Does taking a vacation mean taking time off from training and conditioning? That’s up to you. If you want a rest, you deserve it!
However, if you’d rather stay focused, there are ways of keeping in shape while enjoying your travels. Here are some of the best to consider if you want to stay active while enjoying downtime.
1. Make Use of Local Amenities & Resources
If you’re visiting an incredibly cool and attractive place like Dubai, what are you going to do for exercise? It’s insanely hot, and there aren’t many great places for a jog. Your hotel room might start feeling like a cramped workout space before long, and not everyone likes swimming.
There’s more to maintaining your condition than exercise. Dubai is home to some top-quality physio, chiropractic, and massage clinics. You’d be amazed what can be re-aligned and what you’ve put out of shape – visiting a professional chiropractor Dubai is a great way to keep your body in peak condition.
2. Choose an Inspiring Destination for Meditation
Many athletes and martial artists use meditation to hone their concentration skills. Some meditative styles can also help improve flexibility and tone your body. Practicing meditation at home is often a great idea – but many places in the world may offer an even more enriching experience.
Perhaps you’ll choose a destination known for its relationship with meditation, such as China or India. An advantage of traveling to these places is that you might also be able to visit meditation centers and learn from traditions spanning hundreds of years.
You might also simply choose a place that you find inspirational or exciting. For BJJ artists, one destination springs to mind – Brazil is an enormous, beautiful country, and there are so many learning opportunities. However, traveling could be a great place to free your mind of clutter and improve your focus on your short and long-term life goals. It could be thousands of feet up a mountain or by a lake (or both) – as long as it helps clear your mind.
3. Meet Local Experts and Broaden Your Mind
BJJ is one of many martial artists and practices across the world. Traveling to Brazil to train with experts is such an exciting idea for anyone who practices BJJ, but you can gain a lot from meeting specialists in other martial arts.
This is especially true of those without a huge global following. Different martial arts use radically different strategies for attack and defense. Seeing any arena from someone else’s point of view can be so educational – learning where space opens up, learning when to move. Formalized martial arts tend to give more respect to certain strategies, so if you’re interested in learning martial skills outside BJJ, this can be a great idea.
Even if you’re not participating, it can be enriching to simply watch other combat sports. Mexican wrestling is hugely entertaining, while a sumo match in Japan is an unforgettable experience.
4. Exercise in New Environments
Tired of the same jog around the block and visit to the gym? Travel somewhere mountainous and give trail-running a try. Take a vacation by the sea and practice swimming or diving – you can’t know what it’s like to swim in the open ocean even if you’ve swum for years in a pool. You might discover muscles you never knew and passions you never knew you had.
Getting out of Your Comfort Zone
Travel is an opportunity to expand your horizons and learn more about yourself. This can be physical as well as mental. Why not combine your vacation with conditioning and push your boundaries to take full advantage of your time off?
If you arrive at your destination and feel a need to keep active, remember these tips. You don’t need the most strenuous exercise; even something as simple as meditation makes all the difference.
