Traveling

I am sometimes asked, "How can I exercise when I am away from home?" You have several alternatives, depending on where you are going and what facilities are available at your destination. Investigate your destination beforehand. If you are staying at a hotel or resort, they can often give you the information you need ahead of time. Ask the following questions:

1. Are exercise facilities available on-site? If so, does it cost extra to use them? What do the facilities include?
2. Is it safe to walk or run outside in the area?
3. Are there any trails or routes nearby, and how long are they?
4. Are there any facilities nearby that offer short-term access?

Some of these questions may sound nit-picky, but I have learned through experience that even with specific inquiries, the answers and the reality may not be the same. I have been in hotels where I was told they had a well-equipped exercise room, only to find one treadmill, a bike, and an exercise mat. Another resort advertised “extensive walking trails on the grounds” it turned out that they were counting the cart paths for the golf course—not a very safe place to walk during the golf season.

Once you have answered these questions, develop a tentative workout schedule. Without a schedule, it is very easy to put your exercise session off until the next day (if you do it at all). The easiest cardiovascular exercises to do while traveling are usually walking and running, so you need to know about the safety of the area and available routes. When traveling to new towns walking or running can be a nice way to discover the lay of the land. If you do not have a map that indicates mileage, or measured routes, then use duration to guide your workout.

If the area is not safe for outdoor exercise, you can do an indoor regimen. Facilities that are in-house or nearby may provide safe alternatives. Sometimes local facilities allow visitors temporary access; they may even offer short-term memberships. When you end up staying in an area that is not considered safe, and no other facilities are available, you can do a modified routine in your room, marching or jogging in place for a short period.

Plan a modified strength program that uses body weight activities or rubber tubing. Good basic body weight moves include abdominal crunches, push-ups, birddog exercises, and wall sits. These four exercises work your arms, shoulders, trunk, and lower extremities, and they can be done every day. Rubber tubing is great for traveling, since it is light and portable. You can perform a simple resistance program every other day. Biceps and triceps curls combined with extension and flexion exercises for the hip and knee make up a good routine that does not take long. You may not have tubing thick enough to provide a high resistance, so focus on muscular endurance and do more repetitions.

Stiffness can become more troublesome when you travel, because you do a good deal more sitting than usual. Therefore, do not sacrifice your flexibility routine, even if you occasionally have to miss the other two components of your program. Most people with whom I work find it easiest to divide their flexibility programs into two parts—range of motion exercises in the morning to loosen up, and both range of motion and stretching activities in the evening, before retiring. In addition, work in some range of motion movements whenever you have been sitting for a prolonged period. I go to a sports medicine conference every year, during which I go from meeting to meeting, often sitting for most of the day. In between each session I do some shoulder rolls, reach for the sky moves, and even short stretches for my hamstrings and calves. If you will be driving or sitting in a car for a long time, try to plan regular rest stops during which you can do some stretching and moving.

You must make two key preparations to maintain a program when you are traveling. The first is making some alternative exercise plans. The second is being flexible with your plans. You may have the best intentions to keep up your exercise routine, but your travel schedule does not always allow you to stick to your plans. Remember, even a 10-minute walk is better than nothing, and if you miss a day, you can get back on track the next day.