Holidays aren’t just about relaxing.
They provide the opportunity to forget about Powerpoint, traffic, strat meetings, performance appraisals and cranky bosses. There are no appointments to make or goals to achieve except for one – to have some proper, undiluted fun. It’s time to be like a kid again. Pack your bags, turn off the work email, invest in a few toys, take a deep breath and start the summer with the most important thing of all – a smile.
Your summer soundtrack
Forget cheesy pop compilations, you need skilled local DJs with international influences. Our picks: the trickily named Okmalumkoolkat, the Skene Brothers and DJ Sox, search for them all on soundcloud.com. Or download a ready-made mix from places that know a little about summer tunes – Café Caprice (the nu disco set at cafecaprice.co.za) or a podcast from Ibiza’s superclub Pacha (pacha.com).
Lead the pack
Road and MTB bikes are brilliant for racing, training and witness-the-fitness moments, but they’re not great for cruising boardwalks and hitting sidewalk cafes in summer. For that, you need to bomb down the tarmac with the fearsome Red Baron Cruiser. The internal three-speed transmission takes care of any altitude climbs while the tough frame handles any pavement punishment.
R6 999, worldsviewsports.co.za, 011 844 1170
Set your sights higher
Disposable sunglasses not only give you a lousy outlook on life, they also sabotage your sight. Crummy shades are as bad as no shades: according to a study in the Archives of Ophthalmology, people who regularly leave their eyes unshielded from the summer sun have the greatest risk of age-related macular degeneration, a condition that will eventually end in blindness. To safeguard your eyes, buy optical-quality sunglasses labelled “blocks 100% UVA and UVB light” or “UV absorption up to 400nm.” Our choice? Polarized Oakley Garage Rock shades,
Leave the gym (and your gut) behind
Have 20 minutes? Of course you do; it’s summer. Find a patch of lawn and try these quick, simple fat-burning routines from strength and conditioning coach Mike Mejia.
Push-up sprints
Do a single push-up, then sprint 30 metres. Drop for two push-ups. Sprint back to the start and knock out three push-ups. Continue until you’ve completed 10 consecutive push-ups. Do this only once.
Hollow sprints
Sprint 20 metres, then lunge-walk back. Finish three laps. Rest for two minutes and go again.
Look great shirtless
To build a swimmer’s physique, use this exercise, called the straight-arm pull-down, courtesy of Olympic champ Michael Phelps. Stand behind the lat pull-down seat and grab the bar with an overhand grip, your hands slightly more than shoulder-width apart. Lower the bar to eye level – that’s the starting position. Keeping your arms straight, pull the bar to your upper thighs, pause, then reverse the movement back to the starting position.
Bet on the house
The prize? Bragging rights and a great way to spend the post-beach early evening hours when on holiday. Travel poker set R129, megapoker.co.za, 083 297 1224
Get home safely
Yes we like to drink, but we shouldn’t drive, no matter how stubborn we get. Sign up with either Goodfellas (gfellas.co.za) or contact Toot-N-Scoot (toot-n-scoot.co.za).
