Sidestep the ‘summer slump’

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/07/2023 (1154 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

We’re now firmly into vacation season. The month of July brings on plenty of fun in the sun. It’s often a time when fitness plans are shelved for a few months. I call it the “Summer Slump” and it’s probably a bigger factor in adult “weight creep” than the Christmas holidays (because it lasts longer). But this isn’t some depressing article telling you to pack plenty of chicken breasts and broccoli on your next trip. A common question our clients ask is how to handle their fitness regimen while on vacation. So let’s find the middle ground in the next thousand words or so, shall we?

Let’s start with the exercise part of the equation.

If you’re a consistent workout person, understand that taking a week off isn’t a bad thing. In fact, studies show taking a full week off from strenuous lifting a few times per year is beneficial for injury reduction and in giving your body a break.

The problem is, it can turn into a very big deal the longer it goes. When you miss a week, it gets easier and easier to miss another week, until you fall off the bandwagon altogether. Good habits are hard to build and easy to break.

Here’s what happens the longer you take a pause:

● After the first week, no big deal. But you might find yourself extra sore in the first few workouts upon your return. I try to do a little something on vacation to avoid that upon my return!

● Within the first couple weeks, you start to lose strength and muscle size. If you feel a bit “smaller” because you aren’t lifting, that’s normal, but you’d still be fine to kick things back into gear and get back to Square 1. Known as “muscle memory,” when you take time off, the mitochondria of the cells stick around, making it much easier to regain muscle once you’ve already built it before.

● During the next few months though, you can lose significant endurance, tone and strength — and you will notice your energy level dropping, too, which can lead to being even less active or finding everyday tasks harder.

● Over the long run (again, don’t stress if it’s just a few weeks), this can set you up for all the ailments and diseases that are linked with low activity levels including heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, several types of cancer and obesity.

● Plus it can affect your day-to-day mood, sleep, mobility and so much more!

So, what do you do instead of taking the whole summer off?

Mini movement breaks work in a pinch. Go for a walk, crank out some squats and pushups at your desk, have a dance party at the lake — basically get in some intentional movement, even if it’s just for five to 10 minutes on days you don’t have time for a full workout.

But if you really can’t fit the workout in, just walk more. Every time my clients travel to Europe they are surprised by how little damage is done by all the pasta and bread they eat.

The common denominator? They often find they’re easily logging well over 10,000 steps a day.

In terms of hierarchy, strength goes first, muscle size lasts a bit longer and conditioning (surprisingly) holds on the longest. Take the week (or two) off if you wish — you’ll be just fine, but don’t take two months off.

If you need a simple body-weight routine setup, try this one on for size:

● 10-20 pushups

● 10-20 body-weight squats

Do five rounds of these exercises (back to back) with two minutes of rest between each round. Do the pushups kneeling if you need to. You’ll be done in under 20 minutes, and you’ll set yourself up for a great day of vacation with endorphins coursing through your body.

Vacation

nutrition tips

A huge source of anxiety for many people is how to eat while they’re on vacation. If you’re making solid fat-loss progress, the last thing you want to do is take a big step back, I get that.

But first things first. Even if you do gain a bit of weight on vacation, most of it will not be body fat. You would need to eat 17,500 calories over your maintenance to gain five pounds of body fat in a week. That’s a pretty tall task.

But you may gain some water weight. That’s pretty normal when you’re travelling. You’ll likely be eating more carbs than you’re used to (each gram of carbs brings in three to four grams of water weight). Don’t sweat it one bit. Once you get home and return to your normal eating routine, those extra “vacation pounds” will be off of you in no time.

Here are some quick tips to enjoy a vacation without fretting over a setback.

● Relax and don’t track anything. Not calories or macros — nothing. Besides, trying to track your food when you’re dining out is not easily done.

● Emphasize protein. Protein should always be your main macro-nutrient, whether you’re on vacation or not. Eat plenty of protein. Double the chicken. Pack some protein bars or shakes for the gaps. Make your breakfasts omelettes and ham. The protein will reduce your hunger and your overall calories naturally.

● Watch the snacking and junk food. This is where vacation weight can add up. If you’re going to be snacking non-stop on processed junk, then yeah, you’ll gain some body fat. Eat big, filling, tasty meals but watch out with the all-day buffet of snacks.

● Be sensible with alcohol intake. Sugary margaritas and “beach drinks” might sound like a good idea, but not only will they dehydrate you when you’re in the sun, they’ll also add tons of calories. The poison is in the dose. The best alcoholic choices are non-flavoured liquors and zero-calorie mixers. Think diet drinks (soda water is one, diet cola is another) and vodka.

● Stay hydrated. Hydration often goes out the window when you’re on vacation. Pack a water bottle and sip from it constantly. Thirst is often mistaken for hunger. If you stay properly hydrated, your overall calories will reduce themselves naturally, without needing to do anything else.

And finally, eat that dessert. It’ll be OK. Go ahead and live a little. After all, it is your vacation, so enjoy a sensible portion of dessert. Savour every bite and smile — relish the moment.

Whenever I go on vacation, friends and family are always (enviously) surprised when I’m getting dessert, ordering whatever I want, and not working out a bunch while on vacation. Your body and health are not functions of what you do a couple of weeks per year; they’re functions of what you do on all the other normal, routine days throughout the year.

That’s where most go wrong — their everyday life is like a vacation where they never say no to dessert and always skip their workouts.

So train hard and eat right most of the time, and then enjoy the heck out of vacations.

Mitch Calvert is a Winnipeg-based fitness coach who has helped more than 1,500 people transform their bodies and lives over the past decade. Visit mitchcalvert.com to grab a free copy of his metabolism jumpstart or email him to get direct coaching to drop 15-plus pounds without sacrificing summer fun.