Last-Minute Spring Break Workouts

Today’s guest post comes from the David at FitnessEquipmentAndMore.com. David is a fitness enthusiast who ran his first marathon at the age of 18. He graduated from Emerson College with a degree in Political Communications and a minor in ballet. He currently writes for Fitness Equipment and More and resides in Boston.

March is right around the corner, and for many college students this means spring break. The most popular destination tends to be the beach. The thought of spring break is often a light at the end of the tunnel for many burnt-out college students, but there is also a feeling of insecurity. It is the first time during the year everyone will be showing off their beach bodies, and if you are anything like I was in college, this means you have some work to do to shed those holiday pounds. Don’t jump on the elliptical for hours just yet, read through here to get a balanced workout so you get the lean look you want. Exercising is crucial to help sculpt your body for your vacation. Cardio is a great place to start because it is a great way to burn calories, and it has a range of health benefits. If you go to the gym, jump on the treadmill or the bike. If you don’t have a gym membership, go for a run or jump rope.  Thirty to forty-five minutes of cardio four days per week is a great goal; it gives the body time to rest, which is just as important as exercising. Personally, I prefer running because I enjoy it, but it also helps to tone the lower half of the body.

Cardio alone will not give you the beach body you want.  Resistance training is also necessary to help sculpt your muscles. Compound exercises such as the bench-press, squat and dead lift work more than one muscle group at a time so it is an efficient way to workout if time is scarce. A good goal to have for resistance training is to train each body part (chest, biceps, triceps, shoulders, back, abs, calves, quads and hamstrings) once a week. More than that, it could cause your muscles to not repair properly which means you cannot achieve the muscle definition you want.

When working out each body part it is not necessary to do a million different exercises. Generally performing three sets of three or four exercises is sufficient to work the muscles. Every week your workouts should become a little more difficult. You can do this by adding more weight, doing more repetitions or taking more time to perform a rep.  It is important to do this so your muscles can continue to break-down and rebuild themselves so you can have the definition you want.

Working out is key to getting ready for spring break.  Just remember to eat healthy, drink a lot of water and get plenty of sleep.  If you can do these simple things consistently before spring break, you should have nothing to worry about when you go away.

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