Pilates Linfodrenante without a mat: how to train while travelling in 15 minutes
Summer is at the door. A quick getaway to the sea. A weekend in a city to discover. Three days of trekking in the mountains. Or simply a week in which you go back to your parents’, visit your sister or your best friend.
And I know what you are thinking: “I’m not bringing the mat, it weighs too much. I’ll pick it up again when I get back.”
Can I tell you what I think?
If you feel tired, overwhelmed by the year that has passed, out of energy, and if when you do a session you accumulate even more fatigue… you are right.
Your body evidently needs a few days of rest.
And if you have trained all year, these 7 days are certainly not going to change things (physically and mentally).
But if instead you feel better when you move, you like taking those 15-30 minutes just for yourself, it helps you clear your head and feel lighter… then you do not necessarily have to give it up.
Just because you are away, maybe with your family, in a house that is not yours or in a hotel.
I am of the idea that in everything in life, if you really want it, you find a solution.
And obviously this also applies to training on holiday.
Personally I am the type of person who LOVES having time for a quiet session.
During the year I am always in a rush. I wake up at 5 to manage a walk and a 15-minute Pilates Linfodrenante® session.
When I am on holiday and have the whole day to myself, I want to be able to train calmly.
I want to be able to walk breathing at full lungs and not as if I were being chased.
I want to focus on my breath without the thought of the next message on Slack (do you use it? at our company we use it for all communications).
I want to be able to choose a 30-minute session instead of my usual 15, peeking at the clock.
You will think I am crazy, but training calmly, on holiday, together with Matteo (my husband), is one of my favourite activities.
And precisely for this reason, I found a solution.
If you want to train but do not have a mat, you will find the No-Mat Classes section: 14 Pilates Linfodrenante classes in which you need absolutely NOTHING to train.
Just your body and, at most, two little water bottles.
You can follow them wherever you are: from a hotel room to your parents’ terrace, from the park below your house to a beach in Tanzania.
No complications, no worries.
In this article I tell you:
To stop or not to stop, that is the dilemma
Every year, as June approaches, hundreds of women start writing to me.
“Carlotta, I’m going on holiday, but do I have to train?”
“Do I lose the results if I don’t train for 2 weeks?”
“I’m scared, I’m going on holiday with my family. I’m afraid I won’t have time for myself.”
As often in life, you have two options.
A total stop.
You show your pale bum on the beach (as the great Gabriella Ferri sang), you sleep under the umbrella, you sip Spritz by moonlight.
And you know what? Holiday is also this. A one-week break does not ruin a journey you have been pursuing for months.
And 15 days? Not even 15 days. Maybe you will come back feeling a bit more bloated and a bit less toned (I have to be honest), but nothing you cannot make up for in a few weeks on your return.
If you need to completely switch off once a year, this is your moment.
15 minutes for yourself. Not because you “have to,” but because it makes you feel better.
Not to “avoid gaining weight,” but to avoid that “I’m all rusty” feeling when you get home.
To drain your legs after a flight.
To release the neck after sleeping in a different bed.
To bring your back back to life after walking 12km in the sun, because when you arrive in a new city the FOMO (fear of missing out, that is the fear of missing incredible things) always takes over.
It is 15 minutes.
If they make you feel good, I am sure your family, your children, your parents, your friend, will understand.
Maybe they are sceptical, but you can convince them to try. Or if they really do not want to, you can get up earlier and carve out a moment for yourself.
Remember that healthy relationships are not always the ones in which you do everything together, but the ones in which everyone can take their own spaces, while still continuing to share moments together.
Neither of these solutions is better than the other, they are different solutions for different needs. It is like preferring a memory foam mattress or a spring one.
The important thing is that you make a conscious and, above all, honest analysis of what YOU want, leaving aside the outside world and its impositions. And then you choose.
Choosing with awareness is the best way not to feel guilty.
5 No-Mat Pilates Linfodrenante classes (chosen from the ones I use while travelling) + 1 bonus
On the app you will find 14 classes in the No-Mat section. I will tell you the 5 that in my opinion are most useful when you are away (and the ones I often do myself).
Standing lymphatic drainage
My favourite for coming back after a long trip by plane, train, or car.
Fairly intense, it trains the legs and inner thighs without creating inflammation.
The legs are immediately lighter and the feet less swollen.
I filmed it in Vietnam surrounded by nature, and just watching the video relaxes you.
Standing Postural Pilates
Perfect after a day in which you have been on your feet a lot.
Are you in London and have walked all day? Or maybe you did a day of trekking and now your legs and back are asking for help.
This class makes you good as new.
Express total body
You have been on the beach all day. Your skin is golden, the tan line is starting to show, you smell of coconut (for me the quintessential scent of sunscreen, for you too or is it just my thing?).
What a lovely feeling. You have been waiting for it all year. And you deserve it.
But now you would really fancy a burst of adrenaline and to release some endorphins, before getting ready for the evening.
This is the class for you.
Standing Pilates: strength and balance
It has been a few days since you last trained.
You do not know whether you are more in the mood for a toning session or a mobility one.
Why not combine the two?
This is the class for you. 15 minutes and you take home everything.
Standing stretching
You did not go on holiday (or not yet).
You are back from work, it is hot, you do not feel like staying indoors (is it just me who in summer would never stay indoors?).
The park is so inviting… You take a walk, breathe at full lungs, and stop for a short stretching session.
Without equipment, without a mat. You make yourself good as new. Summer in the city is not so bad after all!
And here we come to the bonus: Light Legs in 7 minutes.
You can do this session from bed, before sleeping.
It is a pure Lymph-Draining class, with simple inversion exercises. It helps bring the lymph and blood back upward.
But it also helps you relax and fall asleep.
And it is the class done the greatest number of times on the app, as well as one of my favourites.
If you have never tried it, you must put that right!
Where to do them
The No-Mat classes are designed to be done anywhere, in little space and without equipment:
- Hotel room, B&B, or rented apartment: any space in front of the bed or between the bed and the wardrobe is enough. Even in a ship’s cabin, I dare you to try!
- Terrace or balcony: and needless to say, if you have a sea view, even better!
- Garden or lawn: on the grass, just make sure it is clean.
- Beach: training on the beach is beautiful, but it is not that simple (and after filming around fifty videos in the Maldives, I can now say I am an expert). Make sure the sand is compact and that you are in the shade. Better early in the morning when there are few people, or at sunset.
Not sure you have enough space? Stand up and open your arms into a T: if you can, the space is enough.
The perfect combos
20 minutes
Standing lymph-draining inner thigh (11 minutes) + Quick Pilates Arms (8 minutes)
30 minutes
Standing lymphatic drainage (16 minutes) + Ballerina arms (6 minutes) + Light Legs in 7 minutes (7 minutes)
35 minutes
No-mat arms (9 minutes) + Standing Pilates burn (15 minutes) + Standing stretching (11 minutes)
Frequently asked questions
Do you really not need the mat?
No, the sessions are designed to be done entirely standing. Sometimes small weights are needed (in particular for the arm sessions), but you can replace them with two little water bottles.
Can I do these classes at home too, not just while travelling?
Absolutely yes. They are also perfect for days when you do not feel like rolling out the mat or prefer to train on the balcony or terrace.
What level are they?
Most are intermediate level. If you are a beginner and struggle, you can perform the exercises for fewer repetitions and take a break until the next exercise begins.
I don’t like training standing up, but I’m on holiday and don’t have a mat. What do I do?
You can continue with your Journey or choose the classes you prefer, using a large towel instead of the mat. In that case, when you perform the standing exercises, move off the towel so as not to slip.
In short
Holiday is, par excellence, the moment of a break from everything. But if training makes you feel good, you do not have to give it up just because you are on holiday. And you do not need a mat. Nor a lot of time. Nor any kind of specific equipment.
15 minutes in a hotel room, on the beach, or on a lawn, with your phone (and my sweet voice 🤣) guiding you. That is all.
And often, after 7 days of sun, Spritz, and dinners at 10pm, it is exactly those 15 minutes twice a week that make you feel good when you get home.