Many people find it difficult to train while on a family vacation. The absence of their comfortable gym and typical routine often leaves them with the illusion that they have no options. No treadmill, bench press, or curl bar usually means no training. No working out coupled with the awful eating that is synonymous with vacations equals the beginning of the end for most.
How can you avoid falling into this trap?
Build on a foundation where locations and large equipment are not the cornerstones. You can’t take LA Fitness or their lat pull down machine with you.
Bodyweight training has many obvious benefits other than the fact that you need no equipment. But not having to pack anything is a huge factor when packing for a vacation. I did plan to do other exercises besides bodyweight, so I packed a few small items in my bag:

- Jump Rope ( for interval training )
- Ab Wheel ( standing rollouts )
- Elastic Bands ( good mornings, rows, etc )

These things take up hardly any room in the bag and are extremely versatile tools for putting workouts together. Here’s what we did today:

Standing Rollouts 5 x 2
Supersetted with Band Goodmornings 5 x 12
Towel Pullups 5 x 10
Supersetted with Pushups 5 x 20

This was an excellent full body workout. Options for tomorrow include: burpees, running, or mountain biking. Plan ahead before your next family vacation, pack appropriate minimal equipment, and don’t make excuses to slack off. Do this, and getting back to your regular program will be much easier when you get home!