Planning a trip to Mexico for an all inclusive?

This travel checklist will help cover all the essentials!

Swimsuit cover up- I definitely wore my suit around the beach area but unless you want extra stares, it helps to bring a cover up while grabbing food or looking at shops, and even walking down from the room.

Backpack- A small lightweight bag is needed for carrying around the resort! It helps to hold your phone, cash, camera, snacks, and water.

Debit Cards & Cash- Your debit cards are valid in Mexico, notify your bank when you are traveling. Its best to have cash for tips and to get the best deals- US dollars were still accepted at the resort. 

Sandals & Sneakers- I brought a pair of wedges for dinners, strappy comfy flip flops for walking around vendors or restaurants, Plain flip flops that can get wet and are good for walking on the beach. I also brought a pair of sneakers which I wore on the plane and used at the gym. Also good if you are going hiking etc.

Nice Dresses/Maxis/Skirts- Most restaurants on the resort have a dress code. Nice dresses or skirts for the ladies- no bodycon dresses.  For the guys: Collared shirt and pants Or khaki shorts.

Sweater or Cardigan- Even though you are going to a warm place it is still nice to have something for air conditioned space and later at night when it gets cool.

T-shirts & Tanks- You will want something comfortable to lounge around in and to grab a quick bite to eat or if you are just walking around.

Pants- It is a good idea to bring a pair of yoga pants and a pair of dress pants if it gets cooler.

Multiple swimsuits- You will mainly be lounging around the beach in a suit most of the time and it is so humid there it wont dry immediately overnight so I brought a few swimsuits.

Hair Supplies- There is a blow dryer in the resort room. I did not bring my curling iron and usually wore my hair in a braid or down wavy. When it was down, it was usually so hot my hair would just stick to my back which is when I definitely knew curls and straight hair definitely wouldn’t hold in that Mexico heat. Save room and weight in your suitcase and leave them behind!

Ziplock Bags- Helps separate liquid items so they dont leak. Also good to have extra for wet suits etc.

Water- Do not drink the water there!! I brought a couple bottled waters in my luggage and would have room service keep restocking. Most of the restaurants and shops on the resort did not have bottled water.

Wrinkle Releaser- This may be your new best friend since there is no iron in your room! All of our dress clothes looked like an accordion after taking them out of our luggage. Front desk may have supplied an iron if asked but there was none in the room so we mainly used wrinkle releaser and hang dried stuff. Also brought Gain spray freshener to make things smell a bit better! 

Other Items:

•Aloe Vera•                    •Hand Sanitizer•                    •Razors•                              •Selfie Stick•     

•Portable Charger•        •Sun Hat•                               •Travel Make-up Bag•        •Headphones•     

•Sunscreen•                   •Ibuprofen•                           •Tums/Pepto•                      •Soap and deodorant•     

•Sunglasses•                  •Hair Ties•                             •Bobbypins•                          •Face Wash•     

•Lotion•                          •Floss•                                    •Toothbrush•                        •Deodorant•     

•Earplugs•                      •Bug Spray•                           •Neck Pillow•                        •Chapstick•

•Travelers Checks•        •Q-Tips•                                 •Dry Shampoo•                     •Pens•

What is the most effective way to train- Free weights or machines?

Free Weights

Free weights refer to dumbbells, barbells, and kettlebells. They create more muscle activation and are the basis of a good strength training regimen. When you are using free weights you have to stabilize the weight to keep it controlled, which forces you to use other muscles you didn’t even know were getting activated.

Free weights rein-act real life situations where all your muscles are working together instead of in isolation. When you go to play with your kid, move furniture, or pick up your dog, you are recruiting a bunch of muscles instead of moving in one plane of motion. These are all “free weight” activities. Free weights can also burn more calories than using only machines. For example a squat uses your glutes, hamstrings, quads, core, and other stabilizer muscles as opposed to a seated bicep curl only working that muscle in a supported position.

Machines:

Machines refer to fixed equipment that uses pins, cables, and weight stacks. Don’t get me wrong, I definitely use machines and they can also be useful for training lagging muscle groups. Since they dont involve as many muscles, you can focus on a specific body part.

They can also help if you are a bodybuilder. After your free-weight work you can add more volume on a machine and possibly trigger some new growth. If your shoulders are shot from dumbbell work you can move to the smith machine and do shoulder press to fatigue them even more because the machine is taking some of the load off.

Machines are great, IF you know how to use them as opposed to just going from machine to machine. If you are only using machines instead of free weights you wont see the same results because you aren’t working your stabilizing muscles that are a big part of gains. You could snap your ankle just by stepping off the curb if your stabilizer muscles have been ignored.

Pros to weights:
Free weights are portable and can be used in your own home or even on vacation.
The movements are very similar to sport and everyday activities.
They are also way better at overall developing your muscles and stabilizers.

Cons to weights:
The drawback with weights is that since you are stabilizing many muscles, the chance of injury increases unless you maintain proper form.
If you have bad posture and continue to go through the motions with weights you can create bad muscle memory and and up hurting yourself

Pros To Machines:
Instead of loading and unloading weight on a bar, you are able to just adjust the lever for weight.
You can also lift more on a squat press machine than you can doing regular squats because you don’t have to worry about coordination or a bunch of other muscles working.
Machines can be pretty versatile that’s why you may see someone doing hip thrusts on the leg extension machine. On a leg press machine you can also do single leg press, move your feet wider to work your glutes, or narrower to work your quads. You can even do calf raises on the machine in a fixed motion.
Most machines are pretty easy to use and have instructions on them.

Cons of machines:
A machine puts you in a fixed range of motion where you wont be using all of your muscles to stabilize.
It is not true to real life scenarios because our muscles all work together, not in isolation. When you move boxes, or play with your kids you are recruiting a bunch of muscles instead of moving in one plane of motion.

So which is better?
In my opinion, free weights are better and give you more bang for your buck. Machines are still great to add in as well but its hard to get a full body workout in a decent amount of time without using free weights. Variation is a huge factor in being successful with your fitness program. Our bodies adapt quickly to the stresses put on it so you must make changes periodically in order to keep seeing changes. Using a mix of both free weights and machines will get you the best results.