Maintaining while on vacation

[Actual God]

Hi,

I started lifting about five months ago at 5'11 / 150 lbs and gained about nine pounds and a decent amont of strength using basically rippetoe method plus pull-ups and dips.

A few days ago I left for Europe. I'll be gone for about 4 months. I've been doing pushups and weightless squats whenever the spirit moves me, but I feel like I'm going to lose all my hard-earned gains.

I'll start looking for random places to do pull-ups - I guess that'll help. Anything else I can do? If there's an optimal way to do pushups and weightless squats, I'd love to hear it, although I assume "as many as possible" is the best strategy.

Thanks,
AG

[DLKeeper1]

Be creative and find something heavy. You can do all kinds of stuff with this: turkish get ups, squats, etc.

[skunkworks]

Actual God,

You can either think about buying a kettlebell or some dumbbells, or get acquainted with some tough bodyweight exercises. I think one-legged squats, headstand pushups, pushups, pullups, etc. are all right for doing some maintenance work, but regardless how much you do, you'll probably still lose some muscle mass and maximal strength. You will however improve your muscular endurance.

Ross Enamait has a book Never Gymless that is supposed to be very good. There have been other bodyweight exercise resources linked in this forum before as well.

[cookie]

There are gyms in Europe [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Just try to find a gym like 2 times a week and do fullbody and youll not loose anything, maybe even gain some.

Are you staying in one place or traveling europe?

[Actual God]

[ QUOTE ]
There are gyms in Europe [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Just try to find a gym like 2 times a week and do fullbody and youll not loose anything, maybe even gain some.

Are you staying in one place or traveling europe?

[/ QUOTE ]

Traveling all over. This is probably a good idea - I'm sure places have one-time entry fees.

[cookie]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
There are gyms in Europe [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Just try to find a gym like 2 times a week and do fullbody and youll not loose anything, maybe even gain some.

Are you staying in one place or traveling europe?

[/ QUOTE ]

Traveling all over. This is probably a good idea - I'm sure places have one-time entry fees.

[/ QUOTE ]
If you somehow end up in Aarhus, Denmark at some point you can have a free training in my gym [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[Colt McCoy]

[ QUOTE ]
Actual God,

You can either think about buying a kettlebell or some dumbbells, or get acquainted with some tough bodyweight exercises. I think one-legged squats, headstand pushups, pushups, pullups, etc. are all right for doing some maintenance work, but regardless how much you do, you'll probably still lose some muscle mass and maximal strength. You will however improve your muscular endurance.

Ross Enamait has a book Never Gymless that is supposed to be very good. There have been other bodyweight exercise resources linked in this forum before as well.

[/ QUOTE ]

I've heard good things about Enamait's stuff, but look at Pavel's Naked Warrior too.

Otherwise, a couple of trashbags filled with water are virtually weightless in your suitcase when emptied and make a great temporary substitute for kettlebells or dumbells. You can do overhead presses, swings, cleans, snatches, farmer's walks, Turkish get-ups, deadlifts, side presses, curls...

For bodyweight stuff that doesn't require any equipment try things like the 8-count Bodybuilders, Burpees, Hindu squats, Dive Bombers, Boot Strappers. Google "bodyweight exercises" and you'll find tons of things to try.

As skunk said, you'll probably lose some strength & mass but increase endurance. If you keep working out for the four months it probably won't take too long to get back to where you were.

[Mench]

How much pokah are you gonna play

[Big Poppa Smurf]

You can do pullups on a door, just hang a towel over it so you don't hurt your hands.