Matt’s Beach Body Workout

Totally riding off the back of the ‘are you beach body ready?’ campaign from a few weeks back (hopefully with less controversy!). I’ve decided to share my training schedule after receiving  several questions from people about what they can do training wise whilst on their summer break.

Obviously it completely depends on your goals and previous training frequency as some people are better using their holiday as a recovery week with plenty of walking and low level activity. Sightseeing is a great way to keep moving, improve blood flow and of course get a great tan.

However, I actually love training whilst on my hols, so thought I’d share my training routine and explain why I believe it’s beneficial and will bring the desired results. We are away for just over 3 weeks but you could follow this plan whether you have 1 week or several to play with. Regardless of duration this workout will offer a welcome change and have you burning calories, building strength and breaking plateaus ready for you to return to your regular routine as a new human 🙂

Break From The Old Routine

When training abroad it’s important you come to terms with the fact you will probably won’t be able to continue your regular routine. You never know what the gyms will have to offer or the equipment they may have. I always ensure a greater part of my training plan is bodyweight-based when travelling as that’s guaranteed to be achievable. Below is my weekly training programme and l have also provided details of each session and the benefits.

You will notice that each workout involves nothing fancy, I have stuck to the basic compound lifts for my gym-based sessions and added in bodyweight circuits to hit the major muscle groups. This takes the thinking out of the equation whilst maximising output.

• M: Strength based squat, bench and pulls
• T: Bodyweight circuit A (HIIT)
• W: Sprints
• T: Bodyweight circuit B (HIIT)
• F: Strength based deadlift, shoulder press and pulls
• S: Bodyweight circuit (movement & recovery focused)
• S: Bodyweight circuit (movement & recovery focused)

Strength-based Squat, Bench and Pulls

The focus here is to keep intensity high to enhance calorie output and get as much work done in a short a space of time as possible. There will be supersets, triple sets and reduced rest periods.

Exercise	KG	Reps	Sets	Tempo	Rest	Notes
A1) Barbell squats A2) Wide pull ups A3) Incline DB press		6 6 6	6 6 6	21X0 21X0 21X0	45-60 secs between triple sets
B1) Split squats B2) Bench press B3) Single arm DB rows		8 each leg 8 8	5 5 5	31X0 31X0 31X0	30 secs between triple sets
C1) Leg press C2) Wide press ups C3) Supinated grip bent over rows		20 15 10	5 5 5	Controlled Controlled Controlled	Rest as little as possible between triple sets and complete 5 rounds

Bodyweight circuit A (HIIT)

Kick off with a HIIT workout to ramp up metabolism so you burn more calories throughout the day followed by circuit based bodyweight drills with a full body focus.

Exercise	Reps	Sets	Tempo	Rest	Notes
A) High knees	30 secs	10	As fast as possible	30 secs
B1) Jump squats B2) Mountain climbers B3) Press ups	20 15 each side 10	3-5	Tempo Tempo Controlled	Rest as little as possible between the 3-5 rounds
C1) Plyo lunges C2) Inverted rows C3) Close grip press ups	20 15 10	3-5	Tempo Controlled Controlled	Rest as little as possible between the 3-5 rounds
D1) Leg lowers D2) Knee to opposite elbow press up position	10 10 each side	3-4	Controlled Controlled	30 secs between supersets

Bodyweight circuit B (HIIT) 

Exercise	Reps	Sets	Tempo	Rest	Notes
A) Jump squats	30 secs	10	As fast as possible	30 secs
B1) Bear crawls B2) Plyo split squats B3) V ups	20 10 each side 10	3-5	Controlled Tempo Controlled	Rest as little as possible between the 3-5 rounds
C1) Frog jumps C2) Wide press ups C3) Squat thrusts	10 10 20	3-5	Tempo Controlled Controlled	Rest as little as possible between the 3-5 rounds
D1) Russian twists D2) Alt leg lowers	30 total 10 each side	3-4	Controlled Controlled	30 secs between supersets

Sprints

Sprints are a great way to again boost metabolism, burn calories and get the heart rate high. Due to the high intensity nature you can get achieve a lot in a short space of time. Personally, I prefer to do these on a slight incline to get greater results, this loads up the posterial chain more and studies have shown it places less stress on the back. Here is a sample sprint session:

Perform 8-10 sets getting progressively faster each set. If you want you can do this on flat ground, an incline or on the beach.

Beginner: 8-10 sets of 30m sprints getting faster each set, rest 1 min between sets.

Intermediate: 10 sets of 40-50m sprints getting faster each set, rest 1 min between sets.

Advanced: 10 sets of 50-60m sprints getting faster each set, rest 1 min between sets.

Strength-based Deadlift, Shoulder Press and Pulls

The focus here is to keep intensity high to enhance calorie output and to get as much work done in a short a space of time as possible. There will be supersets, triple sets and reduced rest periods.

Exercise	KG	Reps	Sets	Tempo	Rest	Notes
A1) Deadlifts A2) DB shoulder press A3) Close grip pull ups		6 6 6	6 6 6	21X0 21X0 21X0	45-60 secs between triple sets
B1) Stiff leg deadlifts B2) DB push presses B3) Rear delt raises		8 8 8	5 5 5	21X0 41X0 31X0	30 secs between triple sets
C1) Step back alt lunges C2) Lateral raises C3) Supinated close grip lat pull downs		20 total 15 10	5 5 5	Controlled Controlled Controlled	Rest as little as possible between triple sets and complete 5 rounds

Why Train Everyday?

Firstly, this will not be flat out intensity every day nor will the workouts be too long. The strength session will be less than an hour, the bodyweight circuits around 30 minutes max and the sprints session will be under 20 minutes.

Saturday and Sunday I use as a chance to practice movement, with plenty of walking, stretching and mobility throughout the day. Nothing intense at all but a chance to master my own bodyweight and perform some kind of calisthenics each day.

More Bodyweight Less Gym

There are so many benefits to bodyweight training, check them out:

•  As mentioned, bodyweight training is a safe bet when travelling because you know it’s acheivable and it takes the guessing out of the equation.
• Bodyweight, for the best part, is performed with higher reps, more reps means more calories burnt, which means those extra ice-creams will have less of an impact.
• It’s a welcome change to your normal gym-based routine and the higher reps will also aid recovery from a training cycle.
• It’s easy to nail a bodyweight circuit in a short space of time with no equipment adjusting, setting up and putting away etc. So takes as little as 15, 20 or 30 minutes.
• It can be done outdoors so you can top up your Vit D, get an awesome tan all whilst sculpting your body. BIG WINS ALL ROUND.
• Due to the high rep nature of most bodyweight exercise and the inclusion of plyometrics your heart rate will be through the roof so you get fantastic cardio vascular benefits.

So there it is, some ideas for you to try all whilst maintaining or increasing strength, maintaining muscle and strength all whilst burning a truck load of calories in a short space of time so it doesn’t cut into your holiday much at all.

All you need to do now is book yourself a holiday 🙂

Matt