Fitness Tips for When You Travel

Posted by: Alan Hughes in Travel & Musings January 8, 2020 Comments Off on Fitness Tips for When You Travel 440 Views

Travel is exhilarating, life-changing, and so many other amazing things, but it can also be a strain on your body after an extended period. Whether you consistently find yourself traveling for work or find yourself frequently bitten by the wanderlust bug, it is up to you to make sure that you are taking care of your health as you travel.

Now, before you start thinking this is going to require you to run 10 miles, swim X amount of laps in the hotel pool, or spend all of your time in the hotel fitness center, it’s not. Let’s make sure to clarify that right now. Instead, you are going to receive tips for staying fit when you travel, and also being able to maximize your time.

This article will help you take care of your body and not feel like you wasted valuable vacation time, or time that could’ve been better spent on an important work project.

So make sure to take advantage of these five different fitness tips for when you travel. Your body will thank you, and you will have more energy to enjoy your trip and experience everything around you.

Bodyweight Exercises

Depending on where you stay, you might have access to a small hotel gym, but even if you do, it is usually pretty limited and boring. However, even if you don’t have access to a gym, there are a ton of excellent bodyweight exercises that you can use to stay fit. With a little know-how, you can get in a full-body workout merely using your own body weight. Whether it is push-ups, sit-ups, squats, lunges, etc. there is so much you can do without even one piece of equipment.

The other thing about bodyweight exercises is that you can adjust most of them to make them easier or more difficult. For example, instead of doing standard push-ups, you could do knee push-ups. Or, if you really wanted to challenge yourself, you could try single-leg squats instead of standard squats. The more you learn about bodyweight exercises, the more variations you will be able to take advantage of.

Also, you can always adjust the number of sets, reps, and time in between your sets. If you are looking for a high-intensity workout, you can put a bunch of different bodyweight exercises together in a row. If you are looking for a little bit more of a slower pace, take more time in between each set and exercise. You have all of the freedom you need to customize your workout.

Use the Items Around You

If you have access to a hotel gym, this tip isn’t really needed, but if you don’t, this will help to spice up your workout. Using a chair, stairs, bench, ledge, etc., can be a great way to add another dimension to your workout. Whether it is step-ups, seated tricep-dips, incline or decline push-ups, or whatever else you can think of, use the items around you to enhance your workout.

Not only will this allow you to get a better workout, but it will make it more fun and enjoyable as you are able to get creative and have fun with it.

Bringing Your Own Training Equipment

If you are going on a more extended trip, or travel regularly, you might want to consider bringing some exercise equipment with you. Obviously, you aren’t going to want to bring a pair of 50 lb dumbbells with you, but a resistance band would be perfect. They are light, don’t take up much space, and open the door to so many other exercises.

When working out, you want to have the right balance between push and pull exercises. And, while bodyweight exercises are fantastic, the majority of them are push-based. By adding in a simple set of resistance bands for pull-based exercises, you can completely transform your travel fitness without having some heavy, bulky item to drag around.

Explore While You Get Fit

One of the best things about traveling is exploring new, never seen areas. So why not use this as an opportunity to walk or run whatever city or region you are in? There are a couple of ways that you can do this.

The first would be to be put on your running shoes and athletic apparel and then go for a jog to explore. If you are on a business trip or plan on sitting most of the day, this is an excellent option. You will get your cardio in, and you will have gotten to see more area than if you had just walked.

The second option is to try and walk as much as possible as you sightsee. There will be times when you need to take some form of transportation, but if you are willing to keep up a brisk pace, you can cover a lot of ground walking.

I first started doing this when I visited Rome. I only had one full day to sightsee, and I wanted to see as much as possible. I started the day out using the Metro, but after being packed in one too many times, I decided to walk everywhere instead. Not only did I get some great exercise, but I was also able to experience so much more of the city. As I walked to my highlighted destinations, I also was able to witness other amazing buildings, pockets of culture, etc. Walking through the city turned out to be one of the unplanned highlights of the trip. So strap on your walking shoes and get to exploring!

Recovery Time

If you are on an extended trip and plan on exploring multiple days in a row, it is critical that you also spend time allowing your body to recover. You don’t want to wake up the next morning feeling sore and not sure if you are up for another full day of exploring.

This means that you need to make sure you are staying hydrated, eating enough, getting enough sleep, and then also spending some time stretching before you call it a night.

If you are willing to commit to 10-15 minutes of stretching before you hit the hay, it will make a noticeable difference the next day. So as you are getting ready for bed, or relaxing in your hotel room, spend some time stretching and making sure that your body is prepared to go again in the morning.