Working Out While Traveling
What’s your favorite go-to excuse for missing a workout?
One of my favorite excuses to hear from clients and others has to do with not working out while traveling. As in, they couldn’t get their workout in because they were out of town, like the news of the gym’s invention hasn’t spread yet to the place they’re visiting so by no means is there one around for them to go to during their stay.
It’s funny how I never seem to have that problem, as I always — ALWAYS!!! — plan my itinerary around my training, with me either conducting a web search of local gyms and their proximity to where I’m staying before I travel or as soon as I arrive at my destination. Everything else about the trip is secondary to that information and me fitting the gym into my travel.
Knowing my gym options and squaring them away is what I do every single time I take a multiday trip. That’s something you can do too, with you getting a temporary pass to a gym where you’re visiting or having membership to a gym chain that gives you access to gyms in various locations. Easy, right?
Yup!
Other ways to work out while traveling are just as easy…
CHECK THE AMENITIES
If staying in a hotel or at a resort instead of renting an AirBnB or lodging at the home of a friend or relative, then the establishment may have a fitness center on site. In most instances, this will be a gym with a few pieces of weightlifting equipment. What you can do is take inventory of what’s available and then get creative, if necessary. That could mean anything from deviating from your regular exercises, such as bench pressing dumbbells in place of the barbell you’d ordinarily use; to improvising a piece of equipment, like a preacher curl station by setting an adjustable bench at an incline and then standing behind it while one of your arms rests on the angled back support as you perform curls; to performing more reps and resting less between sets to increase the workload when the free weights or machines aren’t heavy enough.
Another feature that your accommodations may offer is yoga, spin, pilates, and other complimentary group exercise classes. If those activities aren’t already something you engage in for exercise, taking advantage of them for “free” on your visit will provide you the opportunity to stay active while trying something new.1Nothing in life is free. The cost of complimentary classes and other “free” shit is covered by the cost of your stay. If your hotel or resort doesn’t have a fitness option or it’s thoroughly lacking, then you can research or ask the concierge for information about local gyms, bootcamps, or parks where you may be able to improvise a workout. As for how you can improvise a workout, there are many ways to do so in your room or elsewhere.
PACK ACCORDINGLY
What’s available where you’re staying is information that you can look up before booking. With that knowledge in hand, you can bring the gym with you, if necessary. To this effect, pack shoes to go running in a park or trail or to walk up and down a stairway. That’s how you can replace a treadmill and substitute for a stepmill when those options aren’t present. Other cardio solutions involve bringing a jump rope, as well as a bathing suit to swim where you may have access to a pool.
With regard to weight training, there are several options. The first is resistance bands. Because they’re so lightweight and take up little space, there’s really no excuse to never pack a few bands of varying levels of resistance in your luggage either as your main source of strength training while away from home or as backup equipment if all else fails finding a gym to work out at on arrival. A total body workout can be had virtually anywhere with resistance bands. An all-in-one suspension trainer provides similar benefits. It too is lightweight and compact and by anchoring it to a door or from a sturdy tree or pole, you can leverage your body weight to perform a variety of exercises in a multitude of places.
USE YOUR OWN BODY
Calisthenics are another weight training option when traveling. Exercises like squats, lunges, and push-ups use your body weight for resistance. As such, they don’t require any equipment. Because there’s nothing to pack or bring with you except your body, this essentially makes calisthenics a fail-safe way to get a workout in at any location at any time. That said that there are alternatives to free weights and machines, there are plenty of online resources that you can employ to get an effective workout with resistance bands or calisthenics if you need exercise ideas.
The decision to work out while away from home is one that you have to make yourself. For some, not working out while traveling on vacation or for business provides much needed time to rest. Moreover, not worrying about having to exercise may allow an individual the opportunity to enjoy or concentrate on their trip. For others, continuing to work out is about maintaining their routine so they don’t fall out of the habit or feel like they’ve taken several steps back in their fitness when they get home.
If you’re one of those people for whom consistency is important, then working out while traveling isn’t as impossible as people make it out to be. All it involves is basically treating it like you would what restaurants you’re going to eat at, what tourist attractions you’re going to see, and any other part of travel planning that you research and decide on in advance.
Anyway, back to my original question: what’s your favorite go-to excuse for missing a workout?!
Glossary: arms, barbell, bootcamp, calisthenics, cardio, dumbbell, exercise, fitness, gym, gym membership, stepmill, treadmill, work out, workout, yoga
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