This may create a quandary for the person seeking the right program to use. In today’s depressing environment of laziness, horrible eating, and reliance on technology to move us from point A to B, I believe any physical activity is better than nothing, so let’s go with it.

I’m all for busting your ass in training – safely. But understand hard work and time have an inverse relationship, generally. That is, the closer you come to a one hundred percent effort, the shorter your workout time will be. Think all-out sprinting: an all-out sprint ends sooner than a 50%-effort run. All said and done, the greater your intensity, the shorter your workout time. So, which is better – shorter and extremely intense or longer and moderately intense? It’s a subjective topic and similar to the apples versus oranges debate.

But for certain, as I mentioned, something is better than nothing. I think you would all agree with that. I completely understand that sometimes people have limited time to devote to meaningful exercise due to work and family obligations. That being a reality, let’s look at some viable options that fit a busy lifestyle. If only 10-minute segments fit into your daily schedule, here are some workout suggestions.

10-Minute Workouts You Can Do Anywhere – Workout 1: Running Only

Simply go for a 10-minute run as hard as hard as you can. Your running pace will diminish quickly, but keep pushing hard for the duration. It’s amazing how those 10 minutes of all-out effort will put a strain on your cardiovascular and energy systems. Ultimately, it may put you in the fetal position. Remember, something is better than nothing.

10-Minute Workouts You Can Do Anywhere – Workout 2: In Your Home

Only equipment required: a pull-up bar/device and dumbbells or a barbell. Disclaimer: this could be the worst 10 minutes of your fruitful life. But remember, it’s only 10 minutes of your 24-hour day. One minute of the following exercises, with no rest between them:

• Burpees
• Squats
• Push ups
• High or low-bar pull ups
• Bicycle crunches
• Jumping jacks
• Mountain climbers
• Bar or dumbbell overhead press
• Run in place
• Burpees

10-Minute Workouts You Can Do Anywhere – Workout 3: Resistance Equipment Required

Five exercises performed to volitional muscular fatigue at a 10 repetition goal, using a 4-second raising (“up”) phase and 8-second lowering (“down”) phase with no rest between exercises:

1. Multi-joint leg exercise – a squat, leg press, or dead lift.
2. Overhead Press – using a barbell, dumbbell, or machine.
3. Pulldown – using a either a close or wide grip via body weight or on a plate-load or selectorized machine.
4. Chest press – using a barbell, dumbbell, or machine.
5. Low row – using a barbell, dumbbell(s), or machine.

It’s amazing what you can accomplish when time is minimal – provided you work hard. Not much time? Now there’s no excuses.

The post Three Easy 10-Minute Workouts to Fit Anyone’s Busy Day appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

On the other hand, there is the other group who cuts all ties with anything resembling fitness, healthy eating, or other habits for well-being while traveling. They see their travel plans as a big, bold green light to eat what they want, sleep all they can, and throw most, if not all, of their caution and good habits to the wind.

Find a Middle Ground

I feel the key is to not to belong to either group. There has to be some sort of happy medium in place in order to maintain your fitness levels while enjoying the very vacation you planned. Of course, this applies to business trips, as well.

The first step in reinventing your perspective about fitness on the road is to welcome the event. Many will stress about the availability of a gym, access to healthy foods, and sleep schedules. I suggest you welcome the change and welcome the foreign feeling of a little of the unknown. Your purpose isn’t to train, eat, sleep, and repeat. It’s to enjoy your travels and experience new things with people you enjoy being around—it isn’t to fill up your day with workouts, food prep, and perfect recovery practices.

Shift Your Paradigm

So, step two will be a paradigm shift of sorts. Mentally shift your perspective from that of home life to life on the road for a limited time. Be prepared for change and be willing to adapt well ahead of time. Accept that your schedule will be sporadic and unpredictable at times. This preemptive strike will ensure that you are equipped for anything. However, I can’t emphasize enough the fact that you should also enjoy your time on the road, away from the familiar.

With a new perspective, and your willingness to let loose for a while, it will behoove you to formulate a plan of sorts. Not only a plan but several plans. Normally, when you’re traveling you have to curb your normal training practices. If you find a gym, it’s not necessarily your gym. It’ll have different equipment or will be less equipped than what you’re used to.

You’ll need to shift gears on the fly. Have a plan and a backup plan (or two). Have a go-to vacation workout program that is brief, a little less intense, and doable practically anywhere. So, instead of heavy sets of squats, leg presses, and Romanian deadlifts taken to failure with heavy weights, choose more moderate weights and reps since your recovery isn’t as on point.

Also, look to new experiences as a part of your fitness plan. Hiking, biking, climbing, water sports, etc. all have fitness benefits. Try not to put your love of fitness in a box that requires a certain gym with certain equipment. Expand your horizon and accept more modes of training that you may never have been exposed to in the past. Training this way will ensure you’re getting in a workout that, at the very least, will maintain your current fitness level and provide you with a possible much-needed break from the norm.

Recovery Will Be Off

While on the road, it goes without saying that your recovery ability won’t be on the up and up. Sporadic eating schedules, sub par foods, and lengths of time without eating can hinder training performance. It’s okay. Don’t expect to set new personal records on the road.

At the same time, don’t get too lazy either. The last thing you need is to come back from vacation with a pile of personal fitness homework to do—you can do a lot of damage in a single week if you try hard enough. Besides, being active on the road will give you more energy and motivation to get out and do things. Isn’t that why you went on vacation in the first place?

Don’t Go All Nicholas Cage

This last point is for you out there that go all out every day. You’ve been called obsessed, overly-dedicated and, at times, not that fun to be around due to the aforementioned points. Don’t focus so much on training and nutrition on the road. Have your plans in place, but then try not to stress and schedule grueling, high-intensity training sessions at 4 am pushing yourself to the point of nausea.

Leave the crazy dedication for home and enjoy who you’re with. Employ these guidelines:

• Accept things will be different. You’ll encounter sporadic eating times, foods, training facilities, etc.
• Shift your mindset and adopt an alternate perspective when it comes to training and nutrition.
• Have an alternative plan of action for training and nutrition. Set up modified workouts and meals ahead of time. Try new, fun activities.
• Keep in mind that recovery (eating and sleeping) will vary and that you’ll need to keep intensity in check.
• Look forward to the future. Whatever happens, know that you’ll simply get back to your normal schedule once you’re back home.

The post Manage Your Fitness on the Road appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

This article is dedicated to those readers who enjoy staying in shape but have to travel for extended periods of time. Since consistency is so important in achieving improvement, having to frequently travel can throw a frustrating wrench in your training routine. This is true especially if your chosen physical activity is a sport as complex and demanding as muay Thai.

Sometimes when you travel it will be to places that have every amenity a gym rat like myself could desire – gyms loaded with kettlebells, barbells, rings, heavy bags, huge mats, and great instructors. Other times it will be to places that don’t have a single thing and don’t even know what a gym is. My recent traveling experience was to the latter.

During my last out-of-state adventure, I found myself in the town of Stonington, Maine. Stonington is a small fishing town with a population of 1,043, and it is located on the edge of the known universe on the southernmost portion of Deer Isle. Its natural beauty is absolutely astounding and beyond compare.

The forests surrounding the town are lush and old, and the ocean is clear as crystal. For my first couple of days in this beautiful place I was more than content to just relax and enjoy the serenity of my vacation. Then I started to get “the itch” and I wanted to train. Every athlete reading this knows exactly what I am talking about.

Athletes define themselves though physical movement, so when we stop moving we start to get a little antsy. I felt my conditioning start to slip and I became restless. The one thing I have always hated about traveling is coming back to the gym, sucking wind, and feeling as if I never trained in the first place.

In Stonington there was no gym, no muay Thai, no training partners, and not even a pull up bar or a jump rope. Just me and a ton of nature. I decided to make the most of it and use whatever I could to get in some decent workouts. Below are five simple calisthenic workouts I used to keep my conditioning sharp and prevent myself from losing my mind.

Monday

• Single arm push up x 3,2,1
• Pistol squat x 3,2,1
• Handstand with 5-second hold x 3,2,1

Perform in a circuit with an emphasis on form and max tension

• Follow with a 30-minute trail run

Tuesday

• Shadow boxing 10×3 min rounds
• Mobility work x 15 minutes

Wednesday

• Shadow boxing 3×3 min rounds

Then:

• Jump squat x 10
• Sprint x 40yds
• Strict push up x 10

Rest for 2 min then repeat for 8 sets

Thursday

• Mobility work x 15 minutes

• Follow with a 3-hour hike

Friday

• Single arm push up x 3,2,1
• Pistol squat x 3,2,1

Perform in a superset focusing on form and max tension

• Follow with a 60-min trail run, and every five minutes alternate performing 10 jump squats or 10 jump lunges

Stonington photo by Captain Albert E. Theberge, NOAA Corps (ret.). (NOAA Photo Library: line2890) [CC-BY-2.0 or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.

The post Improvised Fitness: For When You Find Yourself in the Boonies With No Equipment appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

1. Simple Two-Knee Twist

Purpose: Wrings out internal organs for detoxification, relieves low back pain.

Lie on your back with knees hugged to the chest. Place your arms out to the sides, pressing firmly through the shoulders. As you exhale, lower the knees to the right. Keep your head centered or gaze left. If the left shoulder lifts then move the knees away from the shoulder. Hold for one to two minutes. Engage the abdominals to bring knees to center. Switch sides.

2. Downward Facing Dog

Purpose: Stretches the back and hamstring muscles.

Start on your hands and knees, then walk the knees back about a foot. Lift your hips into the air and press the chest and thighs back. If the back rounds, then bend the knees while still lifting the hips high into the air (pictured). Hold for thirty to sixty seconds.

3. Lizard Pose

Purpose: Stretches the psoas and groin muscles.

From downward facing dog step the right foot forward between the hands. Lower the left knee down and back as far as possible. Press the left hip and glute forward and down. Place the hands or elbows to the ground on the inside of the right foot. Hold for two minutes and then switch sides.

4. Pigeon Pose

Purpose: Stretches the glutes and psoas muscles.

From downward facing dog bring the right knee behind the right wrist. Place the right foot in front of the left hip. Extend the left leg straight back behind the left hip. Keep the hips even and allow them to relax toward the floor. Lower onto the elbows and let the head rest on the backs of the hands. If lowering to the elbows is too deep, then stay propped up.

5. Feet Up the Wall

Purpose: Stretches hamstrings, drains stagnant fluid from the feet and ankles, and improves circulation.

Sit sideways with your hips touching a wall and swing your legs up the wall, lying flat on your back. The arms can rest alongside the body or overhead. Hold five to ten minutes. (And if you only have ten minutes to do yoga, then this is the pose to do!)

Here are a few additional tips to help the body adjust to the change in time zones and altitude while flying:

• Get up and walk around the plane every two hours to keep the circulation flowing and avoid blood clots.
• Skip the soda and alcohol during the flight as they are both dehydrating.
• Drink plenty of water on the flight. Try to drink at least eight to twelve ounces of water for every hour in the air.
• Adjust to the new time right away. Stay awake during the day and go to bed at a reasonable time.
• Exercise in fresh air if possible when you land. A long walk can help eliminate fatigue.

Where have you been this vacation season and how did you keep yourself healthy on your long flights and drives? Post your experiences to the comments below. Safe travels!

Photos 1&5 courtesy of Shutterstock.

All other photos courtesy of Brandon Hofer.

The post Yoga for Jetlagged and Weary Travelers appeared first on Breaking Muscle.