Confessions of an Exercise Addict on Holiday
Every so often, I'll get a question from someone who wants to know how to stay in shape when they go on vacation.
"I'm going on vacation in a few weeks, and I don't think that I will be able to devote much time to training," wrote one reader.
"But I don't want to lose all the strength and muscle I've worked so hard to build. In your opinion, what would be the best way for me to maintain my current shape while I'm away?"
This is a good question, not just for people who are going away for a week or two, but for anyone who's busy at work (these days who isn't) and wants — at the very least — to maintain their current level of conditioning with a minimum time investment.
The first thing is that you won't lose that much muscle after a week or two off, although you might return to the gym a little weaker.
When they lose strength, most people assume they've lost muscle as well. But this isn't necessarily the case.
A study that looked at the effect of 14 days of inactivity on the strength and size of the thigh muscles shows a drop in muscle strength without any reduction in muscle size [2].
Instead, the decline in strength was due to a "decreased ability of the nervous system to stimulate muscle."
In other words, a couple of weeks off might reduce your strength slightly, but it's not going to have a great deal of impact on muscle mass.
So, even if you were to go on holiday and do nothing at all, I don't think you need to worry too much about losing large amounts of muscle.
If you do want to do some form of exercise while you're on vacation, here's one important rule-of-thumb to remember:
It takes a lot less exercise to MAINTAIN your current level of conditioning than it did to GAIN it in the first place.
For example, a study from Canada shows that you can get by training just once a week and still maintain muscle strength.
For the study, researchers placed subjects on a full body resistance-training program for six weeks.
They were then assigned to one of three groups for a further nine weeks. Group one didn't train, group two trained just once per week and group three trained three times per week.
During the final nine weeks, subjects who trained only once per week were able to maintain strength in both the lat pulldown and bench press. Strength in the squat actually increased.
Other studies show similar results — strength gains can be maintained with resistance training just once or twice a week [3].
The same principle holds true for cardiovascular fitness.
Research published way back in 1981 tracked a group of 12 subjects who took part in a 10-week exercise program [1]. The program involved cycling and running for 40 minutes, six days each week. This was enough to increase fitness levels by an average of 20-25%.
Subjects were then placed into one of two groups, and continued to exercise for a further 15 weeks. Group one trained at the same intensity and duration on four days of the week. The second group did the same thing, but trained only twice each week.
The researchers found that cardiovascular fitness remained the same in both groups. This is despite the fact that group two was only training twice each week, while group one was training four times per week.
In short, you can maintain any given component of fitness (be it muscular strength or cardiovascular fitness) with a lot less work than it took to develop it in the first place.
And it appears that training INTENSITY (how hard you work), rather than frequency (how often you train) or duration (how long you train for) is the "key" to maintaining your conditioning.
In other words, if you've been used to training at 80-85% of your maximum heart rate, then make sure to maintain that level of intensity if you cut back on the frequency and duration of your workouts for any length of time.
Likewise, if you've been lifting weights that are 85-90% of your 1-repetition maximum, then make sure to keep them at or around that level.
if you do want to do some form of exercise while you're away and you find that your hotel "gym" is nothing more than a couple of pink dumbbells and a rusty old "Life Cycle" from 1978, then take a look at the video below.
It's a highly effective bodyweight workout from Craig “Turbulence Training” Ballantyne. You can do it anywhere — on the beach, in a park or wherever there's a bit of open space.
Although I don’t agree with Craig on his “just say no to cardio” stance, he’s done a great job of creating a fat loss exercise system that you can do with little or no equipment and still get great results.
About the Author
 My name is Christian Finn. I run a private "members only" website designed to help people burn fat, build muscle and get strong.
If you want accurate, honest and in-depth reviews on the latest "hot topics" in the world of fitness, you're confused by all the conflicting advice out there, or you just want some training routines that will give you better, faster results, click here now to learn more about how I can help you.
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References
1. Hickson, R.C., & Rosenkoetter, M.A. (1981). Reduced training frequencies
and maintenance of increased aerobic power. Medicine
and Science in Sports and Exercise, 13, 13-16
2. Deschenes, M.R., Giles, J.A., McCoy, R.W., Volek, J.S., Gomez, A.L., & Kraemer, W.J. (2002). Neural factors account for strength decrements observed after short-term muscle unloading. American Journal of Physiology, 282, R578-583
3. Bell, G.J., Syrotuik, D.G., Attwood, K., & Quinney, H.A. (1993). Maintenance of strength gains while performing endurance training in oarswomen. Canadian Journal of Applied Physiology, 18, 104-115
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