Let’s jump right in with these tips…
How to Exercise While on the Road
Exercise with the Locals
Fitness is going global these days. From CrossFit gyms in Kansas to boot camps in India to jiu-jitsu classes in California, you can find a safe space to join in on the fun and be social with the locals. Being open minded while traveling is a plus. This gives you an opportunity for new discoveries in different forms or exercising that’s geographical by design. Exercising with the locals will not only help you stay fit while traveling, but it will also allow you to have a unique travel experience that is personal only to you.
Hike Unusual Terrain
If you are the adventurous type you may find going to the gym that looks identical to the one at home to be an undesirable choice during your vacation experience. To solve that problem, get outside and take advantage of the distinctive topography of the location you’re visiting to create an exercise experience that will never be forgotten.
Check out what some of my traveling friends did while on vacation:
Converting a hammock into exercise equipment was clever. That’s what Ken and Ava did on Columbia’s Pacific Coast.
Captain Jawad and Alice did sprints up and down the dunes of Lamu, Kenya then swam to Manda Island.
I saw social post from Gina and Larry in Northern Quebec. While carrying 5 pound stones they took a walk along the bottom of a lake.
My aquatic friends Tina and Tim were very creative while staying in a luxurious villa in Phuket, Thailand. I really enjoyed the cool ten-minute pool circuit workout they put together.
The space for experiencing unusual terrain to keep fit while traveling is limitless, especially with the different varieties of geographies the world has to offer.
All you have to do is be willing to explore!
Do High-Intensity, Low-Duration Workouts
Try this Twenty-Minute Plan!
Engage in moderate exercise for three to five minutes, such as bear crawls, skipping, running, or slow burpees.
Perform high-intensity exercises (burpees, mountain climbers, stair runs, and spinning) as hard and quickly as you can for one minute. Anything at all. as quickly and assiduously as you can.
Take a minute to relax.
Nine more times, repeat this cycle of one minute on and one minute off.
Perform some cooling-down exercises.
Return to your travels.
The goal is to put in as much effort as you can throughout each break. You gain more the harder you work. More isn’t always better when it comes to getting and maintaining fitness. The answer is a combination of both harder and faster.
Renowned exercise physiologist Dr. Martin Gibala discovered that participants in a 12-week trial who completed three 20-second bursts of high-intensity training saw the same health advantages as those who completed 45 minutes of continuous, medium-intensity exercise.
Weights – No Worries
Use your bodyweight to strength train. Or maybe someone else’s body. For most strength training, your body is heavy enough, but if you want a bigger challenge, add another body on top! To stay strong and fit while traveling, mix in some pure strength training with your interval exercises.
Strong, toned muscles not only make you look nice, but they also increase your metabolism and reduce your risk of injury. Regardless of your strength level, there is a bodyweight workout that will leave you sore for days.
Here are some pointers if you don’t think your weight will allow you to develop powerful muscles with bodyweight training…
Be amazing by exercising one arm or leg at a time.
Make things more difficult by using momentum to perform explosive activities like running or jumping.
When doing push-ups or piggyback sprints, have a friend sit on you.
Enjoy as much food as you like, but not at any time.
Quickly and sporadically. Perhaps the greatest thing about traveling is eating. Most tourists would miss out on a significant portion of the trip experience if they did not indulge in all the local cuisine. We might as well travel in virtual reality without it.
Fortunately, eating well doesn’t have to be sacrificed in order to be active when traveling. All we have to do is give in when we eat. When I travel, I eat less. I may have a light breakfast, then dinner in the evening. But when I do eat! Watch out! I devour my whole plate with no shame, lol.
We’ve all heard it a million times: Diet is even more important than exercise. I have found that fasting works for me. Limiting myself to a meal twice a day, or maybe not eating at all one day out of the week, helps me stay fit no matter what I eat.
The Amazing Fasting Results
We feel sexy
Our alertness peaks
We consume fewer calories overall.
Our bodies become accustomed to using fat as fuel.
Our cravings for snacks fade as our hunger hormones decrease.
Our metabolism increases, causing us to feel more energized and expend more calories.
How to Kick Your Snack Addiction
I used to believe that cutting back to just two meals a day would be difficult and that going a full day without eating would be fatal. However, I can now easily fast for five days after learning a few water fasting tactics the hard way.
The secret was to start small and treat myself to larger meals as a reward for giving up snacking. It got easy very quickly. I saw changes and was never hungry again.
Lace ‘Em Up
Some of my favorite discoveries have come by way of stumbling upon unexpected scenes that we could have never found any other way than hiking off the beaten trail. So, I encourage you, when traveling, to take a walk or a hike. Seek out nearby hills, jog on a trail with a view, or walk around cities aimlessly.
Be Safe – Purchase Travelers Insurance
You lower your chance of illness and injury by maintaining your fitness, but you are not unaffected. So purchase international medical insurance or travel insurance.
Yes, it’s boring. It may seem like a waste of money, but you don’t want an accident to cause financial hardship in addition to physical harm if something goes wrong. Thus, research travel insurance before engaging in any travel-related activities. Your credit card may even cover you for up to a month. Look carefully when you review the policy.
Make Time for Fitness in Your Travel Schedule
You won’t travel in good health if you don’t have any plans to do so. Even though it seems so simple, most of us don’t often do it. We plan ahead and look into things to do, places to eat, and lodging, but we let our future selves take care of the workout when we get there.
Then, surprise, surprise, our future selves decide they’re too busy or exhausted to work out when the time comes.
In the future, when planning a vacation, don’t let yourself down. Add exercise into your travel plans by searching for parks you and your family can play soccer in. Search for outdoor workout areas, bootcamps, or Zumba classes you can join. Find a high school football field to do sprints in and stairwells to climb.
Don’t Stress About Staying Fit When Traveling – Relax!
Your stress level should decrease with exercise, not rise. Therefore, take it easy if you’re stressed out and not at all in the mood for exercise. Obtain a restful slumber, engage in light stretching or yoga, and refrain from exerting excessive effort (physically) until the following 24 hours. Traveling may be stressful enough without adding long-haul flights, endless bus rides, lineups, and cultural barriers to the mix.
And give yourself credit for all the walking you’ll do. Walking on its own may not get your muscles ripped as a bodybuilder, but it’s better than the endless hours of sitting you probably do back home.
The Last Two Cents
Steer clear of quick travel, where you stay in different hotels every day. Yes, your travel schedule is limited, and you have a lot on your bucket list, but I can tell you that if you focus on deeply exploring a few places rather than trying to see them all, you’ll enjoy your experience more and have more energy to stay in shape. Also, don’t forgo rejuvenating sleep. If you sleep less, you may have more hours in a day, but they will be much poorer, and no matter how hard you workout, your fitness will decline.