Traveling induces the temptation to kick back and forget all about your fitness routine in even the most dedicated of us. Though it may be easier for you to keep up your training while traveling, it may not be so simple for your clients. Maybe their hotel room is too small for their usual circuit routine, maybe their campsite is too far away from any decent running trails, or maybe laying by the pool sipping margaritas is simply more appealing than getting a quick sweat in.
Your clients may not have the spacious gym or the high-end equipment available to help them reach their fitness goals, but they can still manage to get the sweat in and keep up the fitness gains that you helped them make, pre-vacation.
One of the easiest ways for your clients to throw together a high-quality workout with very little space and no equipment is to do a Tabata workout as designed by scientist Dr. Izumi Tabata. The general premise of the Tabata is high intensity intervals with little rest. The structure is:
- Work hard for 20 seconds
- Rest for 10 seconds
- Complete 8 sets
Each round (8 sets) lasts just 4 minutes, but it’s sure to be a sweaty 4 minutes. During those 4 minutes you do just one movement. Take push-ups for example. You would perform 20 seconds of push-ups, then rest for 10 seconds. You would continue this until the 4 minutes is up.
There are lots of great timing apps out there to help you keep track of your intervals such as Tabata Stopwatch Pro, and Seconds- Interval Timer for HIIT & Tabata. The following is a list of 10 exercises to get your client started on their way to a fit summer vacation. Have them throw any of these exercises into their Tabata routine and voila, they’ve got a workout.
Air Squats
Start standing tall with feet hip width apart and then bend the knees and the hips, shifting weight backwards as if sitting down in a chair. Keep the sides of the knees pushing out away from the body, and the front of the knees in line or behind the toes. Continue bending the knees and hips until the thighs have passed parallel to the floor, driving the sides of the knees out away from the body. Straighten your knees and hips to come back to a tall standing position again.
Jumping Lunges
Start start standing tall with one leg staggered out in front of the body. Bend the knees and the hips into a lunge and then extend the legs, jumping up. While in the jumping phase, switch legs to end in a lunge with the opposite leg staggered out in front of the body. If you need lunge modifications, here are five to try.
Donkey Kicks
Start with hands and knees on the floor. With knees bent, extending the hip, kick one leg back behind.
Burpees
Start standing. Move down to the floor into a high plank position. Jump the feet towards the hands, release hands from the floor and jump up into the air with arms reaching above the head. Make sure the back stays nice and straight in line with the hips during the plank position.
Jumping Jacks
Start with the hips and knees abducted and arms reaching towards the ceiling. Jump up to adduct the legs and brings arms to the side.
Mountain Climbers
Start in a high plank position. Tuck one knee at a time in towards the chest either jumping or stepping/tapping the feet off the floor during the tucking phase.
Push-ups
Start in a high plank position. Bend the elbows, lowering the body to the floor. Keep the core tight and back in line with the hips, push up off the floor, straightening the arms.
Sit-ups
Start laying on the floor with legs straight or legs bend and feet flat on the floor. With arms either extended straight behind the head or across the chest, flex the core pulling your chest all the way up to the knees, or to a tall seated position. Slowly lower back down.
Planks
Start on the floor on either hands or forearms and toes. Keep the back straight in line with the hips and knees straight and hold the position. There are many plank variations you can try!
Supermans
Start laying with the front of the body on the floor. Extend arms straight out in front, and pull the front of the thighs and arms off the ground, using the back and glute muscles to do so.
Give this workout a try yourself and then teach it to your clients who will be traveling. Modify as necessary or add additional rest periods is appropriate. Help your clients to combine these exercises or any others you’ve been using in their training to gain and maintain that fit, summer, traveling body.
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Hanna Riley B.S. in Kinesiology, NFPT CPT is a passionate trainer, writer, and graphic designer. Hanna's greatest passion is working with people who want to better themselves physically, mentally, and spiritually. She believes that we are all stronger than we think and she aspires to extend patience, kindness, education, self-motivation, confidence to her clients to help them unleash their strength. For more from Hanna, connect on social media on Facebook as Hanna Riley and Instagram as @house.ofhanna.
