The Disneyland Workout System

If you're planning a vacation but want to still stay true to your workouts and your eating habits, there might be a way to do that and make it fun in the process. Disneyland is more than a park where families, friends, couples and kids share the fun atmosphere and go on some cool rides and meet awesome characters, it is a place to stretch your imagination and be more observant to how you apply yourself while having a blast. The most obvious way to workout at the Magic Kingdom is just by doing A LOT of walking. When you're on your feet to get to a ride or in line for food and getting an autograph, there's a few things you can do without looking like a weirdo.

One of my favorite exercises to do while waiting in line is the Wall Sit, if you access to a wall while waiting for let's say Roger Rabbit's Cab Ride, lean up against the wall, keep the back as straight as possible and sit there for as long as you can. It is a great exercise to stretch your knees and working the muscles along the low back, quads and calves. Just breathe deeply and whether you can hold it for 2 seconds or more than a minute it doesn't matter. As you move throughout the line and stop, go back to the wall sit.

You can do a great deal of exercise at your hotel before heading down to the park. The most ideal thing to do if you can help it, is to keep your workouts short so no more than maybe 20 minutes or go swimming in the pool for a while. You want to be fresh for walking around the parks and drink plenty of water. The last time I was at Disneyland was back in 2016 with my girl and we were averaging a good 8-10 miles a day just walking. For her that was plenty plus some good stretching but for me, I like a little more zass to it by doing Isometrics, a little deck of cards workouts and even hold a handstand at a place in California Adventure near Soaring Over California (Now Soarin Over The World). Just moving around the park can be tiring so you want to keep that energy up. Sometimes I walk over to a place to rest and just sit in a catcher's squat and stretch the legs a bit, other times I'll do a min-workout of VRT doing maybe 3 exercises for the upper body to get the blood pumping, it's a refresher for me.

Some rides provide you a way to work your body in order to make it a little more interesting. The Tea Cups has you steering and that can really work your arms. The shoulders, triceps, biceps and forearms all get a great workout and gives you a hell of a pump. Work those arms and try not to get dizzy. Staying stable can also be a challenge on some rides so to get the most out of your core, on some rides such as Indiana Jones, Thunder Mountain Railroad and Space Mountain, do your best to not ram yourself into the sides, keep your core muscles tight and hang on because there are times where you'll rock or be steered hard to the side.

What would be the best workout for your legs other than walking? Go up and down Tarzan's Treehouse. Hell of a cardio booster and you will work practically everything and to make it more interesting, go up two steps at at time instead of one at a time. If there's a ride that has stairs, use them to your advantage. You can burn a hell of a lot of calories at the parks.

Now granted Disneyland doesn't have the greatest quality of healthy foods, you can still find some if you're willing to look for it. Near the Jungle Cruise there's a stand where it provides fruit to help with solid nutrition and hydration. Awesome Fish Tacos at a restaurant near the Golden Horseshoe, great salad options at Pizza Port and some cool healthy sandwiches to find. If staying healthy is important, make it work for you. If you need to kickback a little and have a fun meal, I love to grab a burger near Splash Mountain or get some meaty skewers at the Bengal BBQ. Can't go wrong with a good sandwich on Main Street man.

Make your workouts fun while visiting the parks and have a blast, don't take things too serious and be yourself. Eat the best to your ability and if you happen to grab a pizza or a burger some place, don't worry so much, you'll have plenty of exercise to burn it off by the walking.