Vacation Workouts

I am about to leave for 11 days at the beach (where I will unfortunately not be blogging), and that seems like a great opportunity to answer the question "should I work out while on vacation?" There are two schools of thought on that subject:

The first argues that if you work out consistently throughout the year, it is a good idea to give your body a week off every three to four months. I've seen many very fit people believe in this approach. Also, if you see your week off as a reward for four months of hard work, then it may serve as a motivating factor during your workouts. So, if you workout consistently throughout the year, and you want to give yourself a break while on vacation--then go ahead and enjoy it.

I, however, am a firm believer in routines and habits. If you practice good habits (like exercising, eating right, and treating others with respect), then positive experiences will follow. If, on the other hand, you practice bad habits, then negative experiences will follow (like gaining body fat). Therefore, I like to continue working out during my vacation, but instead of doing the same old routine, I will switch things up a bit. First off, I am lucky enough to be on the beach, so that will make for lots of good runs in the sand. Softer running surfaces (like sand, or even grass as oppose to concrete) force your body to push off with more power. Also, it is motivating to run around some different scenery rather than the same old routes. Secondly, I will not be near a gym, so that will give me a chance to focus more body weight exercises (push-ups, pull-ups, body weight squats, lunges, ab exercises, etc.). I will probably run every day (although I will vary the distance) and do a full body workout with just my body weight every other day. When I get back to my normal routine after vacation I will feel refreshed from doing something different, but not any weaker because I avoiding a potential week of atrophy.