The holidays are an ideal time to continue training and keep our physical shape won throughout the year. However, sometimes we do not have the necessary material to continue with our usual routines or we do not have access to a gym. In these occasions an elastic band or band of resistance can be very useful since it is cheap, it fits in any suitcase and it is also very versatile for allowing us to work our entire body.
To make it easy for you to continue training on vacation, we offer you a circuit to work your entire body with only an elastic band. Who aims to stay fit in summer?
Overhead squat or squat above the head
The squat with the load above the head or overhead squat is a great exercise not only to work our lower and middle train, but also to improve the mobility of our shoulder girdle. In this case we place the elastic band under both feet, we raise it with a front elevation of the shoulders and go down to a full-range squat (or at least everything we can lower depending on the mobility of our hips and ankles).
Press for the pectoral
Similar to the bench press, but standing and, obviously, with less load than we could move in a traditional press. To get good stability, better place one leg in front of the other as shown in the video. The back is slightly tilted forward and the core is activated to maintain good posture.
Lunge with bicep curl
A composite exercise that allows us to work both the lower train and the upper train through the elastic band. To take into account: place the elastic band under the foot and step on it well so that it does not escape, keep your back straight by activating the abdomen and avoid swinging your arms back and forth.
Oars with elastic band
The elastic bands or bands of resistance are perfect to work the back when we do not have more equipment. We just need a place to tie the rubber band (a street lamp, a tree …), take the ends with both hands and row back as we would with a pulley. We can make different variations by changing the height at which we put the rubber, or working with different openings of our arms.
Side elevations for shoulders
Similar to the ones we can do with the dumbbells, but taking the elastic band from the ends while we step on it with the foot that we have advanced. Important: with this movement we are focusing the work on the shoulders, so we will try to keep the back stable, without arching it backwards, and without making part of the movement with the push of the legs.
Woodchopper or woodcutter to work the core
One of my favorite movements to work the core zone, which implies movement and also resistance to that movement at a given moment, and also allows us to work in the three dimensions of space (from back to front, from bottom to top and from a side by side) is the woodcutter or woodchopper. We just have to hook the rubber on a support (a tree or a lamp, as before, it is also valid) at the height of our ankles, and turn to the opposite side and up. At the time of returning to the starting position it is important that we control the movement well (provoking a resistance with the core musculature) and that we do not return abruptly.
With these exercises, some of them complex and others for a single muscle group, we will have a complete routine to work our entire body even if we are away from home.
We can complement it with some work of cardio (race with changes of rhythm, jumping rope), a good warm-up (with mobilization of all joints) and a few later stretches to get a good workout that we can do anywhere.
No excuses to stay in shape also when we do not have much material at our disposal!
