Blog post produced in collaboration with Med Sailors
Fitness and holiday never used to be two words that went together. Growing up, I would always attract looks somewhere between pity and horror when I told my friends I used my family’s annual two weeks in Portugal to up my fitness at the golf club gym. But I loved it. Maybe it’s because I’m an identical twin, but I’ve always been bullishly competitive about working out – if there was an opportunity to do it, I could rarely say no. So the growth of active tourism in the past few years has been an absolute welcome change for me.
But when I say active tourism, I don’t necessarily mean bootcamps and detox-style retreats. Yes there’s a place for a militant, body-transformation type break, but after five years in the military, having someone else impose rules during my holiday is just not the one for me. What I like are holidays with adventure and excitement, which is pretty much impossible to achieve without being at least a little bit active.
My week with Med Sailors was just that (read more about the trip here). From bi-weekly races with our flotilla to practice new crew skills, to self-imposed comps on the on-board SUP (and – more often – grovel trips on our fleet of floaties to nearby boats to beg and borrow booze once ours had run out), it was a holiday firmly in the active category. Although we always rewarded our hard work in the evenings (read: afternoons) with a cocktail jug or two by Sven the skipper.
Our pattern was roughly sleeping at anchor every other night (if you’ve never tried this, you MUST – I have legit never felt more relaxed in my life. Entirely understand why babies rate getting rocked to sleep now), and the others in whichever bay we’d motored to. These nights, we’d usually arrive in the marina mid-afternoon to ensure we got a decent birth (it’s hella competitive), which left time for a hike / bike ride to explore, or a shoreside HIIT. So. For when you find yourself in a similar position, here’s a super simple HIIT that’ll raise a sweat and get you ENTIRELY ready for sundowners – specially if it’s for frozen margs at Hula Hula in Hvar.
The easiest way to do this is download a Tabata timer app to your phone, and choose the interval you want – I like 30sec on, 15sec off, three times through. But you can also keep it simple and just count reps – try 15 reps, three times through, with enough rest to just catch your breath.
Walk-outs
Press ups
Reach crunches
Squats
Lunges (or plyo lunges if you’re feeling boss)
Tricep dips
Star jumps
High knee march
Crab walk
High knees
Oblique crunch heel taps
Burpees
P.s. shop all my Med Sailors looks here.
