Travels and adventures are what we live for! However, without a home gym and a daily schedule, working out and staying fit can be challenging. Here are 7 workout tips you can do while traveling.
This post is for the girlbosses, digital nomads, and everyone in between who constantly find themselves in different cities (and time zones)!
As a travel blogger, Emily Edwards of LifeTravelersTravelingLife has been able to improve her health and fitness even while living a surreal traveling lifestyle. “Everyone knows how hard losing weight can be in general but when you are traveling it can seem impossible. My partner and I have been traveling for the past year and a half and have lost a combined weight of 100 pounds,” Emily says. “You are in a new location and want to try new things, and this post is not about giving those things up. I mean honestly in you are in Italy eat the gelato, but this post is about two main things movement and motivation, honestly if you have that the rest of it is just cake.”
STRETCHES
“Travel can be very stressful on your mind and body. Constantly shrinking airplane seats are not friendly to anyone’s body and changing time zones can mess with your mind, nervous system and sleep patterns. Simple movements along with stretching and breathing exercises can help to settle both the mind and body,” says Stephanie Scott, co-owner of Studio 6 Pilates & Wellness.
“Here are some examples: while seated, cross one ankle on top of the opposite knee. Sitting up tall, gently lean forward into the stretch and hold it for 5 slow breaths. Gentle neck and shoulder rolls can help work out the kinks from sleeping on the plane or an uncomfortable hotel bed. Pelvic tilts can help relax the low back (a common complaint from frequent travelers). While lying on your back, bend your knees and rest your feet on the floor. On an exhale, round your low back down toward the floor. Hold it for an inhale engaging your abdominal muscles. Then return your pelvis back to its starting position on your next exhale. ”
RUNNING
Inspirational Speaker, Author, Traveling Yoga Instructor Dr. Jodi Ashbrook offers this advice, “Get this, I hate running. However, my travels and love of adventure have inspired me to throw on my sneakers and put myself out there, literally. The idea that I can run aimlessly down a street with intention to keep going, but have no idea where I’m actually headed and what I am going to see and encounter is so thrilling, that it has helped me overcome my fear of miles, incompetence, and the pain that I have always overthought when it came to running. I have come to appreciate my body’s ability to run the extra mile, to push, with only sneakers and headphones needed in my case. I also recommend a belly band with the water bottle holders if you’re running longer distances, as staying hydrated is super important, regardless of your climate!”
RESISTANCE BANDS
SWIMMING
Swimming is one of the best exercises to get fit quickly. While there may not be a pool or beach everywhere you go, make plans to go swimming if pools or beaches are available at your destination! Model and Huffington Post writer Melinda Parrish says, “Pack your swimsuit and use the hotel pool that you normally would never take advantage of.”
Constantly traveling for work, Kristin Marquet, Founder & Creative Director of the Creative Development Agency says, “I traveled so frequently between New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, and London (at least three times a month) so it was difficult for me to develop and maintain a consistent workout. So I would make it a priority to run outside as often as I could, work out with resistance bands in my hotel room, as well as use the hotel gym. If I was in Miami, then I would swim in the ocean.”
WEIGHT-BEARING EXERCISES
“All a jetsetter needs for fitness while traveling is a strip of carpet alongside her hotel bed. It’s all about weight-bearing exercises and functionality – exercises that mimic daily tasks such as reaching, lifting and bending. Start by laying down a towel, and drop down into some warm-ups to loosen up the body and prepare for strengthening, such as front and back-body warm-ups followed by dynamic plank poses that include pulling a knee-to-chest. Make sure to flip from front to back body in weight bearing poses, so a broad range of muscle groups are engaged. ” ~Didi McKay, former traveling writer, journalist and current certified yoga and fitness instructor.
HIGH-INTENSITY TRAINING WORKOUTS
Personal trainer and nutritionist Jamie Logie says, “Focus on body weight high-intensity training workouts. These are things that you can do anywhere without equipment. You can do them in your room, or at the beach or any open space, you can find. Focus on the full body exercises like burpees, squats, lunges, mountain climbers, push ups, planks etc and combine 3-4 exercises doing them all in a row for 30 seconds each. Rest a minute and perform again for 45 seconds then 60 and up to 90 seconds. It’s a full high-intensity interval workout that will only take 20 minutes or so.” Afterwards, Jamie suggests to do the Tabata workouts. “This is the ultimate hiit workout and only takes four minutes that you can do pretty much anywhere. It involves performing an all out exercise such as burpees for 20 seconds followed by a 10 second rest period and you perform 8 rounds. Sounds pretty simple and it does start easy but gets progressively more difficult as long as you really push yourself. You can find Tabata apps for free to download that has the precise timer to follow.”
“Burpees: are perfect to do first thing in the morning and before bed to burn stored body fat or your last meal of the day. Hitting 25 per time slot can burn about 150 calories each- which reduces your daily caloric expenditure by 300 calories! “ ~Jolene Matthews, celebrity personal trainer
BARRE EXERCISES
According to Peter Cirolia, personal trainer who developed Ballet Muscle, “These exercises can be conducted anywhere, holding onto anything that will help you stabilize yourself. Example a barre, wall, chair, carry-on luggage rack on plane”
A great barre exercise Peter suggests is the Plie straighten. “This is how to conduct: Hold onto barre with your left hand while the right hand is held straight out to the side. Stand with heals together in a duck position and only turn your feet out as far as your hips naturally allow you.. Hold your pelvis in a neural pelvic tilt position elongating the hip flexors. Then bend the knees pressing the heals down to floor keeping the thighs aligned over the feet. Then return to straight leg duck position. Do 10 reps, 2 sets.” For more barre exercises you can do, check out Peter’s Youtube channel.
PUSH UP HANDLES
“If you spend your life in hotel rooms and conferences, push up handles are the only piece of equipment you need to get a decent workout wherever you are in the world. They’ll allow you to go deeper on push ups (essential for women with a large chest to get a full range of movement) plus they’ll keep wrists from becoming damaged and sore, a common complaint from anyone who does more than a handful of push ups every week. The amount of push up variations that you can do should be more than enough to keep the workouts exciting and challenging too.” ~Max Robinson, fitness writer for rugbystore.co.uk