Working Out On The Road

A few friends of mine frequently travel for their job and the week to week travel has a negative effect on their fitness level. They have asked me for some help and this article will hopefully help them as well as anyone else who travels a lot for their job.

I once worked for a company that had me traveling the entire country on a week to week basis which quickly led to an additional 20 pounds on my frame. Sure, the hotels all had gyms but I was not interested in working out in such a small space with equipment that was not current... think rusty and no digital components on the cardio equipment. My company took care of all my meals which usually included several alcoholic beverages (hey, I was only 22 just out of college and only had to stumble toward the elevator back to my hotel room.) Before I knew it I was not fitting in my pants anymore, so I sucked it up by eating somewhat better and used the outdated gym equipment a couple times each week. My workouts were good but very limited too, but they did the job. If I knew then what I know now, those 20 pounds could easily have been avoided.

Here is a list of exercises that can be done right in the comfort of your own hotel room if you don't want to use the facility gym. I'm not going to give descriptions on how to properly execute them, leave a comment with your contact information if you are interested. Same goes for putting together a workout with some of these exercises as they can be split up over 3-4 workouts. Selection of a few of these can lead to an invigorating full body 30-45 minute strength and cardio/core workout:

• Jumping Jacks
• Burpees
• Turkish Get ups
• Pushups, Rotational Pushups, Incline Pushups using a chair, Hindu Pushups
• Hip Circuit
• Shoulder Circuit
• Hip Adductor/Abductor
• Planks, Front and each side, walking
• High Knees in place, Jog in place
• Side Shuffles from one side of the room to the other
• Mountain Climbers, Awkward Mountain Climbers (Grab a pair of paper plates from the kitchen to put under your feet to add difficulty)
• Dips on the side of the bed or table chair
• Crab Crawls, Bear Walks
• Sit Ups, Russian Twists, V-Holds, Suitcases, Supermans, Dead Bugs, Leg Holds, Scissors, Toe Touches, Crunches, Reverse Crunches, Leg Raises over a center object
• Lunges - Fwd, Bwd, Side
• Bodyweight Squats, Squat Jumps
• Single Leg Good Mornings
• Foot Fire Drills

This partial list of exercises does not require any equipment!!!! If you want to get out of the room, I would also suggest heading to the pool for a few laps if your hotel has one. Swimming is a great strength and aerobic activity. If you have any bands that you can bring with you in your luggage, there are numerous other exercises that can be added or making the above list more challenging. There are probably more exercises that I don't have listed here, please leave some in the comments.

I hope that this helps out somebody while they are away. Not only will you keep in shape while on work travel, but you won't be so tired when you get home either. Until next time, good luck.