DANNY RIZZZ
Staying Fit While Having Summer Fun Is Easy
Summer can be a blast—but it’s also easy to fall off your health and fitness game with all the travel, parties, and dietary indulgences. The key is consistency and simplicity, not perfection. Here’s my realistic, actionable approach to staying active, maintaining your metabolism, keeping your body feeling “New York” good, wherever you are!
SUMMER FITNESS SURVIVAL ADVICE
During the summer, every weekend presents an opportunity to ignore your health and wellness. Let’s be honest, it is summer, and you are spending time with family and friends over a barbecue, at a pool or beach party or bouncing between clubs and bars. You are going to skip workouts, eat food you normally wouldn’t and more. My advice is to shift your mindset to “minimum effective dose.’’ Instead of skipping workouts altogether because they’re not perfect, aim for short, efficient sessions. These should be about 15–30 minutes each. After all, something is always better than nothing.
You can also use travel and parties as built-in movement opportunities. Think about this: when you are outdoors, walk or bike whenever possible. At a club or bar, dance! Dance at backyard parties if the groove is there. Of course, you are going to want to spend time lazing around the pool or beach. And there is nothing wrong with that. But you can also blend that with active excursions on trips to offset some of the time lost!
DON’T WAIT FOR MOTIVATION—SET TRIGGERS AND ROUTINES
Getting motivated to work out during a vacation or on a weekend of parties and the pool is not simple. But it is important to set triggers and either establish or re-establish healthy routines during the week. Try this:
• Morning = short workout
• Travel = walk/jog in new area
• Party day = fasted morning movement and hydration
• Hotel room = bodyweight circuit
MITIGATE INDULGENCES, DON’T
STRESS THEM
I love party weekends and excursions to the beach are a blast. But that doesn’t mean you have to suffer for your party-mood! You need to remember to hydrate before and after drinking. Always eat protein and veggies before drinking. The next day, just reset and move forward. If you need to rest for a headache, then just remind yourself next time you’re out that you need to drink more water before and after drinking. The rule of thumb is 1:1, so for every drink with one ounce of grain alcohol, you need to one glass of water.
NO-EQUIPMENT EXERCISE PLAN
When you travel, or take that quick weekend jaunt, you don’t need to sign up to the local gym for the trip to stay fit. Try these moves as they hit all major muscle groups, boost your metabolism, and can be done “anywhere” — hotel room, beach, park, or living room.
Full Body Warm-Up (3–5 mins total)
These prep your joints, raise your core temperature, and activate key muscles.
1. Full body warmup known as World’s Greatest Stretch because it’s full body that targets core activation, joint mobility, upper and lower body dynamic movements. Steps: fold forward to try and touch your toes. As you are moving forward, brace your movement with your hands and walk them out until you’re in a starting pushup position. From here, rotate your right foot forward and “step” it to the outside of your right hand. From here, rotate your right hand and torso up to the right. Come back to the starting position by rotating back down, stepping back to pushup starting position, and walking your hands back toward your feet until standing. 5 per side alternating.
2. Jumping Jacks (30 sec) Gets heart rate up, opens up chest and shoulders while warming hips and ankles.
Metabolism Boosting Full-Body Strength Moves Do 2–3 rounds of 30 seconds each, minimal rest between moves.
1. Bodyweight Squat to Press-Upward While holding any weight (get creative) in your hands at shoulder height, squat down into a traditional squat and on the way up press upward toward the sky. Total body metabolism boost**
2. Planking Shoulder Taps (30 sec-60 sec) While holding starting pushup position, brace your core and alternate tapping each shoulder while moving as little as possible.
Cardio Options
1. High Knees (30-60 seconds) While standing simply march each leg alternative and driving your knees upward. As you progress, you’ll be able to jog in place while maintaining driving your knees upward.
2. Mountain Climbers (30-60 sec) Same concept as choice 1 but you are horizontal holding the starting pushup position
3. Jump rope WITH NO ROPE (30 - 60 sec) Simply pretend to be holding the handle of a jumprope in each hand (it’s more fun and impactful than you’d think) PLUS you don’t have to worry about tripping over the rope and starting over!
QUICK BONUS TIPS FOR
STICKING WITH IT
• Download a timer app or save this routine on your notes app.
• Hungover? A light walk and a ton of water are your best friends. No guilt.
• Partying later? Morning workout with sweating will help metabolize later indulgences better.
PMT DANCE
HOW DANCING CAN HELP
KEEP THAT SUMMER FIGURE
A pillar in the community for over 24 years, PMT Dance welcomes dancers of any experience and ability. I found owner and founder Pavan Thimmaiah 8 years ago when I was looking for 1:1 break dancing lessons to get me ready to surprise my guests on wedding day – this coming from someone that didn’t have a lick of dance experience and dare I say very little “musicality” as the pros refer to it, in my blood.
I was able to learn the basic, enough to put on a bit of a show come wedding day, but only because I was physically and mentally ready to challenge myself and take it on. Dance, whether it’s breaking, hip hop, choreography, club dance or even just comfortably moving on the dance floor is a great way to get some exercise during the summer months that offer parties and social gatherings!
And, if you are looking for someone to help teach you, I would highly recommend PMT Dance to anyone of any skill level. They offer a variety of Hip Hop, Popping, Street Jazz and Breaking classes to help get you ready for the dancefloor anywhere! To learn more, please visit pmthouseofdance.com
