Whether you are heading out on vacation or on a business trip, to keep your fitness goals progressing, you should plan to take your exercise routine with you on the road. Training on the go helps you stay with your exercise plans, ward off unwanted weight gain from too many restaurant meals and keep you energized to enjoy your time away from home.
Why Train When You Travel?
- Bust Through Stress – the planning, anticipation and the journey itself is stressful. Airport line ups, baggage check, security, long trips to and from the gate and hours sitting in confined spaces all add up to one agitated body and mind. Rejuvenate with exercise.
- No Jet Lag – a simple strategy to avoid the negative effects of time change is to plan a work out as soon as you arrive at your hotel. Total body conditioning will reset your internal time clock, activate your entire body and boost circulation and brain power.
- Rest and Recovery – being in a hotel may seem like a luxury, but sometimes it’s hard to sleep in a new environment. To be sure that you are well rested for business or for pleasure outings on the road, a time efficient exercise routine will help relieve aches and pains and promote restful recovery.
- Battle the Bulge – eating every meal in a restaurant can lend itself to extra calories that quickly add up to an unplanned weight gain that sets you back. Choosing a workout routine that maximizes caloric expenditure in minimum time allows you to keep your hard-earned lean shape.
No Gym – No Problem
Adding to the stress and confusion of your trip is navigating the hotel gym that may or may not have the equipment you need to get the workout you want. A great strategy to be sure you always get the best impact from your exercise time is to travel with your own portable training tools. I travel with my own portable workout equipment that is easy to pack, takes up minimal space and weight, and provides an amazing workout in your room, a board room or the hotel gym. Remember to add quick dry workout wear, shoes and your own tunes, and you can work out on your own schedule.
The Travel Workout
Guidelines
Begin with light resistance, slow movement speed and use a full range of motion to get accustomed to the new exercises. Perform 1 to 2 sets of 8 to 12 repetitions of each exercise. Give yourself generous rest between each set.
Exercises
To maximize the calories burned and minimize the time required, I recommend using multi joint exercises that require many muscles and many joints to work together to create a complex movement. If you find the exercise is too challenging to sequence together, separate the upper and lower body to learn the movements individually before executing them together.
Chest Press
Set up – secure the equipment using a door anchor and face away from the anchor with feet placed shoulder width apart in an athletic position.
Execution – lower down into a squat position with the equipment at chest height, elbows back. Extend out of the squat while pressing the stick/bands away from the chest in a pressing motion, arms finish at full extension.
Squat to Overhead Press (start)
Squat to Overhead Press (finish)
Set up – secure the equipment under both feet, holding the stick/bands at chest height in front of the body, feet placed shoulder width apart in an athletic position.
Execution – lower down into a squat position with the stick/bands at chest height. Extend out of the squat while pressing the stick/bands over the head in a pressing motion, arms and legs finish at full extension.
Squat to Row (start)
Squat to Row (finish)
Set up – secure the equipment using a door anchor and face toward the anchor with feet placed shoulder width apart in an athletic position.
Execution – lower down into a squat position with the arms extended. Extend out of the squat while pulling the equipment toward the chest in a pulling motion, arms finish at the rib cage.
Core Stabilization
To help build a stronger back, I recommend that you learn to train the core as an entire unit rather than isolating abdominal and back muscles individually using floor based exercises. This exercise teaches the core to stabilize the spine.
Core Stabilization
Set Up: Begin with the equipment attached with a door anchor, grasp both handles in both hands, legs in low athletic position
Execution: Slowly draw the equipment with resistance away from the anchor to finish in front of the body at chest height. Hold this position with arms extended for 20 or 30 sec, release, repeat.
Don’t let the stress of travel interfere with your dedication to a fit and active lifestyle. When you head out on the road for business or for pleasure, pack your workout routine and some simple training tools to energize your mind and your body and boost your enjoyment of the entire journey. Life is a sport – be ready.
