I always find it funny how we work our booties off at the start of summer and then once it starts, it’s like an all Rose’ parade, chicken fingers and french fries diet for the kids and we end up eating their leftovers on top of our own ice cream. I may not eat the best during New England summers but I do try to stick to my fitness routine to feel my best, maintain some self confidence on the beach and minimize the damage of a less than stellar diet.
Now, this summer is also a little different. All our gyms have been closed! We’ve been working out at home, if at all. Luckily for some of us this means that on vacation, not having a gym is nothing new and perhaps we have equipment to bring with us to our summer rentals.
The real challenge is staying motivated and getting in an efficient workout with minimal equipment. Here is a 20 minute full body workout you can do at home with resistance bands or medium dumbbells.
I recommend watching this YouTube video on your TV and playing your favorite playlist in the background from your phone, computer, Alexa or other home speaker device. My long workouts on Instagram keep getting removed on YouTube due to music copyright which is why this one has no music.
I filmed this video while staying at our Cape Cod vacation house in Harwich through Del Mar Vacations. We brought a set of weights with us but for the video, I only used the band. Vacation rentals are booking up FAST right now. If you haven’t reserved a spot yet, check out my summer guide to vacation rentals on the Cape this summer and if you book a house through Del Mar, get 5% off using my promo code “SarahFit”!
Need more motivation than just a single workout? Here’s a plan.
First, if you haven’t already created a workout schedule to follow, get on it asap. As a coach and VIP member of the FASTer Way To Fat Loss, I have a weekly schedule that I’ve followed for 18 months. We do HIIT on Mondays, Sprints on Tuesdays, Full Body workout on Wednesday, Upper Body on Thursday and Leg day on Saturday. This helps me stay on track and I’m never wasting precious time trying to figure out I should do which would eat into the time I could have used to exercise.
If you are interested in joining my team in the FASTer Way To Fat Loss community, my next round starts June 28th! Sign up today to reserve your spot. Also, here are some answers to common questions about the program.
This is not meant to be a sales pitch post, but to provide actual value.
To create a schedule, you’ll want a couple days of HIIT workouts that get your heart rate up. This could look like a run/sprint or walk/run interval workout with the stroller, running solo or on a bike. For Peloton fans, this means do 2 days of HIIT/Tabata workouts. I recommend 2-3 days os strength training as well. If you do three days, choose 1 full body workout, 1 upper body workout and 1 lower body workout. If you can only do 2 days, feel free to do 2 full body or alternate which body part to focus on each week.
So where are you getting the workout ideas?
I love the Peloton app for rides and outdoor running right now. They also have good strength workouts. It’s not too expensive and it well worth the monthly $12.99 fee in my opinion even if you don’t have the bike. I also like the Sweat app with Kayla Itsines (of BBG fame) but haven’t tried it in over a year!
If you’re expecting, be sure to check out my pregnancy workout guide on MoveWith with a 98.6% satisfaction rating! The few that don’t like it I find think it’s too hard or were expecting video. This is audio only! It very frustrating to read a review that criticizes a level of difficulty when it says, “this is NOT for beginners”… and they someone gives it a 1 star saying it was too hard for her level of regular walking fitness. In her defense, it is labelled as saying “all levels”.
If you’re looking for FREE workouts, check out YouTube (of course my YouTube channel is my favorite). I’ve been liking BodyFit by Amy lately as well. Nicole Pearce is also a local favorite. There are also people on Instagram to check out. Lauren Gleisburg and Madeline Moves are two popular ladies, LG is a mom so she is careful about DR stuff, MM is not but workouts are cute! Local ladies Jennifer Phelan and Kara Duvall both do Pilates and would be good fits for strength days, especially if you don’t have much equipment!
Another free favorite is Pinterest. Nicole Pearce has a lot of her workouts there and I also like finding free BBG workouts there as well!
During the summer, if you’re traveling, bring with you a set of dumbbells or bands. Most of us are driving to our destinations, so this shouldn’t be difficult to do! I prefer to exercise outdoors so all I need is a good patio and playlist!
Awkwardly many cape rentals do not include linens or towels but all Del Mar homes do! They also provide 24/7 emergency line and customer service (which for us included jumping our car’s dead battery on day of check out). Also unlike other cape rentals, all properties are keyless entry so you don’t have to pick up the keys at an office in middle of your Saturday but can go straight to the property! Don’t forget to use promo code SarahFit at check out when booking and get 5% off!
Lastly, do not forget to rest. You do not need to exercise for 45-60 minutes a day. Thirty-forty minutes is enough! You need at least 2 days a week of active recovery made up of a walk with family, doing yoga or just sitting on your couch!!!
