Anyone who has been to a festival before knows that a combination of days spent dancing in a crowd and nights spent sleeping on a tent floor can bring with it some serious aches and pains.
Dubbed ‘festival back’, this is a price many pay for an unforgettable weekend of watching their favourite music acts with little thought to their physical wellbeing.
But PureGym personal trainers Denzil Bentley and Ray Marshall want to change this. They’re here to share some simple exercises to avoid aches and pains and keep the festival joy lasting longer.
This year, PureGym are here to ensure no festival goer suffers, as there are plenty of ways that you can prepare your body ahead of a big weekend to help reduce the impact of being on your feet all day and keep you feeling as fresh as possible from day one, to the final act.
So whether you’re preparing for Reading Festival, or you’re looking for some recovery help post-festival, they’ve got you covered.
How far in advance should I be prepping?
Any preparation that can be done ahead of the big weekend is better than none, like with anything, the more workouts you can complete, the more fitness you’ll have banked. Ideally we’d like 6-12 weeks for training for any event so as you’ll see noticeable improvements, but the earlier you start, the more you’ll progress. However, even a few workouts pre-festival will help to improve stamina if you’re short on time.
What sort of workouts should I be doing?
The beauty of festivals is that they offer something for everyone – whether you’re someone that wants to have your dancing shoes on from dusk ‘til dawn, float around the campsite meeting new people, or seek out a spot to relax and take it all in, such as at Glastonbury’s famous Stone Circle. It’s always a good idea to work out how you’re likely to spend the festival, so you can prepare your body accordingly. For simplicity, you can look at these categories for a bit of inspiration, and the types of prep you could be doing to combat any festival fatigue:
The Music Maven: The type of festival-goer that likes to make the most of the music, dancing all night long. In this case, doing more cardio training in the run up to the festival will help to maximise endurance, and increase time spent on feet, to reduce those aches and pains. Why not train to the music of the bands you’re likely to see too, to help get used to the intensity of the beat?
The Social Butterfly: Floating around between social groups can be exhausting, so why not give interval workouts a try, to improve your stamina and help boost your energy levels?
The Chill Seeker: There are always moments of peace, even within the busiest festivals, and sitting on the ground isn’t always the most comfortable either. Practising yoga will help to prepare for both of these things, by improving mobility and also giving you the skills of mindfulness to zone out when you need to.
The Adventure Junkie: From ziplines to crowd surfing, there are always high-adrenaline activities on offer at festivals – HIIT workouts are perfect to prepare for these, as they’ll help your body to thrive under stress.
Denzil also recommends adding in an ‘accumulator workout’ to your training in the run up to the events: “This workout builds full body strength, stamina and endurance that will help you to battle through long walks, queues, and full days of dancing. The workout can be done without equipment, or with a dumbbell or barbell for added intensity – meaning you can do it at home, as well as at the gym. Remember to warm up and cool down before and after each workout too!
“The workout increases in intensity each round, with a new exercise added each round, so you’ll be doing every exercise in sequence by the end. To complete the workout, do 10-20 reps per exercise, followed by a 15 second break at the end of the round once all exercises in the set are completed.”
Squats
Squats, push ups
Squats, push ups, crunches
Squats, push ups, crunches, lunges
Squats, push ups, crunches, lunges, push up jacks
Squats, push ups, crunches, lunges, push up jacks, leg darts
Squats, push ups, crunches, lunges, push up jacks, leg darts, step ups
Squats, push ups, crunches, lunges, push up jacks, leg darts, step ups, tricep dips
Squats, push ups, crunches, lunges, push up jacks, leg darts, step ups, tricep dips, circular mountain climbers
Squats, push ups, crunches, lunges, push up jacks, leg darts, step ups, tricep dips, circular mountain climbers
How can I ease aches and pains after the festival?
Even when training before, some people may still experience a few aches and pains. The back is one of the more common areas where people will experience soreness, with thousands experiencing ‘Festival Back’ each year, so Ray recommends the supine twist as a simple stretch that can provide relief:
“The supine twist is a nice easy stretch that can be done in your tent before you go to sleep, or first thing in the morning before heading out for the day. It’s a great lower back exercise that will help ease off any tightness.
To do the twist, follow these steps:
Lie on your back, legs outstretched and arms in a ‘T’ shape
Breathe in and bring your right knee to your chest, placing your left hand onto the knee
Breathe out while gently pulling your knee across your body towards the floor, while keeping your right arm and shoulder flat against it
Hold for 30 seconds and repeat on the other side
“While doing this stretch it’s normal to hear a bit of clicking, but this is absolutely fine – as long as there’s no pain, hold the stretch for as long and deep as feels good for you.”
With good preparation before the big weekend and having a few techniques such as these stretches in case you do feel a bit achy the next morning, you should hopefully feel like you’re able to push through and have a true weekend to remember!
Are you heading to Reading Festival this bank holiday? Don’t forget to tag us in your photos and videos, we love to see them.
