Plan an Adventure Vacation — the Secret Ingredient to Getting In Shape!

So why is planning an Adventure Vacation the secret ingredient to getting in shape?

Because when you plan an Adventure Vacation, in order to complete and enjoy it, you’ll have to physically prepare for it. You’ll have a goal to train for.

And when you train for your Adventure Vacation you’re sure to:

• • • Increase your cardio endurance
    • Gain strength
    • Lose weight
    • Build  your confidence
    • Renew your energy
    • Awaken your joy and excitement for life

You may be wondering, “How can planning an Adventure Vacation give me all these incredible fitness and health benefits?”

By planning an Adventure Vacation, you will…

• • • Have a very specific goal to work for.
    • Have a firm deadline to meet.
    • Have extra incentive to keep going when you want to quit.
    • Be TRAINING, not just working out or exercising.
    • Think of food as fuel. 
    • Become more balanced physically.
    • Awaken the endorphins within.
    • Spend 3-4 months with a constant reminder of the fun ahead.
    • Choose a comprehensive plan to help you reach your goal.

A little background to explain…

Five years ago, I was a completely stressed out entrepreneur. I was in the throws of opening and running Irons Fitness, a personal training studio outside of Washington DC. I had a team of trainers, new clients, more administrative chores than I could ever imagine and it never seemed to end. 

Forget healthy, I was eating whatever was quickest. I hardly had time to work out. I was going to work before the sun came up and leaving after dark. I was tearing my hair out. (Oh wait, I don’t have hair.)

Does this sound familiar?

Are you feeling overwhelmed?  Maybe with a career, family, Covid, or life in general?

Booking an Adventure Vacation was the start of a journey to lessen my stress and get in shape.

I signed up for a five-day backpacking trip through the Grand Canyon. And I chose one of the most difficult routes in the Canyon—the Hermit Trail Loop. Keep in mind that I don’t camp. And I had never done any backpacking.

This is the beautiful Canyon from the Hermit Trail.

I put together a training plan for myself and for 4 months I prepared for the trip. 

I hiked trails around the nation’s capital, walked the streets of DC, and climbed the stairs of my high-rise condo building all while wearing a backpack filled with 35 pounds of kitty litter.  And as I lifted weights harder than I had in years, I watched what I ate. 

Preparing for the trip got me in shape, the best shape in years. 

• • • I lost 20 lbs
    • I increased my cardio endurance
    • I gained strength
    • I chilled out
    • My attitude as well as my body changed.

And when I got to the Grand Canyon, I was ready…physically and mentally. I started strong and I finished strong.

What a great experience in such a majestic place!

I rediscovered something that, as an athlete I always knew, that having something to train for is the secret ingredient needed to get in shape.

So how will this work for you?

By planning an Adventure Vacation:

1. You will have a very specific goal to work for.

What are your fitness goals?

If you are like most of my clients, you probably will answer that question one of three ways. You’ll either say “I want to be healthier” or “I want to look better.” Or both.

Those goals are awesome.  Exercise done right can make you healthier and it can make you look better.  But to me, they are not specific enough.  How will you know if you are healthier?  How will you know if you look better?

When you plan for an Adventure Vacation, your goals become crystal clear. You will know what you’re training for. 

If you’re preparing to hike the Grand Canyon doing the Hermit Trail Loop like I did, you know your goal.

You have to be ready to hike 50 miles over 4 days with 40 pounds on your back.  The first day is going to be 8 hours with 4500 feet of elevation loss. The next three days will average 5-6 hours a day hiking. And the last day is 6 miles with an elevation gain of 4500 feet.

The beauty of planning for an Adventure Vacation is that you will know specifically what you’re aiming for.

• • • The distance you need to be able to hike, run, bike, paddle or swim.
    • The speed you need to be able to hike, run, bike, paddle or swim.
    • How strong you need to be to hike, run, bike, paddle or swim.
    • How long you have to meet your goals.

2. You will have a firm deadline to meet.

Do you accomplish more with a deadline? I know I do.

When you plan an Adventure Vacation, you have a very specific deadline for getting in shape.

You know the day you are going to leave for your trip. So count back and you know exactly how long you have to get ready. 

Why is this important?

• • • It gives you something to shoot for. The more specific the goal, the more likely you are to do what it takes to meet that deadline. You won’t skip workouts. You won’t alter your plan. You will just do what it takes to get ready.

    • It increases your motivation. Think back to taking tests in high school or college. I bet you studied harder and longer the closer you got to the test.  Am I right? While I am not saying you can cram for a physical feat, or you pull an all-nighter to get in shape, I am saying that having a deadline gives you an extra sense of motivation.

    • It allows your coach to write an appropriate training plan. Any effective training plan will build up in intensity, duration and frequency over time.  If you ramp up too quickly, you risk injury. If you don’t ramp up quickly enough, you won’t progress in time to reach your goals.  Having an event scheduled will allow your coach to write the perfect program for you.

3. You will have extra incentive to keep going when you want to quit.

I will be the first one to tell you that I love to be physical. I love to exercise. Going for a long hike, sprinting in the pool, lifting weights with friends or trying a new yoga class is my idea of fun. It is also my escape from the craziness of running a business.

Are you like me? Do you like the way exercise makes you look physically? And the way it makes you feel mentally?

There are times during many workouts when I want to quit. Some days it is 30 minutes into a workout. On other days it’s 2 hours. But, I finish anyway. Why?

When you have something you’re training for…when you have a very specific goal on the horizon that you want to accomplish, you will keep going even when you want to quit. And of course, the more you stick to your training routine, the better shape you’ll be in.

4. You will be doing more than working out you will be TRAINING.

There is a huge difference between “working out” and “training”.

When you WORK OUT:

• • • You lift weights.
    • You run.
    • You do yoga.
    • You swim.

But, when you are training to get in shape for an event, there is a reason for each and every exercise and workout that you’re doing.

When you TRAIN:

• • • You’re not just lifting weights. You’re lifting weights to gain a certain amount of strength in specific areas.
    • You’re not just running. You’re running to improve your cardiovascular system or improve your VO2 Max.
    • You’re not just doing yoga, you’re doing yoga to improve your flexibility in specific parts of your body.
    • You’re exercising as a means to a very defined end.

I would say that most people who exercise are “working out “, not “training”. Don’t get me wrong, I love working out. It’s great for so many reasons.

But to be truly prepared for an Adventure Vacation, you must TRAIN to get your body ready for that event.

Running long distances will not prepare you to hike in elevation.

Swimming every day is an incredible way to work out for overall fitness, but it won’t get you in shape for a 100 mile cycling trip.

When you TRAIN for an Adventure Vacation, you’ll get in great shape for your specific trip. 

You’ll also get in great shape…period.

If you need to improve your cardio endurance for climbing Machu Picchu, you will do what it takes to improve your endurance.

If you’re legs are not strong enough to ski for five days comfortably,  you will build strength in your legs.

You will use exercise as a tool to get you in the best shape for the specific type of event you will be doing.

5. You will think of food as fuel.

There are a million different ways to eat. Amazon currently has 40,000 different books for sale on the subject of diet.

You’ve heard the names of all the popular or trendy diets. Paleo, Keto, Atkins, Mediterranean, Vegetarian, Flexitarian, Vegan, Intermittent Fasting, Pescatarian, Plant Based, Zone, Weight Watchers, DASH, Whole30, Ornish, the Grapefruit diet, low carb, low fat, etc. etc. etc.

We all have our favorite diet or eating style. 

But, think about the way we look at food.

For most of human existence, food was simply a way to fuel the body. Plus, it was so hard to get. You could only eat if you killed or grew your food. Most never knew where their next meal would come from, or when it would be there for them. If we didn’t eat, we died. Simple as that. People ate to survive.

How things have changed!

Have you taken a look at your local grocery store lately? I mean really looked at it? How is it possible to have 100 different kinds of cereal? Do we need shelf after shelf of canned soup? And 20 brands of peanut butter? Peanut butter? Really?

I was in the store the other day and saw a jar of peanut butter and jelly mixed together. Have we gotten so lazy we can’t even spread jelly on bread? Do we really need it mixed in with our peanut butter? Sorry, I digress.

But as food became easier to get, we no longer ate for survival. We started eating for other reasons. More emotional reasons. We ate for taste, pleasure, stress relief, entertainment, habit, or because we were marketed to.

However when you start seriously training, you start to change your relationship with food. You look at what you put in your mouth simply as another way to help you reach your goals. You look at food as fuel.

Train for an Adventure Vacation and you’ll find you have a healthier relationship with food.

6. You will become more balanced physically.

I don’t mean that you will be walking tightropes, doing flips on a balance beam, or walking on your hands. I’m not talking about that type of balance.

Balance, in my mind, has to do with the four pillars of fitness:

• • • Strength — the ability of your muscles and joints to lift objects in everyday life. Despite what you may see in Instagram photos, Facebook posts, and in the fitness industry, you don’t have to be freakishly strong. You don’t have to flip huge truck tires, lift crazy amounts of weights. You just need to be strong enough to accomplish what you want to accomplish.

• • • Cardio endurance — the ability for your heart and lungs to keep you going at a moderate pace for extended period of time. Love it or hate it, this is what people refer to as “Cardio.”

• • • Body Composition — a fancy fitness term for how fat you are. Do you carry more fat than you would like to, or are you at a perfect weight?

• • • Flexibility — more than “can you touch your toes?” Flexibility is simply “can you move your joints through their full range of motion?” Your knee joint has a starting point and an ending point. If the muscles, ligaments, or tendons surrounding your knee are tight you will not be able to get the full range of motion in that joint.

When people exercise, they tend to gravitate to what they’re already good at.

When you train for an Active Vacation, you will train for all aspects of fitness that you may not already be working on. Not just those you’re good at. 

This is what I call balance.

Let’s say you’re planning to backpack the Grand Canyon. You can be strong as an ox for one rep of the bench press, the squat, or the deadlift. But, if you can’t exercise for 5 hours, there’s no way you’re going to make it.

If  you’ve been doing nothing but running, just try to walk for 5 hours with 40 pounds on your back. Your back, hips, and shoulders are not going to be happy the next day.

If you’ve been doing nothing but yoga. How many downward dogs would you have to do to prepare you for 6 hours of hiking, with 4500 feet of elevation loss in in 100 degree heat.

When you train for a specific event you’ll be focused on your weaknesses, not only your strengths.

While this may not sound like the most fun, you will be in better shape, less likely to get injured, and overall healthier because of it.

7. You will awaken your endorphins.

My name is Nick Irons and I am addicted to endorphins. There I said it. If I go a few days without exercise, I become a screaming lunatic. That may be a bit harsh, but family and friends have told me to go work out. They all know I’m not myself when I don’t.

Crazy? Not if you’re one of us. You understand. And I bet a lot of you know someone like me.

Why is someone addicted to exercise?

Your body doesn’t like pain. When it senses that you are hurting physically, it sends out special neurotransmitters in your brain called endorphins to make you hurt less. This acts on the same part of the brain as opioids and is your own painkiller. Endorphins make you feel good. They are responsible for the “Runner’s High” that you hear about.

How do you get endorphins?

• Exercise for sure. Mainly cardio exercise, but other forms work as well.
• Chocolate, hot peppers, laughing, sex, good food all release endorphins as well.

So, not only does training for an Adventure Vacation make you feel better physically, it will make you feel better mentally as well.

8. You will have something to look forward to for 4 months.

Imagine having an upcoming adventure vacation that truly excites you, that you can look forward to every day for many months and that inspires you to get in the best shape of your life. 

The thought of you doing that even makes me smile! 😊

I just booked a ski trip to Crested Butte Colorado, one of my favorite ski resorts. I immediately changed the background on my computer to a breathtaking view of the peak.

From now until I hop on the plane to leave for my trip, I will see where I am headed. I have something very fun to look forward to.

I know I am going to want to ski from sun up to sun down. I’ll be training for the next 3 months to be in the best cardio shape.  I’ll be doing an outrageous number of “wall sits” to get my legs in skiing shape. And it will all be worth it when I’m on the slopes feeling fast and strong.

9. Follow a plan to get you in shape.

To train for an important event, lose weight, gain cardio endurance or simply get in great shape, you need what I call a KICKASS  plan.

A KICKASS plan will:

• • • be custom-designed for you.
    • get you ready in time for your event.
    • allow you to reach your goal in the safest way.
    • build on your strengths.
    • improve your weaknesses.
    • BE FUN

But how do you go about coming up with a plan? 

You could research and write a plan yourself. The question is….do you really want to?

• • • Do you want to learn proper technique on hundreds of exercises?
    • Do you want to learn how quickly you can improve your endurance without getting hurt?
    • Do you want to research the proper heart rate zones to use to improve your lactic threshold?
    • Do you want to Google “lactic threshold” because you have no idea what I am talking about?
    • Do you want to risk the money you spent on your vacation by being under-trained or over-trained?
    • My guess is that your answer is NO!

What can you do instead? (WARNING—I’M BIASED.)

You could let me do the work for you.

• • • I will design a 12-16 week training plan based on where you are now to get you ready for the Adventure Vacation of your dreams.
    • Your workouts will be built scientifically so they are safe and effective.
    • I will give you motivation and guidance.

By signing up for the Irons Active app.

• • • You’ll have a custom-designed workout plan.
    • Your workouts will be delivered daily via the Irons Active app.
    • You’ll have access to 3000 videos showing the proper technique for all your exercises.
    • All you have to do is follow the plan.
    • Keep on the time schedule.
    • You’ll receive constant encouragement.
    • I’ll have answers for you for questions that  may arise.
    • All your effort will pay off. 
    • Not only will you have an amazing Adventure Vacation to remember, but you’ll be in shape…maybe even the best shape of your life! 

Check out our Training Plans for more information

CONCLUSION

So, I encourage you….

• • • Find the perfect Adventure Vacation.
    • Start training for your journey.
    • Get in shape to truly enjoy your vacation. 
    • Reap the benefits of being in shape.
    • Enjoy the Adventure Vacation of a lifetime!
    • Check out our Training Plans for more information