There was a gym in my hotel in Cancun last week. I peeked inside, as I always do in all hotel gyms, hoping that one day I’ll be surprised, perhaps to find something functional or interesting, such as a barbell, or a few kettlebells. Or maybe, just maybe, a pull-up bar that’s just a bar, not one attached to a machine for assistance.
As usual, I was not – but I was not disappointed one bit. I was well prepared, in fact, excited for it.
While many other vacationers used the gym that week, I used the beach.
I did all of my training in the sand, early in the morning, and throughout the day, any time I was near the beach, which was a lot.
I did sprinting, skipping, hopping on one foot, jumping, lunging, push-ups, bear crawls, crab walks … all of those in as many directions and angles as possible; forwards, backwards, sideways, and diagonal.
Every time in and out of the water: push-ups. Incline and decline. Everything on the unstable surface of the sand.
I worked on making myself faster and more agile.
I didn’t touch one weight.
When I returned, my first day back into my garage gym was a squat day. I crushed two front squat PR’s (a three-rep & a two-rep).
You can get stronger all the time, no matter where you are, or what tools are at your disposal.