Pete Wright:
Here’s a confession that will surprise exactly no one who’s ever listened to me on this show. I have historically treated vacation as a fitness witness protection program. New city, new me, no squats, and nobody from the gym can find me. And the wellness internet has feelings about that. There is an entire content genre engineered to make you believe a week in Portugal is going to undo an entire year of work. Don’t fall off. Earn your vacation. Stay shredded on the beach. As if your deltoids are going to file for some sort of separation from you because you had a croissant.
Well, today we’re going to find out about how much of that panic is actually real, and what you can do to stay in shape and feel good while you’re vacationing. We’ve got Devon Castro on the show. He’s another trainer from ELEV8 Fitness who has a plan for this. And I hope it’s going to end up being, I’ll say it, refreshingly chill. What happens to your body when you take a week off? What’s worth doing in a sad, sad hotel gym with a couple of dumbbells and a deflated yoga ball? And is “never skip breakfast” real science, or just something we repeat because our grandmother said it? Srdjan is here to help keep us honest and referee the whole thing, I gather. Let’s build a vacation that doesn’t require a recovery vacation. Devon Castro, how you doing?
Devon Castro:
Good. How are you?
Pete Wright:
So good. So glad you’re here. Srdjan, when’s the last vacation you took?
Srdjan Injac:
Ooh, it’s been a while. Starting a business kept me really busy, so…
Pete Wright:
Do you remember the last time you left? Do you remember the last time you left the state? And Washington doesn’t count.
Srdjan Injac:
It doesn’t count. Yeah, I remember, for about ten days I think I went to… where did I go?
Pete Wright:
Okay.
Srdjan Injac:
Kansas City?
Pete Wright:
Oh.
Srdjan Injac:
For ten days, and then yeah.
Pete Wright:
Sort of depends which side of the river you’re on, going to Kansas City.
Srdjan Injac:
But before pandemic, I think that was my bigger vacation, when I went back home for about a month.
Pete Wright:
Okay.
Srdjan Injac:
So that was a little bit longer.
Pete Wright:
All right. That’s big. Well, we’re going to put you in the “I’m going to Europe for a month” mindset. And Devon is going to teach us — okay, who the hell are we kidding? Devon’s going to teach me what I need to do. I’m going to New York in a couple of weeks, and I’m going to be there for two weeks, and I’ve got to keep my head straight, because I misbehave on vacation.
So Devon, let’s start here. Here’s my first big question: what do you tell a client that you’re working with the night before they fly out? You’re working with them the day before they’re about to fly out, and they’re a little bit panicky about leaving, about taking a couple of weeks off. How do you set them straight to begin?
Devon Castro:
First and foremost, I tell them: enjoy yourself, fitness will always be there. But also have in the back of your head, okay, I need to do a lot of activities. I don’t want them to think that just because they’re going on vacation, they have to stick to fitness. But at the same time, in their own perspective, I want them to do more activities. So it helps them burn fat — more activities. So, yeah.
Pete Wright:
Okay. So let’s talk then about progress. Because I know, Srdjan, when we started training, we were talking about how long it takes to actually feel like you’ve lost the progress that you’ve been making in the gym — if you decide to take a much more, dare I say, relaxing vacation. And you may accidentally let time go by — say you’re on an island somewhere. Island time is different time. And you forget to hit the gym, or hit the beach, or keep your activity up. I know we’re going to talk more about that. But what is the difference between feeling like you’ve lost progress and actually losing progress?
Srdjan Injac:
Well, it takes a lot longer — and I think we talked about this at one point — to actually lose the muscle mass that you gained. It takes at least a few weeks, and more, to lose that muscle mass. You might feel a little bit weaker or smaller, but it’s not really that easy to lose the muscle. You’re not going to lose it in a seven-day or ten-day vacation.
We also talked about mature muscle, which is a lot harder to lose. The mature muscle you gain after working out for like three years — that’s when you start gaining that mature muscle that’s more dense, and it’s a lot harder to lose than, for example, the muscle that you gained in the last six months. That’s the kind of muscle you start losing after a few weeks. But the mature muscle stays with you a lot longer because it’s more dense.
There’s a lot of other things that can affect that. If you’re not working out at all, if you’re not being active, if you’re in a huge calorie deficit, and you’re not focusing on your protein intake — all that can affect how fast you’re going to lose that muscle. So gradually you start losing in small amounts. It’s not huge amounts.
Pete Wright:
Okay, so it sounds like I don’t need to be terrified about losing gains if I’m gone for a couple of weeks and I skip a couple of days here and there. So, Devon — you’re also kicking up the running club out of ELEV8, right? You’re looking at cardio, and that makes me ask the cardio question. Is there a difference between the pace that my cardio stamina fades versus my muscle? Does one go faster than the other? Should I focus on maybe getting a run in around the lake, or hitting, you know, lifting heavy things?
Devon Castro:
I’m going to say it’s all about balance. For a type of dude like me — people say, oh yeah, you’ve been jacked your whole life — it’s a push and pull, because at the end of the day you can’t have both. You’re going to have to lift weights for your muscle density and your bone density. And then you’re going to have to run, or maybe do a few jogs, probably walking, just for the heart health. So it’s a push and pull.
You will burn fat. But if you’re doing more of the cardio side, you’ll burn the fat, but you’ll also lose muscle. Vice versa, if you were to do just weightlifting, you’re going to be stronger at that and build more muscle, but your cardio is not going to be as great. You’ll be huffing and puffing. So it’s a balance.
Pete Wright:
Srdjan, what’s your experience with cardio loss versus muscle loss? Do you have any experience there?
Srdjan Injac:
Well, on vacation… but…
Pete Wright:
I mean, of course you don’t, because you’re always in peak physical condition.
Srdjan Injac:
I always focus on my muscle mass. Cardio, I’m not really great at it, but I think I lose cardio a lot faster than the muscle mass. I try to stay on top of it. If I go on vacation — if I go to Croatia — I’ll go swim for a while, and that will keep my cardio up there. Your muscle endurance is going to stay there, because it takes a lot of energy to swim. So swimming is great. That’s how I keep myself in shape. And after that, if I eat, I focus on my protein intake, all that stuff. So that way I don’t really lose much during the vacation.
You can still go on the hikes and little runs in the mornings on the beach and still enjoy it, but keep your cardio up. And the muscle mass, of course — if you do some exercises for it, you don’t have to go for an hour, but just twenty minutes, twice a week, and you’ll be fine. But I think you do lose cardio a little faster than the muscle mass.
Pete Wright:
Okay, that’s awesome. This is helping me prepare. So I’m going to a place — there is a little gym on the facility, but it’s a travel gym. So I know there’s an elliptical from circa 2003. I’m pretty sure there are some dumbbells that stop at like 25. There’s a TV playing cable news on mute. What do you actually do in there? If I have my twenty minutes and almost no equipment, give me a mental model for what I need to think about so I don’t feel like I’m losing.
Devon Castro:
Before doing it, I would say — you’ve been training with Srdjan for a long time, I bet he has three good movements that you’ve memorized. So I would say focus on the three best movements that you know for dumbbells. And obviously do your elliptical stuff, but focusing on those three would definitely help. All you need is twenty minutes, and you’re good to go. Honestly, three movements to focus on, and we’re going to work around it.
Pete Wright:
So how do you handle no equipment? How do you handle your bodyweight movements? What are your go-to bodyweight exercises?
Devon Castro:
My big three bodyweight movements would be — everybody hates it — I do the burpees.
Pete Wright:
Oh, for crying out loud.
Devon Castro:
I do burpees.
Pete Wright:
What do you even do in the air? Shame it at Christmas.
Devon Castro:
Do the burpees. I do the wall sits, because sometimes I don’t want to squat every single time — it’s going to be a drag, and I’m on vacation.
Pete Wright:
Okay.
Devon Castro:
Why not wall sit for a good two minutes, for a couple of sets? And I’ll do walking lunges, so I can still build my legs — because your legs are the foundation of your body. And I’ll probably just pick one cardio that’s simple, like leg raises, and hold that position for a minute or two. So that’s my go-to.
Pete Wright:
God, those are the worst, man. All right, Srdjan, what are your big three?
Srdjan Injac:
Well, I would combine them — do a HIIT workout on bodyweight.
Pete Wright:
Okay.
Srdjan Injac:
I would pick as many exercises as I can and do high-intensity interval training. You’re going to focus on lunges, squats. Then you can also do plyometrics, where you do the jumps, and then some push-ups, and some abs. You can do mountain climbers — all those things you can combine, and then do a few rounds. Keep your heart rate up, and the muscle is going to be pretty exhausted after a few rounds. Because you’re doing bodyweight, you don’t have any dumbbells or machines, so you try not to rest too long, and you can get the workout pretty quick.
Pete Wright:
It’s interesting to hear you both — check me if I’m reading a pattern that doesn’t exist — but it sounds like your go-to, bog standard, is to do the things that engage the biggest muscle groups first. Don’t focus so much on, oh my god, my traps or biceps. You’re not doing individual isolation movements. You’re engaging all the biggest stuff. That’s the big bang for your buck kind of thinking. Am I reading that right?
Srdjan Injac:
Yes. Because you don’t have to focus on the smaller muscle groups that much, or try to isolate them. They’re going to work as you’re working. When you do push-ups, it’s not just your chest that’s working — your shoulders are going to kick in, your triceps are going to kick in. So all the other smaller muscles are going to get some work done. Focus on the bigger muscle groups, and the smaller ones will take care of themselves. You don’t necessarily have to isolate those. Because you’re on vacation — you’re not trying to build more muscle, you’re not trying to grow. You’re just trying to maintain and preserve the muscle mass that you have. And that should be plenty.
Pete Wright:
So I was reading up, preparing for this conversation, and one of the things people complained about — this was on Reddit, so you get what you get on Reddit — was “I look flat after four days.” That’s the big complaint. And I’ve never experienced that, because I’ve always looked flat. For most of my life I haven’t had any physique to lose. So what is this “flat” effect that people are complaining about? Do you have a sense of what they might be thinking about?
Devon Castro:
Honestly, I always think about flat like — I don’t have anything inside me right now, I don’t have a pump. Like, oh man, I don’t look hard right now because I don’t have a pump going on. I just look too relaxed. Bodybuilders are always wanting to chase the pump. The pump is this crazy thing — for instance, you’re doing bicep curls, you’re pumping blood into your muscles, so you’re actually looking big. But once that pump goes away, you’re looking flat.
Pete Wright:
You’re looking flat, yeah.
Devon Castro:
Yeah, that’s it.
Pete Wright:
But this is the thing. I just want to make sure I say out loud, and hear you guys say out loud — that’s not a problem when you’re on vacation. You’re not isolating muscles. That “flat after four days” thing is just not a sign of inherent weakness.
Srdjan Injac:
No, I don’t ever feel that way. It goes the opposite for me — I gain weight when I go on vacation. I don’t feel flat. People feel flat because of water retention and all that stuff. The water retention goes away, and then they start feeling flat. It’s not like you lost muscle mass. You just feel like you’re getting smaller, but it’s no big deal.
Pete Wright:
Well then, let’s talk about the big, dessert-shaped elephant in the room. Because we know that one half of staying on top of your game on vacation is getting your movement in. The other is what you take in, what you eat. So let’s talk about it. I probably have some significant challenges with what I eat right now, and I’m not on vacation. So what is your advice when you’re in an environment where you’re intentionally relaxing some of the norms, some of the rules you have?
Devon Castro:
Yeah, so you’re going to be surrounded with a lot of good foods. But I always tell them — and I’m speaking to everybody, my clients and everyone who goes on vacation — if you’re going to have a piece of cake, and you’re in a hotel, get your steps in, get your cardio in. Even if you eat a piece of cake, kind of pay it forward. Your daily deposit — I call it the daily deposit. So if you want to eat a slice of cake that’s almost like two thousand calories, you want to burn it off by doing a good forty-five minutes to an hour — treadmill, StairMaster, or go out for a jog or a walk for a long time. If I’m going to enjoy myself, I need to pay for it somehow, some way. That’s the type of mentality on vacation.
Pete Wright:
Srdjan, what’s your pay-it-forward strategy? I’ve seen some of the stuff you eat.
Srdjan Injac:
I mean…
Pete Wright:
A whole chicken plus a vat of Nutella?
Srdjan Injac:
No, I’m not on any strict diet or anything when I go on vacation. I love to eat everything. I love food, so I enjoy food. I’ll eat everything that I usually don’t eat. So I do enjoy moderation. But something that people completely overlook is what we call NEAT — non-exercise activity thermogenesis — which is all the movement you do outside of structured workouts. Walking, taking stairs, carrying bags, exploring the new city, just being more active throughout the day. That NEAT often goes away without people even realizing. You might not be in the gym, but you’re walking like ten to twenty thousand steps a day, climbing stairs, on your feet for hours. That’s a real energy expenditure. It plays a big role in maintaining both your weight and your overall fitness.
So if you’re doing all that, you can actually enjoy some of the food you eat. I wouldn’t be concerned too much if you have a dessert — you don’t always need to go to the gym and do the workout. We always say it’s important not just what you do in that one hour, the workout, it’s what you do outside the hour, the other twenty-three hours you have. That’s what’s important, and people kind of overlook that.
Pete Wright:
I find I’m accidentally more active, less sedentary, when I’m on vacation than when I’m not. Even when I’m on a vacation that’s designed to relax, I’m walking a lot more than when I’m sitting at my desk or standing at my desk. So that’s the magical debits and credits of eating and movement — the NEAT movement is that I’m unintentionally earning the cake, the stand-in for the cake, just by getting out of bed in the morning. I can’t remember the last time I took a vacation where I just tried to stay in bed for a week. What kind of hedonist am I?
So that’s important. But I also want to reiterate the rules we’ve talked about on this show before. You know what exists on vacation? Healthy proteins. Eat your proteins. So we’ll assume that Srdjan is going to keep eating his chickens — as you’re going to your restaurants, as you’re going out, eat more at the grocery store, find those proteins that are familiar and delicious, and maybe use a local treatment on them. Maybe it’s a pineapple chicken, maybe it’s something you can do to spice it up and get local flavor. But remember the local proteins. How do you adapt your other eating rules when you don’t have your kitchen to do your meal prep?
Devon Castro:
When I’m on vacation, I like to survey the area, like you said — look at the local places, the grocery stores, and come up with, oh, I’m going to make this. You want to take in not too heavy, but you want to enjoy yourself on lunches and dinners. For breakfast, the simple stuff that suffices. Going forward, you won’t be able to indulge in everything, but my go-to is to look at grocery stores and come up with a healthy type of snacks and things — whole foods to keep you full at the same time. So that’s my step.
Pete Wright:
I think people forget when they go on vacation that grocery stores exist. If you go on a real destination vacation, you just think restaurant, restaurant, restaurant. But you know what? You can take care of yourself with a trip to a neighborhood grocery store.
Srdjan Injac:
Oh yeah. I always do my research, no matter if I’m staying at an Airbnb or a hotel. I look at the restaurants in the area, all the breakfast places. If I’m staying at a hotel, what kind of breakfast they have in the morning, and where I can go and have a good breakfast with enough protein. Lunch, dinners, all that stuff. Once you go to the restaurant, I think it’s a little bit easier, because they all have seafood or steak and things like that, so you’re going to get your protein intake from there.
It’s hard — I have a couple of weaknesses. When I go to Croatia, there’s a spot I like to go, a bakery that’s open twenty-four seven. So it’s kind of hard to ignore and not walk in, when everything smells so amazing and there are so many carbs there.
Pete Wright:
Oh my God.
Srdjan Injac:
So it’s kind of hard to stay away from. But yes, I go there maybe once a day —
Pete Wright:
Once a day.
Srdjan Injac:
Well, one of those a day. I have to get my treat in the morning, because I know I’m going to burn it off during the day, and I won’t feel so guilty about it. That’s where I get my sweets. But everything else — like I said, I do my research, I hit the grocery stores, see if I can find some snacks. Usually when I’m on the beach, or if I go on a hike, I take my little backpack, and I make sure I put some healthy snacks in there, so I can snack on that and not be starving or hungry.
Pete Wright:
Okay, we’re getting toward the end of our time together, but I do want to talk about — because you bring up this breakfast thing — your strategy around breakfast. Because what I’m hearing is, if you start out with some good healthy proteins, you’re building a nice foundation for the beginning of your day.
Devon Castro:
Breakfast strategy. We talked about the grocery store. I would eat things like bread — good source of carbs. Eggs are always easy, so I’m hands down on eggs. Cook some eggs. And indulge in a lot of fruit. A lot of people will be like, oh, it’s natural sugar — but I feel like that’s most of it. It keeps you full. Really simple. I don’t want to think about it too much on vacation, because later down the line, like Srdjan was saying, with the restaurants and stuff, they’re always going to have options. But starting with breakfast helps, because it gives your body those calories, those carbs, proteins, and healthy fats, and gets you through it, so you don’t go crazy.
And another thing just popped in my head. People do intermittent fasting — I have nothing against that whatsoever. But if it’s done wrong… because, like you said, on vacation sometimes you wake up at eleven, and then they start doing the intermittent fasting. But once lunch and dinner come, they’re indulging in everything before they go to bed, and there’s no room — they’re just going overboard.
Pete Wright:
Well, and then you’re messing up what you probably need more than at other times, which is healthy sleep. You’re likely getting less of it on vacation, and if you eat a whole bunch before bed, you’re wrecking your sleep.
Devon Castro:
Yeah.
Pete Wright:
That’s not good for staying fit. What is your strategy, both of you, on booze when you travel?
Srdjan Injac:
I don’t really — to tell you the truth, I don’t really drink much. So if I drink, it’s one or two drinks, and it doesn’t really affect me. It’s usually the food. Like you said, the breakfast — for me, and for a lot of people, starting the day with a solid, protein-focused meal creates a structure. It helps regulate the hunger, keeps energy more stable, and can prevent that situation where you go to dinner starving and end up overeating without realizing.
So breakfast isn’t some magical metabolic boost. It’s just that it can help people stay more consistent and in control of their intake throughout the day. At the same time, for some people, skipping breakfast can work just fine. Some people aren’t hungry in the morning, or they prefer eating later in the day, and they still maintain great results. The key is what happens over the full day, not just whether you eat at eight a.m. or not.
But there are people — if someone has blood sugar issues, like diabetes or hyperglycemia, skipping meals, especially breakfast, can make things worse. In those cases, eating earlier is usually important. But you mentioned sleep too, which I think is really important — that you get a good night’s sleep. Skipping sleep actually makes you overeat; it activates those hunger hormones.
Pete Wright:
Yeah. Oh, I’m deeply snacky if I’m not rested.
Srdjan Injac:
I would definitely focus on my sleep. People make poor decisions when they don’t get a good night’s sleep.
Pete Wright:
Yeah.
Devon Castro:
For booze in general — I’m not much of a drinker either, but a lot of people ask me what to have when booze is involved. They ask me that all the time. Mostly booze on vacation is mixed with something, some sort of juice, or your rum and Coke type of thing. But when I ask people who are serious about their health and wellness and fitness, they usually grab booze on the rocks, straight up, on the rocks.
Pete Wright:
Okay.
Devon Castro:
Zero calories — supposedly, they say it’s zero calories, and you’re not mixing it with anything else.
Pete Wright:
Sugar, sugar, sugar, right?
Devon Castro:
So that’s my take on that part.
Pete Wright:
We’re probably the worst three people to even bring that question up, because we don’t really drink. Sorry.
Devon Castro:
Yeah.
Srdjan Injac:
Yeah. Oh, no, it’s okay.
Pete Wright:
I don’t really have anything to add, other than — yeah, I know that it makes me really snacky. And then I don’t sleep well, and then I don’t get in any sort of physical activity. I wake up, I don’t feel good, I’m working slow. All of these things are connected. It’s like we were talking about last week — it’s all about the balance.
All right. So I’m thinking about the things we’ve talked about here: that you don’t need to worry about staying fit on vacation in the progress sense. A week or two off is going to cost you functionally nothing. But taking on some activity while you’re there, with intention, is going to make re-entry easier — it’s going to make coming back to the gym easier. So move a little, eat with some anchors, protect your sleep, and then enjoy your trip.
So my closing question to both of you: if someone listening only remembers one thing from this episode — they’re getting on the plane tomorrow, standing in the airport at 6 a.m. — what’s the one thing you want them to think about, as an anchor to start their trip well?
Srdjan Injac:
For me, I think sleep is very important. When people go on vacation, they’re going to move around, they’re going to eat, all that stuff. But focus on getting a good night’s sleep. I think you’re going to make better decisions after a good night’s sleep.
Pete Wright:
Okay.
Srdjan Injac:
Definitely.
Pete Wright:
Sleep is off the board. Devon?
Devon Castro:
Sleep is off the board. I’m going to say: hold yourself accountable. Whenever you feel yourself drifting away from that goal and mindset — oh man, I’m going to lose my progress because of this — always tell yourself, enjoy yourself, but also hold yourself accountable before making your decision.
Pete Wright:
All right. The official Build for Health vacation plan: walk a lot, eat the gelato, sleep like a grown-up, and don’t let the internet make you feel like crap about a croissant. Life’s too short. Enjoy your trip.
Devon Castro, thank you so much for hanging out with us today. Welcome, officially, to the first-timers club.
Srdjan Injac:
Thank you.
Pete Wright:
Glad to have that notch on your belt. We’re glad to have you. You are also a trainer at ELEV8 Fitness, and anybody who’s interested, come check out Devon’s work. Let me tell you — there’s always something crazy that Devon is doing with the people he’s working with. We’re working out, doing the work, we look over, and Devon’s doing something I’ve never seen before, and he’s just making it work. I don’t know what’s going on, but if you’re looking for a little bit of training wizardry on the mat, check out ELEV8 Fitness and all the fantastic trainers at work over there. You can find us at elev8fitnesspdx.com.
Thank you guys so much — Srdjan Injac and Devon Castro. On behalf of both of these guys, I’m Pete Wright, and we’ll see you next week, right here in the gym.
