Your holiday is approaching. You cannot wait for the break from work, the truck loads of good food and the chance to relax and recover.
However, there is something digging away at your conscious.
A week (or more) away from the box?
You’re worried about your months of hard work and gains melting away as you bask under the sun. You think your lifts will shatter before your eyes and your conditioning fall away by the day.
Fear not! I know these are legitimate struggles of the travelling CrossFitter. Here you will find a list of fun workouts, that involve being outdoors and require some imagination to make them work. After all, CrossFit encourages you to get out of the box, to apply, trust and test your fitness.
I can promise you two things:
1) You will not lose gains in a matter of weeks.
2) Your non-CrossFit vacation acquaintances will think you’re crazy for training whilst on holiday. That is okay, you have until the end of your trip to convert them 3-2-1 GO.
- Grace Anything
When on holiday, strip it back and keep it basic. You can clean and jerk almost any object. Is it too light? Double the rep scheme. Triple it in fact. Focus on the movement mechanics of handling an awkward object.
Grace Anything
30 x Clean & Jerk any object for time
You can modify this workout depending on the object, its size and weight. Look for objects like: logs, driftwood, tyres, rocks of various shapes, sand bags, barrels and your friend’s heavy suitcase.
For awkward/uneven objects i.e rocks, sandbags
30 x Cleans over the shoulder
30 x Strict press
perform as separate movement
For light objects
90 x Clean and jerks
Rest 2 min
60 x Clean and jerks
Rest 2 min
30 Clean and jerks
For heavier objects, i.e old tyres.
Every minute for 10 minutes,
7 x Clean and jerks
Focus on consistent and efficient lifts.
- Hike Everything, Add Burpees
Where ever you are on holiday, you are probably surrounded by natural beauty which you are eager to explore. You can always turn these leisurely strolls into a workout. Whether it is a hike or you’re just bored of romantic strolls on the beach, spice things up a bit to make a WOD.
For soft terrain
For the duration of your walk, every 3 minutes
5 x Burpee broad Jumps
7 x Push ups
15 x Jumping lunges
For the beach
Every 4 minutes
15 second sprint
then, enter the water to waist height
x 20 high knees*
keep hands above waist, hit them with your knees
For the mountains
Fill your backpack with rocks
Alternate between wearing the backpack, to carrying it in alternate hands (farmers carry style)
Enjoy the burn
For the peaks
For the duration of your walk
Scaled – every 6 minutes, 10 burpees
RX – Every 4 minutes, 10 burpees
RX + – every 2 minutes, 10 burpees
You can be as creative as you like. For longer walks, increase the rest range and reps. For shorter walks or more intense workouts, decrease the rest and increase the reps. I would perform no more than 3 different movements per minute.
These kinds of workouts are definitely a mental game and more fun if you have someone to do it with.
- Two’s a Team
For these workouts, you will need a partner.
Whoever is joining you should know what they are letting themselves in for by going on holiday with a CrossFitter. By now, you have convinced your partner to train with you, whether they CrossFit or not. From here, you can now exploit your partner and use them to their maximum potential.
Partners are a great holiday WOD piece of equipment. They weigh something, they are awkwardly shaped and they keep things fun if they join in.
How to use your partner:
20 min AMPRAP
Split how you like
50m x Partner fireman carry
30 x Partner squats
20 x Burpees-over-partner
For time:
Whilst partner A works, partner B holds plank, then rotate.
8 x 100m Shuttle sprint
Rest 2 mins
15 min AMRAP
One partner runs 400m whilst other completes AMRAP of:
10 x Push ups
10 x V sit ups
15 x Squats
Then rotate, pick up where partner left off
Skill:
5 minutes:
max effort handstand, partner support.
For time, split how you like:
200 x Air squats
150 x Sit ups
100 x Push ups
50 x Inverted shoulder press
In a 4 minute window, establish:
Max effort partner squats
10 EMOM, synchronised with partner*
10 x Mountain climbers
7 x Burpees
5 x Pistols
*RX – for scaled, alter rep number or movements
- Motion of the Ocean
Whilst on holiday, this is the perfect time to test your fitness that involves working in the water.
For the average CrossFitter, swimming or water based work does not feature in our daily programming. And if it does, I would like an invite to your luxury box.
Whether you’re near a pool, lake, or on the coast, here is a few different workouts that will get you out of your comfort zone:
Pool Side
15 min AMRAP
4 x Lengths of the pool
10 x Pool exits and entrances*
5 x Burpees
*hands shoulder width, focus on using upper body, not legs. Ideally in deep water
Coast/Lake side
25 min AMPRAP
10 x Push ups
15 x Air squats
50 x Lunge-walk steps, parallel to the water
10 x burpees
Enter the water to waist height, water-sprint the distance you lunge walked
Board Games
Can be completed with a surfboard, paddle board, canoe, kayak or anything that floats
For time:
Paddle 40 strokes*
40 x Air/oar thrusters**
Paddle 30 strokes
30 x Air/oar thrusters
Paddle 20 strokes
20 x Air/oar thrusters
Paddle 10 strokes
10 x Air/oar thrusters
*right then left counts as 1 stroke
**thruster with the oar or paddle if you have one
- Support Your Local Box
This is the part of the article that contradicts everything I said at the start.
For some, being away from a box for a lengthy amount of time is unbearable. I understand.
Talking from experience, visiting boxes in foreign countries have often been the best way I see a country. Even with language barriers, you both speak the international language of CrossFit.
Get creative with these workouts, mix things up depending on what you find around you. Do not fret over exact rep schemes or lengths of metres. The great outdoors is your playground and I encourage you to go and play in it.
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