Workout While You Travel.
When you’re traveling for work, you can stick to your fitness routine. Use these simple travel workout tips to maintain your fitness program.
If work keeps you frequently away from home, you know how challenging it can be to maintain your fitness program. Travel time and meetings might leave little room in your schedule for a workout — but keeping fit doesn’t have to be a lost cause. A little dedication and planning can help you stay in shape when you’re traveling. Consider these travel workout tips.
Workout While You Travel
Pack for fitness
Before your trip, research the hotel or nearby fitness facilities and pack accordingly. Your travel workout essentials might include:
- Athletic shoes
- Exercise clothing
- Swimsuit
- Tennis racket
- Hand grips
- Music and headphones
Work out as you go
Wear your walking shoes when you travel. If you’re traveling by plane, stroll through the airport terminal. When traveling by train walk through the cars occasionally. Walk outdoors when the train stops to let passengers on and off. If you’re driving, take frequent breaks to get out and stretch.
Get started
When you arrive at your destination, set the tone for your trip by working out right away. If that’s not possible, schedule a time for your next workout and treat it as an important appointment.
Take Advantage of Hotel Resources
Use the hotel fitness room. Many hotels offer weight machines, treadmills, stationary bicycles, and fitness mats for stretching or exercising.
Swim in the hotel pool. Swimming can be excellent exercise, and even a short amount of time using the resistance of the water will help burn calories and work multiple muscle groups.
Walk the halls of the hotel. Simply taking a walk, power walking, jogging, or climbing stairs in a hotel can offer plenty of opportunity for safe and effective exercise.
Rent a bike, pedal boat, or golf clubs. Many hotels and resorts offer activities at a fee that can allow you to fit in a workout while you explore the area. Riding a bike, pedaling around a pond or lake, or walking with your clubs on a golf course can burn hundreds of calories and add make your workout seem like less of an inconvenience when you travel.
Alter Your Workout Routine
If your hotel at which you are staying does not include workout facilities, take the opportunity to try something new that does not require any special tools.
Try new exercises.
Exercise in the comfort of your room. Many effective workouts can be performed without equipment or special facilities.
- Use your body to create resistance. Do push-ups, sit-ups, lunges, strength training, jumping jacks, jogging in place, and other basic moves to work your muscle groups, stretch, and get your heartbeat up.
Try yoga, Pilates, or other Workout DVD.
- Lay a towel on the floor of the hotel room and use it as a mat for yoga stretches such as downward dog, sun salutations, and other poses that will help relieve the tension from traveling while working your muscles and toning your core.
Make up your own routine.
- Alternate stair climbing with lunges down the hallways, perform bicep curls with water bottles, or substitute a towel or article of clothing for a resistance band. Then try doing chair lifts, scissor kicks, and even jumping on the bed to get your heart rate up and your routine full of variety and fun.
Pack Lightweight Exercise Equipment
If you are able to plan your workouts in advance of travel, try packing equipment or exercise tools that will fit in your suitcase without adding excessive weight or bulk.
Roll up a small foam yoga mat. Foam mats not only roll into less space than firmer or thicker mats, but they are often also very affordable and weigh substantially less than traditional yoga mats.
- If you enjoy yoga when traveling, hemp bands and lightweight foam blocks are also easy to fit in a suitcase without adding much weight.
Work out While Traveling Step 10
Pack hand-held weights. Light hand weights or ankle weights are compact and can fit into most suitcases with ease.
- To spare yourself the strain of an overly heavy bag, refrain from packing more than one set or packing any weights over 5 pounds each.
Invest in resistance bands. Rubber or cloth resistance bands offer a very wide range of exercise options with virtually no added bulk or weight to your suitcase.
Take Your Workout to the Streets
Working out while traveling can offer excellent opportunities for meeting new people and trying new fitness routines. In addition, combining your workout with exploration or errands can help make fitting in a workout while traveling a simple task.
Go dancing. Traveling can be an excellent excuse to try salsa, tango, swing, the waltz, or even hip-hop dancing. Head to a club to get your workout while socializing or pick a restaurant that offers a dance floor and live music to burn calories and have fun at the same time.
Find a jogging path, park, or popular street. Just by packing your running shoes you can combine sightseeing with working out. Jog through the parks, along picturesque waterways, or up and down past shops and restaurants to get your workout done, while exploring the city or even picking out where to go for dinner.
Sign up for an exercise class. Traveling can offer plenty of opportunities to try a local zumba, belly dancing, boot camp, yoga, or other specialty class at a workout studio, supporting local businesses and helping you fit your workout into your travel schedule.
