I’ve been lifting weights regularly for the last six months, and I’m finally starting to see some results. It’s really great.
But in a week and a half, I’m flying home to the States for about two weeks. I don’t think that joining a gym for two weeks is an option, so I’m trying to think of a way to keep up my training while I’m at home.
I don’t necessarily have to make any big gains during that time. I’m more concerned with not losing what I’ve gained up to now.
My usual routine invovles all the classics: barbell bench presses, dumbell curls, squats, etc. One idea I came up with on my own was to pick up a couple of dumbells when I get home that are a good average weight for my dumbell lifting (most of them hover around 10kg at this point), and just making due with those for a couple of weeks.
I know there are some experienced weight lifters on this board. Do you have any advice? Better ideas about how I can keep up my triaining or at least prevent any big losses? Or am I worrying too much, and two weeks out of the gym is really not going to hurt my training that much?
Many chain gyms (NY Sports Club for a fact) let you do a free 1 week trial membership. Find a gym in the area where you will be staying, sign up for the 1 week trial and work out there.
A two week lay off won’t turn you into a pencil neck. You should exercise, but don’t obsess over the muscle issue. You can, and should, do plain old fashioned calisthenics to work each major muscle group. Remember, just like muscle didn’t go on overnight, it doesn’t come off overnight either. Enjoy your vacation.
The week before you go on vacation, bust your balls. Do too much in the gym. Work through all the soreness you can stand. That way, you get to use your vacation time as recovery time, and you might even see some muscle gains during that time.
I like the dumbell idea. You could also go running and do a bunch of pushups and crunches. Use this time to do something different, to kind of shake up your routine a bit.
I second this. These rest periods must come along anyways, so use this as a good opportunity. Eat a lot of wholesome food and do some lower body cardio such as jogging (not swimming) to aid in active recovery. These are the times you get the best muscle growth gains, during rest periods just like this. Just keep the circulation up with cardio.
I third the “bust your ass before you go…”
Rest is just as important. Do some pushups and running, maybe if there is a gym with a daily membership, go once a week and just hit it short and light
Enjoy your vacation and don’t sweat it
Now that’s probably the best way-use your body’s resistance to excercise. You won’t get size, but you will get tone and strength. On different days, perform different types of pushups; hands by the waist for triceps, hands apart & left of shoulder for chest, and then form a triangle with index fingers under chest.
After several sets of push-up w/ increasing reps. do another excersise. Don’t forget pull-ups if you can find a way to do them. Lunges are great. So are Squats. You can also hold heavy books as you do situps.
A lot of communities have rec centers that will have weight rooms. Your family might even belong to theirs. You can check out trial memberships (as someone else said) and you could pack some light weights for a toning workout.
Also, you can watch Bodyshaping at 4:00 am. They do a couple cardio workouts every day, plus simple and sophisticated weight routines (some with machines, some without).
The gym I go to and some others around here will let you pay per visit. $5 the first visit then $7 per visit after that. You may need to be a guest of a member but I’m not sure about that.
Otherwise the kick it in the ass before you go approach sounds pretty good.
I went on vacation for 4 days after Christmas and didn’t keep up my routine. It derailed me for the next couple of weeks. I applaud you on making an advance plan.
If you’ve got furniture, a treadmill, and something you can use as dumbbells, you can give this routine a try. But if you’re going to do that, don’t bust your ass before the vacation, as this is definitely not a light routine.
I second (or third or fourth - whatever) the opinion that you probably won’t lose any muscle mass over a week and a half. However, you should keep up the cardio, and if you really want to continue lifting, using your own body weight, as previously suggested is a good idea. Another option you might also consider is resistance bands. They’re portable and cheap, and you can purchase them in a variety of resistance levels. Here’s a link to the section on resistance bands on Body Trends’ Web site. Body Trends
I would recommend the resistance tubes. You can buy them in one of five resistance levels from beginner to advanced and you can stuff them in your suitcase. If you click on the resistance tubes link, you’ll find pricing and also suggested exercises.
