Beauty Spot

TAKE A BREAK

Maintaining your fitness while on holiday is not as difficult as you think.

OUT OF OFFICE is on … suitcase is packed … dog is with the neighbour … passport is by the front door … you’re off on your holiday and you cannot wait.

Except for one thing … that nagging thought in the back of your mind that this well-earned break will undo all your progress in the gym.

The hotel has a fitness centre – but you don’t want to be ‘that’ person.

So how will you stay fit on holiday and manage to enjoy yourself?

The answer is really straightforward.

You do not have to worry about it.

HOW MUCH MUSCLE WILL YOU LOSE ON HOLIDAY?

According to the State of the Nation report by Roy Morgan in 2019 focussing on Tourism; the average Australian overseas holiday is 21.6 days which, is not a long time to abstain from training. WORDS ADAM BERRY

However, just because you aren’t in the gym, it doesn’t mean you aren’t preserving or continuing to build muscle.

You can build muscle by doing all sorts of activities like walking, hiking, surfing, jet skiing, horse riding, even the occasional dip in the resort pool – it’s not just about being in the gym.

When I have a client who is relatively new to exercise, any movement helps them to get stronger – not just their gym workouts – and we make sure we focus on maximising other forms of movement.

It’s the same when you are on holiday … plus you just don’t lose that much muscle in 21 days.

A study by Manchester Metropolitan University found that if you totally immobilise someone, they lose only 5-10% of muscle mass in 10-21 days.

‘Totally immobilise’ – now I am lazy on holiday, but I am not totally immobile.

Added to that, another study in the Journal of Sport Sciences found that over a 16 week period, beginners who completely ceased training only lost 5% muscle and 22% strength.

When you are on holiday, you will have moments of complete rest, but you will also still continue to move – maybe more than when you are pinned to the desk in the office.

Keeping your muscle mass up is important, and if you can get one workout in a week on holiday you will see no noticeable changes as long as you get back on track when you return.

Also, in terms of diet, keep the protein up to preserve your muscle mass but don’t fret it too much.

HOW MUCH BODY FAT WILL YOU GAIN ON HOLIDAY?

This is a particular worry for those of you who are on a weight loss journey.

I come bearing good news here as well.

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According to research, in order to gain one kilogram of body weight you need to eat an extra 1,000 kcals a day over your maintenance level.

That 7,000 extra calories a week is the same as 12 Big Macs or 50 cans of soda.

Half of each kilogram is body fat and half is water, therefore to gain one kilogram of body fat you need to eat double that amount … 2,000 extra kcals a day.

Which is a lot.

The study also suggests that if you keep the protein high, then the impact of fat gain is smaller.

And if you eat more, you also move more – so that will help keep things in check as well.

It also found that the net gain of 61% of participants who put on weight on a holiday between one to three weeks was 300g and the average weight gain was 400g.

The key part to this study is that is also showed ‘a decrease in physical activity in the weeks following vacation’.

To conclude, your holiday doesn’t impact your fitness as much as you think it does.

The main cause and effect in place here is that you think a holiday is having a greater impact on your fitness than it really is – and that leads to a lack of motivation to get back on track when your break is over.

You don’t need to stay fit while on vacation – because you don’t lose fitness when you're there.

You should enjoy your holiday period – because that is the point of a holiday – then when you get home, just slip back into your routine and the significance on your fitness will be inconsequential.

You can literally have your cake and eat it too and I think that’s pretty epic.

Now I’m off to the travel agent …

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