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Summer schedules are usually jam-packed with activities, from camp for the kids to vacations — it is easy to let workout schedules slide this time of year. With careful planning and simplified equipment that can be toted with you, there isn’t any reason your fitness routine has to take a back seat to all of the other activities you have planned.
Small, lightweight equipment is the key: Resistance tubing is great, packs nicely in any suitcase and you can use it to work the entire body either right in your hotel room, or wrap it around your waste and jog to the nearest park and work out there. Trees, fences…even parking meters, make great anchors to wrap the tubing around for chest presses, rows, tricep push backs, bicep curls, and lateral rotations for the obliques. And don’t feel silly doing this – boot camp classes are so popular now that seeing people working out in the park (esp in bigger cities) is very common. Jump roping is another terrific, on-the-road calorie burning tool. Again, these items fit right into your carry on or suitcase. Does it get any easier than that?
Another option is to take a TRX trainer. This suspension training system, originally developed for the Navy Seals, is becoming very popular in group fitness settings, personal training studios, and for in-home use. It is a terrific, total body strengthening and conditioning tool that weighs less than 2lbs, sets up in under 1 minute, and can be used in the hotel room or outdoors. You can purchase one from
FitnessAnywhere and can also see instructional videos on the website.
No equipment? No problem – many hotels now have fitness TV, so you can order up a workout to do right in your room. You can also take your workout to the nearest park or playground and do strength training there – no equipment needed. Park benches make great steps for step ups to strengthen the hips and glutes; you can also do tricep dips and push-ups. Find the nearest playground and do the monkey bars, pull-ups, chin-ups…get creative, and most of all, have fun!
Take advantage of the hotel pool and fitness room. For business travelers – the pool and fitness room are busiest in the early morning and evening. For leisure travelers at a resort, these tend to be the least busy times. It is hard to muster the motivation to exercise while on vacation, but keeping up with your routine will make your vacation more enjoyable, and when you come home you won’t be faced with the daunting task of working off gobs of extra calories or making up lost ground toward your fitness goals.
Need a routine to follow while your gone? There are a number of online sources you can check out before you go so that you have a resource you feel comfortable using.
1. Fitness magazines have exercise pictures, video, and descriptions that take much of the thinking out of what to do when. Check out these routines at Shape, Self, Fitness, and Women’s Health.
2. Yoga Download. For yoga enthusiasts, there are so many videos to choose from, you could do a different yoga routine every day of your vacation. Download the videos to your iPod or laptop computer in a flash.
3. Have a personal trainer design a travel workout for you! Your fitness goals, exercise experience, vacation locale and itinerary, and the time you have available to workout all factor into an effective routine, and trainers know all too well how tough it can be to stay on top of your workout when you’re on the road. Need help with your vacation fitness routine? Feel free to contact me.