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Vacation exercise not such a stretch

Looking back on my first year out of college, I remember rolling into the month of June excited about long summer days and spending as much time as possible at the beach doing nothing.

Then I entered the adult world and found myself with one measly week of vacation.

We should cherish these precious days of leisure, shouldn't we? You'd think so.

But studies show a declining trend when it comes to taking a little "me" time. A survey conducted for travel giant Expedia.com showed Americans took the fewest vacation days, 12, compared with other countries in the survey; Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain and the Netherlands. Germany topped the list with an average of 27 vacation days per adult.

What's even more surprising is that many of you out there are not even taking advantage of that allotted two weeks. The survey showed that 30 percent of employed U.S. adults gave up some of their vacation days, resulting in 415-million unused days in 2004 with a predicted 421-million this year.

So how does all that tie into fitness? We're drowning in stress.

We need vacations for our mental and physical well-being. That's also why many of us hard-working Americans go to the gym, to maintain an overall sense of balance in our lives.

And that balance should extend to a vacation.

It has been my experience that people who go on vacation and do not exercise have a much more difficult time getting back into the gym and into their routine upon returning.

Certainly those hard-earned vacation days should be used to relax. But at the same time, keeping up with some sort of exercise while on vacation, even a "mini-exercise" plan, is a good idea.

Exercising away from home, whether on business or vacation, is about trying to maintain.

It's reasonable that you won't be dining out on egg whites and bean sprouts on vacation, and all those hard-earned hours in the gym should afford you some margin to indulge. Just don't set a world record for ice cream or fried dough consumption at the theme park.

I suggest you give yourself a 5-pound cushion in which to work on vacation because you will eat differently, and we don't want to feel that guilt if we cheat a little.

It's also important to plan ahead. Whether you are driving or flying, it helps to pack your own snacks. Something a little healthier than what you'll get at the vending machines or fast food counters that thrive on bored, hungry tourists.

Then schedule 20 minutes into your day to exercise. A pair of 5- or 10-pound dumbbells or exercise resistance bands will fit nicely into a suitcase. If that's too much of a hassle, many of the exercises I will describe can be done by simply using your own body weight for resistance.

Interval training or circuit training is your best bet on vacation. Remember: The key is intensity. So this method of training, moving from one exercise quickly to another, allows for less rest and a faster heart rate. Since you're probably not going to have a lot of spare time, doing 20 minutes of basic exercise can help you break a sweat and fatigue muscles efficiently.

If your hotel or resort has a gym, creating a workout won't be as difficult. If not, it's easy to work out in the confines of a hotel room simply by getting back to basics.

Here's my favorite 20- to 25-minute hotel room workout:

1. One minute of high-knees running in place. You may feel a little silly. But chances are nobody's watching, and this will act as an efficient warmup.

2. One minute of jumping jacks. Remember when you were a kid in gym class? Well, they still work.

3. One minute of pushups. Sounds easier than it is. If you're advanced, dip the chest lower by pushing two chairs together and elevating your feet on the bed or another chair. If you can't do a standard pushup, allow the knees to rest on the floor. Pushups work the chest, shoulders, triceps, and back and are one of the best overall toning and strengthening exercises you can do.

4. One minute break. If you've completed the first three exercises properly, without rest, you'll need it.

5. One minute of body squats. With your legs shoulder-length apart, arms elevated with hands extended, and palms down away from the body, drop the hips parallel with the knees pushing up from the heel of the foot. It's important not to fully lock the knees at the top of the motion in order to maintain tension on the muscle.

6. One minute of abdominal crunches. With feet elevated on a chair or the bed, raise chin toward the ceiling with hands supporting the neck. Your upper body does not need to come all the way up; a slight lifting of the shoulders off the floor and flexion of the abs in a slow, controlled motion will be efficient and eliminate unnecessary pressure on the spine.

7. One minute of leg lifts. Lying flat on the floor, place hands by your side and with legs slightly bent at the knee, elevate the feet approximately 21/2 feet off the floor and lower slowly without touching the ground. This will work the lower abs and hip flexors.

8. One minute break. Drink some water.

10. One minute of alternating back lunges. With hands secured on each hip, reach back with one foot, lowering the knee until it is approximately 3 inches from the ground while making a 90-degree bend in the front leg, which is stable. Return the foot you stepped back with to the starting position and perform the same movement with the opposite leg. Alternate at a decent pace for one minute. This works the quads, the hamstrings and the glutes.

11. One minute arm circles. Place your legs shoulder-width apart and arms fully extended, palms out, to the sides of the body. Do 30 seconds of quick, tight circles with the hands rotating to the front, then 30 second rotating backward. Arms must stay fairly stiff, which will work the deltoids or shoulders and upper back.

This completes the first circuit. Repeat the routine once more and you have a calorie-burning, muscle-toning workout that should take you just longer than 20 minutes.

Perform two minutes of basic stretching as a cool-down and remember to drink plenty of water on your trip. It promotes good hydration and rids the body of excess sodium.

After all, they put an awful lot of salt on those margarita glasses.