How to Workout on Your Vacation Menu Verywell Fit Nutrition Weight Management Nutrition Facts Nutrition Basics Diets Meal Plans Meal Delivery Services View All News Fitness and Nutrition What to Buy How We Test Products Fitness Gear Nutrition Products Tools Recipe Nutrition Calculator Weight Loss Calorie Goal BMI Calculator Body Fat Percentage Calculator Calories Burned by Activity Daily Calories Burned Pace Calculator About Us Editorial Process Meet Our Review Board Search Motivation How to Stay In Shape While You Travel By Paige Waehner Paige Waehner Paige Waehner is a certified personal trainer, author of the "Guide to Become a Personal Trainer"; and co-author of "The Buzz on Exercise & Fitness." Learn about our editorial process Updated on December 31, 2020 Reviewed Verywell Fit articles are reviewed by nutrition and exercise professionals. Reviewers confirm the content is thorough and accurate, reflecting the latest evidence-based research. Content is reviewed before publication and upon substantial updates. Learn more. by Heather Black, CPT Reviewed by Heather Black, CPT Heather Black, CPT is a NASM-certified personal trainer and owner of Heather Black Fitness & Nutrition where she offers remote and in-person training and nutrition coaching. Learn about our Review Board Print Hero Images/Getty Images Getting away from reality is good for the soul, and getting away from the usual workout routine is good for the body. However, a vacation can be the perfect time to exercise. By freeing yourself from your routine, you open your mind to new ways to move your body, have fun and keep your body fit while you're on vacation. Cardio If you want to maintain your cardio endurance while having fun, there are a variety of vacation that will give you a great workout without feeling like exercise. Some of the best workouts include: Walking on the beach. Walking in soft sand is a killer workout and burns more calories than walking on flat ground. Some experts suggest that you can burn twice as many calories walking in soft sand. Keep it safe by wearing shoes (you may get shin splints if you go barefoot for too long) and going for a few minutes at a time to get used to it. You'll be surprised how hard it is. Beach volleyball. You can burn more than 150 calories an hour, depending on how hard you work and it's a great way to meet other people at the beach while having fun. Surfing, swimming, and snorkeling. Surfing is a total body workout that will challenge every muscle in your body. Even if you just paddle out to the waves and fall off, you'll get a great workout. Snorkeling is a bit more leisurely, but you can add intensity by swimming a little harder. If you're at a beach that doesn't have big waves, put on your snorkel gear and swim out and back for a few laps to get your blood moving. Leisurely bike rides. Long bike rides are a great way to see the area while getting ​in some low-intensity exercise. If you take your time and go all day, you'll burn calories without even thinking about it. Hiking. Anytime you add elevation to your walks, you'll burn more calories. If you carry a backpack, you'll challenge yourself even more, all while enjoying a little nature. Check with your hotel concierge to see about hiking adventures nearby or visit Local Hikes to find trails near major metropolitan areas. Golf. Golf can be a dud of a workout if you ride around in a cart and drink beer at every hole. If you want to burn more calories, though, carry your clubs and walk the course. You'll burn around 200-300 calories per hour. Tennis. Like golf, a game of tennis can be as easy or hard as you want it to be. Chasing the ball and hitting it like you're Serena Williams or Roger Federer will give you a great workout, burning up to 400 calories for a 150-pound person. Shopping. OK, maybe shopping isn't the highest intensity activity, but it can be very aerobic under the right circumstances. If shopping is your activity of choice, make it count by walking fast, taking the stairs, and avoiding fatty foods at the food court. Lifting Weights on the Road Finding fun cardio activities is easy when you're on vacation. Lifting weights, however, presents more of a challenge. You usually don't have much equipment and the thought of going to the hotel fitness room isn't that appealing when you're trying to have fun. You don't have to do much, however, to maintain your strength and muscle while you're out of town. A quick workout with body weight exercises, resistance bands or full water bottles will keep you strong and fit until you get back home to your usual routine. These resources will help you work your body with short, efficient workouts: No Weight Travel Workout Power and Strength Travel Circuit What Happens If You Don' t Exercise If you decide to use your vacation to rest from exercise entirely, you may wonder what happens to your body. How long can you go before you lose fitness? How fast you lose endurance and/or muscle depends mostly on your genetics but below are some general guidelines: Aerobic power can decline 5-10 percent in three weeks.All your gains could be gone after about two months of inactivityThe fitter you are, the faster you lose your fitness, which doesn't seem fair, does it?You tend to lose aerobic capacity faster than muscular strength. Muscles are resilient and retain a memory of all those exercises you did. Taking a week off probably won't make much of a difference but, any more than that, and it may be harder to get back to your previous levels. Finding ways to stay as active as you can will keep you fit, help you avoid weight gain and make the transition back to real life a little easier. Sources Verywell Fit uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. American College of Sports Medicine. ACSM’s Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription - "Maintenance of the Training Effect." 7th ed. Baltimore, Md: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2006. By Paige Waehner Paige Waehner is a certified personal trainer, author of the "Guide to Become a Personal Trainer," and co-author of "The Buzz on Exercise & Fitness." See Our Editorial Process Meet Our Review Board Share Feedback Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! What is your feedback? Other Helpful Report an Error Submit Related Articles How Can I Burn More Fat When Exercising? 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