Traveling for business or pleasure can play havoc with even the best travel fitness plans. Travel is not routine so why would we expect travel fitness to be?
COVID-19 We are believers in the life-changing aspects of travel. While travel may at this time be limited, not possible, or beyond your personal safety boundaries, that doesn’t mean you cannot dream, plan or get inspired, and our stories will help you do just that. If you do hit the road, traveling near or far, always remain informed and respectful of an area’s safety guidelines. Remember that operations and hours of businesses may temporarily change. To help guide your decisions about traveling during the pandemic please visit the CDC and check with local travel destinations.
Traveling for business or pleasure can play havoc with even the best travel fitness plans. Travel is not routine so why would we expect travel fitness to be?
A bike tour demands slightly different fitness preparation than other types of vacations or holidays. Learn our insider training tips for a multi-day bike adventure so your next bike tour, wherever in the world it might be, is as fun and painless as possible.
Staying with a fitness regimen while on vacation can be a challenge. Many hotel fitness centers are uninviting caves with no windows or full of old equipment, and you are not familiar with the city you are traveling to or have any idea where to walk or run. But there are exceptions as we point out here.
Can’t get to a real workout room to strengthen and tone? No worries. You can do a pretty good job maintaining fitness with a hotel room workout that uses what you have in the room and in your luggage. A room workout just takes a little imagination. Think about each exercise you may normally do and then get creative with your own hotel room exercise routine mimicking its motions, using everything from your luggage to water bottles filled with water to chairs to even toilets!
What you pack along will have a huge impact on whether you workout or how comfortable you are when you do. A friend of mine used to always have a just-in-case workout bag in his trunk “just in case a workout broke out,” he’d say. And that’s our travel fitness advice too. If you aren’t prepared, you won’t get your healthy fix in.
Once your trip is planned and you’re thinking about how you can cut back wisely (per the advice in our article “Travel fitness tips: You can stay fit if you adapt”), it’s time to start plotting. Should we say planning? Nah, plotting. It’s time to “plot” hotels, tours, sightseeing, travel departure times and all that other stuff so it doesn’t make fitting in even a short workout totally impossible.
The key to taking workouts on the road successfully is, one, not letting the travel control you and, two, learning to be flexible. A little planning before you pack your briefcase or travel duffel goes a long way toward avoiding frustration plus setbacks in your hard-earned fitness.