If you’re used to following a fitness program, the prospect of taking a break over the holidays can feel daunting. Will all that time spent sitting in airport terminals or melting into the couch set you back in your training? Will you return from vacation a slower, weaker athlete?
Let’s start with the good news: A short break from working out can actually be helpful. “As long as you’re staying consistent before then, taking a three- or four-day rest is actually going to be a net positive because you’re giving your body that time to recover,” says Grayson Wickham, a doctor of physical therapy and the founder of Movement Vault, a stretching app and website.
During a break from exercise, cardiovascular capacity typically declines faster than strength, but even that reduction in aerobic fitness takes longer than you may think. A 2024 meta-analysis published in the journal Frontiers in Physiology suggests that it takes at least 12 days of not training before your VO2 max starts to decrease. You have even more leeway when it comes to strength training. The researchers behind a 2024 study published in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports say that people who lift regularly “should not be too concerned” about taking up to ten weeks off once a year.
But this doesn’t mean you should be sedentary for the duration of your vacation either, as prolonged sitting may lead to muscle and joint stiffness, which can make everyday tasks difficult or uncomfortable. A little movement can go a long way.
Yes, Body-Weight Workouts Still Count
Body-weight exercises might sound easy for experienced athletes. But there are three levers you can pull to make an on-the-road workout harder: eccentrics, isometrics, and plyometrics. “Varying your exercise choice, as well as tempo and speed, can make your workout more challenging and lead to increased strength, power, and hypertrophy,” Wickham says.
Eccentric training involves controlling a weight (including your body-weight) as it moves downward (think: lowering into a squat or a pushup, or bringing a weight back down after an overhead press). Focusing on the eccentric portion of an exercise can also lead to greater muscular gains “as there is typically more muscle damage elicited during the exercise” rather than at a typical speed, Wickham explains.
Isometric holds involve contracting a muscle while keeping its length constant. When performed at a joint’s end range of motion—like the bottom of a squat or the top of an overhead press—isometric holds “are very effective for improving mobility and range of motion,” Wickham says. This will then lead to increased joint stability and injury prevention potential, he adds.
Plyometrics—jumping movements that challenge you to quickly exert force and target your fast-twitch muscle fibers—“are great at improving power as you are now taking a movement and then increasing the speed at which you are performing it,” Wickham says. During this type of training, your muscles need to control the descent back to the ground, he adds. Plyometrics particularly benefit athletes whose sports rely on fast, forceful movements (think: tennis, martial arts, sprinting).
If you’re primarily focused on training for one sport, you can structure your body-weight workouts in service of that goal. Cyclists, for example, can focus on leg exercises and may want to do higher rep sets to improve muscular endurance.
If you’re a higher level athlete or otherwise concerned about straying from your usual schedule, plan ahead by building in a de-load or taper week to coincide with the holiday break.
The Moves
These exercises cover five fundamental movement patterns typically used while training and performing everyday tasks: squat, lunge, hinge, push, and pull.
Build your own workout(s) by choosing one or two moves from each category. Each basic exercise can be enhanced by slowing down the eccentric movement, holding an isometric pause, or adding a plyometric component.
Any amount of time spent working out is great, but try to fit in a session that’s 20 minutes or longer if possible.
For each exercise, complete three or four sets of eight to twelve repetitions with about 60 seconds between sets.
Squat
Stand with your feet hip-width apart and hands by your sides. Engaging your core, hinge at the hips and bend your knees at the same time. As you lower into the squat, keep your arms straight and raise them to chest height. Keep your gaze straight ahead as you maintain a flat back and proud chest. When you’re ready to rise back to standing, press your feet into the floor and imagine that you’re trying to pull the floor beneath your feet apart. This will help keep your knees from caving in as you stand back up.
How to Make This Move More Challenging
Eccentric
Try lowering for a count of three.
Isometric
Hold a two-second pause at the bottom.
Plyometric
At the bottom of the squat, bring your straight arms slightly behind you, then quickly bring them forward and use them to help you drive your body up from the floor. Extend your legs as you rise so your ankles, knees, and hips are at full extension in the air. Land with control and then repeat.
Reverse Lunge
Stand with your feet hip-width apart and arms by your sides. Take a big step back with your right leg and bend both knees so your legs form 90-degree angles, bringing your arms to 90-degree angles by your sides. Your right knee should hover an inch above the floor, and the majority of your weight should be in your left leg (if you’re feeling this more in your right leg, try leaning your torso slightly forward). Press through your left foot and straighten both legs as you return your right leg to standing and let your arms hang by your sides. Complete all reps on one side before switching sides.
How to Make This Move More Challenging
Eccentric
Lower into each lunge to a count of three.
Isometric
Hold at two-second pause at the bottom of the lunge, keeping your back leg hovering just above the ground.
Plyometric
For this one, you’ll switch legs after each rep. At the bottom of the lunge, press into both feet and jump up, coming to full extension of the ankle, knee, and hip in the air. Land with the opposite leg in front and lower into a lunge on that side. Keep switching back and forth.
Single-Leg Romanian Deadlift
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Stand with your feet hip-width apart and a soft bend in both knees. Shift your weight to your left leg and hover your right foot off the ground. Engage your core and hinge at your hips as you kick your right leg back behind you. Lower until your torso and leg are in a straight line and parallel with the floor. You can keep your hands clasped at your chest for the duration of this movement. To make this move more challenging, hold a weight or another household item, like a water bottle or book, in each hand. Alternatively, you could hold a single weight in the hand on the same side as the elevated leg. Maintain a flat back throughout the movement. Switch sides.
How to Make This Move More Challenging
Eccentric
Lower to parallel to a count of three.
Isometric
Pause for two seconds at the bottom of the hinge.
Plyometric
Romanian deadlifts should be slow and controlled but you can similarly challenge your hip hinge with a box jump or broad jump. For a box jump, use a sturdy platform like a stair or bench. Stand with your feet parallel in front of the platform, bend your knees, and jump up, landing with your hips and knees in flexion. Stand up and step back down. For a broad jump, choose a spot on the floor in front of you, and bounding off both feet at the same time, jump toward that spot. Land with your hips and knees in flexion, then stand up, turn around, and jump the other way.
Push-Up
To do a standard push-up, begin on the floor on all fours, your hands shoulder-width apart. Step one leg back at a time so you’re in a plank position. Bending your elbows out to the sides, slowly lower your body in a straight line without arching your lower back or raising your hips. When your torso is just above the floor, press your palms into the floor and rise back up to plank position.
In addition to doing traditional modified push-ups on your knees, there are several other ways that you can make the basic push-up easier.
- Elevated push-up: Place your hands on a chair (as long as that chair is pressed against a wall) or similar elevated surface. To make this even easier, stand with your hands pressed into a wall.
- Banded push-up: If you have a resistance band, place it around both arms, just above your elbows (a long loop band may need to be wrapped around twice). As you lower into the push-up, the band will help you press back up to the top.
- Kneeling hand-release push-up: Begin by sitting on the floor on your knees. Walk your hands out in front of you until your back is flat, keeping your knees and toes planted on the floor. Bend your elbows and lower your body all the way to the floor. When your chest touches the floor, pause, lift your hands one inch off the floor, place them back down, and push yourself back up.
How to Make This Move More Challenging
Eccentric
Lower for a count of three (you can do this as a hand-release push-up as well).
Isometric
Hover just above the floor for two seconds before pressing back to the start position.
Plyometric
Plyometric push-ups are a particularly advanced move when done on the floor. Try this move first by beginning in an elevated push-up stance as explained above. Lower your chest towards the bench or other sturdy elevated surface, keeping your elbows pressed into the sides of your torso. Press your hands into the bench and try to explosively push your body away from the bench, extending your arms straight as you rise; your hands should be off the bench for a brief second before landing back into push-up position. That’s one rep.
Resistance Band Rows
Pulling pattern movements are going to be most effective with something to pull onto. If you can slip a long resistance band (loop- or handle-style) into your bag, there’s a lot you can add to your workouts.
You can do these two ways: horizontal row and vertical row.
For the horizontal row, attach one end of a resistance band to a sturdy anchor point at about chest height (this might mean kneeling to use a door knob or table leg, or standing and closing a door on the band). Grip the opposite end of the band in both hands, keeping your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width. Drawing your shoulder blades together and engaging your lats, pull your elbows back. Hold, then return to the starting position.
For the vertical row, stand with your feet hip-width apart, one end of the looped band under your feet. Grip the opposite end with both hands about shoulder-width apart. Keeping an upright torso, draw your elbows high, pulling the band up towards your chin. Hold, then slowly return.
How to Make This Move More Challenging
Eccentric
Resist the band for a count of three as you return to your starting position.
Isometric
Hold for a count of two at the highest point of your row.
Plyometric
Making a banded row plyometric is challenging (especially when it’s attached to the doorframe of someone else’s home). For a plyometric pulling exercise, try attaching one end of your band to the top of a door or, if possible, a tree branch outside. Hold the opposite end of the band with two hands, shoulder-width apart. As you would on a Ski Erg machine, in one quick motion, hinge at the hips and pull the band down with force, drawing your hands towards the outsides of your hips, as you might with a pair of ski poles.