Some of us plan vacations to relax and do much of nothing, and for some people, that may very well be the thing to do. In fact, we all need to "get away from it all" on occasion and "recharge the battery." I must admit, I just can't seem to vacation and not include some exercise. If I sit around all day, I feel guilty. So I always include some type of physical activity in my vacation days. I look at it like this; I know I will enjoy my day better if I do about an hour of exercise and that still leaves me plenty of time to vacation. Besides that, I just enjoy the hour of exercise, as I will be walking places I've never been or maybe working out in a gym that is new to me. So to me that hour of exercise is part of my vacation package.
The Grove Park Inn has a very nice fitness center, as you might imagine, and with over a foot of snow in the Asheville area, my usual choice of walking outside wasn't a safe bet. I used a treadmill and an elliptical trainer for my cardio and used some machines, barbells and dumbbells for my strength training. Also, Beth and I tossed a medicine ball to each other for several minutes. If you've never used a medicine ball, try it. Basically it is just a weighted ball that you and a partner can play catch with. So while "playing catch," as many of us have loved to do since we were kids, you are also getting some good exercise while having fun. My wife and I varied our tosses to work different parts of the body, throwing it underhand, from behind our heads, from the chest, from the side and other positions. We also threw with only the right hand and caught with only the right hand, then switched to the left hand. Try this even if you're not left handed, as most of us aren't; it will help to make you better balanced on both sides of your body and make you more ambidextrous.
By the way, I also beat Beth in a few games of billiards, or what many of us call pool. She hung with me in ping-pong. (I'll never admit to her that she just might have been a little better.)
Don't get me wrong, there is absolutely nothing wrong with relaxing while vacationing. In fact, we found some comfortable chairs one day next to a big window on one of the upper floors and sat and looked out on the skyline of Asheville.
Not only do I get my exercise in while vacationing, I also tend to eat just as well as at home. When eating out in a restaurant, 95 percent of the time I order a salad with my meal. I'm a weird one probably, but my salads are enjoyed more without any dressing, and I never add salt or butter to my food. To me these things disguise or take away from the good natural taste of food. Sometimes I notice the quizzical look of servers when I order my salad with no dressing and my baked potato with no butter or sour cream or anything else.
I don't mean for anyone to enjoy their vacation any less. Go ahead and cheat a little. As the old Chinese proverb says, "The sun will rise without thy assistance." But pack a little exercise into your vacation suitcase.
George Sheehan, a well known fitness guru, once wrote, "The proper approach is to recognize the wisdom of Ecclesiastes, which says there is a time for everything. There is a time to race, a time not to race. There is a time to be king of the hill, a time to be at the bottom of the heap. There is a time to train, a time to nap."
Lewis Bowling teaches physical education at N.C. Central University and Duke University and is a personal trainer certification examiner with the American College of Sports Medicine. He can be reached at 530-6224 and at Lewis_Bowling@yahoo.com.
