, jump and squat for 30mins and I promise that you will feel alive. Not to mention that quite often when in a regular gym going routine that we can overlook the importance of bodyweight work. You can look at your trip as a way to focus on this aspect of your fitness for a change.
But if we are taking gear (Lets face it, we do most of the time)
Likely
• Dumbbells: We regularly take 2x 20kgs and 2x10kgs with us. These are on top of the list for us as we have found that next to Kettlebells they are the most versatile for a huge range of workouts. They don’t take up much space and are easy to store in the bottom of the Car/Ute.
• Kettlebells: We take anywhere from our 24kgs down to 8kgs sometimes. Like the Dumbbells they are extremely versatile and can be used in so many different ways. A little bit trickier than the dumbbells for storage but not a deal breaker.
• Weight Vest: Now this isn’t a bit of equipment that everyone has access to so if not, that’s cool. If you do then I’d throw it in. Packs flat so it doesn’t take much room and if nothing else gives added resistance to every bodyweight workout or walk/run.
• Speed Rope: Whether we use it every time or not it basically always finds its way into the car. Takes zero space and if you’re short on time it can give a quick and mean workout.
• Resistance bands: Another non-negotiable in the car every time. We use them for warm ups mostly but have had nights where a busy day has left us little time or space so we used them solely to add resistance to a quick bodyweight workout.
Sometimes
• I usually have a weighted pack with me so that’s a good way to add weight to any walks but lately I’ve just substituted with the weight vest. A weighted pack can be a good choice if you don’t have access to a vest.
• Deadballs: We have taken our 40 and 20kgs once or twice and found them quite versatile but the packing space is a negative. If we were doing an extended trip in a house or hotel I’d be inclined to throw them in but for any short or camp style stays they just aren’t practical.
Taken before but never again
• Wallballs: We have once packed our 9 and 6kg wall balls but found that with their limited use that the premium of space is higher than their usability. Most movements you can do with the wall ball can all be substituted with a Dumbbell or Ketllebell.
That’s pretty much all of the stuff that we take and have taken though I’m sure I’ve forgotten something.
Of course, if you are running a fitness camp or going away just as a fitness trip with friends than I would try and find the space for a barbell and bumpers plus some other bigger equipment but that would be extremely rare.
Road workouts we have completed
This isn’t an exhaustive list but some that come to mind
Dumbbells:
Dumbbell Mini ‘DT’ Quick Bro Sesh
3 rounds for time 3 sets of 8-12 reps
12 Deadlifts Bicep Curls
9 Hang Power Cleans Strict Press
6 Push Presses Skull Crushers
20/10kgs each hand Floor Bench
20/10kgs each hand
20min Partner AMRAP
Wearing a weight vest complete a 200m hill run and 10 DB Snatches
@ 20/10kgs
One partner works and one rests in a round for round style until completion
Kettlebells:
15 min KB Complex
Using a 16kg for men and 8kg for women
15min continuous complex of single arm
Clean & Press
Snatch
Clean & Press
Snatch
Swap arms and continue in this fashion
Rest can be at any stage during the 15mins but KB cant touch the ground
5 rounds for time
Wearing a weight vest complete 5 rounds for time of
10 squats with KB’s in a front rack hold
10 push ups
@ 16/8kg KB’s
Can be done without vest or KB’s for intensity
Deadballs:
Deadball ‘Grace’ 8 min AMRAP
30 deadball clean & jerks for time 7 deadball front hold squats
@40/20kgs 15m DB carry
7 DB front hold squats
Try not to put it down for the 8mins
That’s a small list of some of the workouts we have tried and tested.
In conclusion, travel fitness is pretty easy, it just takes some planning and commitment. Keep it relatively simple and try for some short, intense workouts and then get back to enjoying your break! Remember that you won’t be improving fitness and just worry about maintaining while having some fun with something different to your normal fitness routine. I hope you can find some inspiration for your next trip from this post 🙂
Do the work
Stay Strong
Be Active
Dice
Link to bodyweight travel article from End of Three Fitness: Bodyweight Workouts
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