7 Ways to Stay Fit While Traveling

Vacation! If you’re like me, vacation means taking a break from everything - work, household chores, time pressures – and probably from the normal disciplines around exercise and diet! “Travel” and “fitness” might be synonyms for the fitness fanatics, but not for us mere mortals!

So, I might have focused on getting trim and slim enough to get into my bikini or ski gear – but by the time I get home I seem to have ballooned and struggle for breath as I climb the stairs back to my work desk!

What can we do to make sure that we stay fit when we travel?

Here are some tips that have helped me (even as I eyed the hot chocolate and gluhwein on the slopes of the Alps).

Beware the health hazards of traveling

Probably the number one thing to do is to accept that if you want to be fit this will take certain exercise routines, food that you will and won’t eat, relaxation and sleep schedules, work vs leisure hours.

These elements require an overall lifestyle approach. And they also require some self-discipline. The excuses we make for ourselves – “one muffin won’t matter”, “it’s too cold/too hot/too early/too late to go to the gym” or “I’ll get back on the diet next week” – must be resisted.

To stay fit while traveling takes, even more, acceptance that this is about lifestyle and that it takes discipline.

When you’re traveling, you believe your own excuses:

• “What’s the point of visiting Italy if I can’t eat pasta/America if I can’t try the monster burgers/Germany if I can’t sample the sausages?”
• “I can’t exercise because there’s no gym here.”
• “I didn’t bring any gym gear.”
• “We’ve got so many things to see. There’s no time for exercise.”
• “I’ll catch up when we get home.” If you give in to these excuses, you will probably regret how you look and feel when you get home.

Plan your itinerary to include fitness

No thrill, no fun

Pre-planning is really important. If you want to keep up an exercise routine, book your hotel near a park or running track or one that offers access to a fitness center.

Pre-book some of your activities. Are there walking tours, hiking trips, water sports available?

Pack with fitness in mind

Include everyone in your exercises

Remember your excuses about not having the right gear or not having a gym available? Well, you can avoid these by packing correctly.

Make sure that you have a pair of travel shoes for walking or jogging – I know there’s a weight limit for your carry-on luggage, so buy a light-weight pair and perhaps leave a more formal pair at home.

Travel Fitness Gears are easy to Carry

Pack some basic exercise equipment – a jump rope, resistance bands, a heart rate monitor. If you have these, you’ll be surprised how many exercises you’ll be able to do.

Stay fit in the air

Flying should perhaps be declared a health hazard! Squeezing into seats that are too narrow, with no leg room and sometimes unhygienic neighbors is bad enough. But, in addition, the air has an average of only 12% humidity, so you need to stay hydrated. Drink a glass of water every hour and cut back on alcohol and caffeine as they add to dehydration. Bring your own water filter bottle and have it filled up as often as possible.

Perhaps more serious is the threat of deep vein thrombosis(DVT). The dry air can thicken your blood. Being immobile in a cramped seat can cause blood to collect in the legs.

Keep your blood flowing by walking around the cabin at least every hour if your flight is longer than 3 hours, doing some stretching exercises in your seat and sleeping for only short periods. If you have layovers, spend the waiting time walking briskly through the airport.

Some simple stretches include flexing and relaxing your feet and calf muscles, clenching and spreading your toes, rolling your ankles. You can add neck rolls, shoulder rotations, squeezing a tennis ball to exercise arms, bending forward till your chest meets the top of your thighs to stretch your back (if the person in the next row hasn’t put his seat back!)

It’s a good idea to remember some of these exercises to do in your hotel room too – it’ll be better than doing no exercise!

Jetlag can be a real problem both at the start of your holiday and when you get back home. It kicks in if you cross two time zones. One trick is to fit into the destination time zone as soon as possible. So, for example, if it is daytime at your destination, stay awake on the flight and use the time to relax rather than sleep.

Do you know these 10 Easy Tips to Beat the Jet Lag?

Eat to stay fit

Eat to live, not live to eat

Food, glorious food – one of the main pleasures of travel. So, enjoy it, but in moderation, and be mindful of what you are eating.

I buy some healthy foods and keep them in my hotel minibar for snacks and for day trips.I make soups or breakfast oats using boiling water from my travel coffee maker.

Try to eat real food – vegetables, fruit, protein, nuts – and avoid processed foods, sugar, and other carbohydrates as much as you can. Balance alcohol with water.

You can also take this travel blenderon your trips to make healthy smoothies on the go.

Healthy and Easy to Make Travel Snacks

Be disciplined about workouts

Do Yoga on the Beach

Decide on a time to do a formal workout – perhaps get up early. Have a short routine that you can do without a lot of equipment, or where you can use the few items you brought with you.

Use what’s around you - door frames for pull-ups, a table for body weight rows, your backpack as dumbbells, bars in the children’s playground, trees, or do squats while you’re waiting in queues. Walk everywhere you can, run up the stairs instead of using elevators.

These activities are possible – they only take self-discipline.

Have fun and stay active

You’ve gone on holiday to enjoy yourself. So, enjoy yourself! Just build in some fun activities that are active:

• Go for hikes, do lots of water sports
• Join a dance class – tango in Argentina or do the Highland fling in Scotland!
• Explore the town on a bicycle
• Find out what the locals do to stay active and join in And, at the end of your travels, feel fit and fabulous!

Bonus Infographic

Spread the good word, share it with your friends and family.

Travel Fitness Infographic