How to Stay Fit While Traveling

I recently read a post by Jessica of the Globe Trotter Girls, How Can I get Healthy on the Road? It inspired me to talk about fitness on the road. I will even include actual workouts at the end of the article!

Working out while traveling is hard

There is no getting around it. Exercising while you are on the road is difficult. I love to workout. When I am at home, I run, do circuit training, tone my arms, and do core work like a crazy person. Of course, it took me years to convince myself to actually enjoy exercise, so I can definitely understand if you are not quite ready to put the L word and exercise in the same sentence. When you are traveling, it doesn’t matter if you are a gym rat or a coach potato – staying fit is no easy feat.

Dieting on the road?

We all know that your diet plays a huge role in your fitness, but let’s be real, can you really diet on the road? I know I can’t. Like most travelers, I am a foodie. I need to be able to try local cuisine. So, instead of limiting what you eat, just try portion control. Allow yourself to eat small amounts of the unhealthy stuff, and try your best to find a healthy alternative to fill up on. I know this is pretty obvious stuff, but it’s something we tend to forget about while traveling. The issue is, you get in “vacation mode” and you allow yourself to overindulge. That would be fine for a week long vacation, but if you are a long term traveler, that’s going to be a problem. Just try to remember- this is your life, not a vacation, so keep yourself in check.

I was given this massive ice cream pizza for my birthday. I showed restraint and only had ONE piece that day!

Walking is not enough

When you travel, the amount of walking you do tends to increase dramatically. A lot of travelers make the mistake of assuming the extra walking will make up for the extra eating. False. Unless you have the metabolism of a 9 year old, walking is not going to cut it. Yes, it helps, but it’s not going to work off that artisan pastry you had for breakfast or that delicious slice of pizza you bought off that street vendor. You need to work out for real.

Working out without a gym

If you are moving around a lot, you probably don’t have the option to join a gym. Do not let that stop you from working out. There are so many ways to work out without any equipment other than some decent athletic shoes.

Running
Running is something anyone can do. Seriously, unless you have some legitimate medical issue, I don’t want to hear that you cannot run. Here’s a quick inspirational story for you:

Once upon a time, it took all my strength and willpower to run on a treadmill for 15 mins at 4.5 speed. One day, a friend asked me to run a half-marathon with her. I trained for 5 months and finished 13.1 miles in 2 hours and 23 minutes. A month later I ran another in 2 hours and 9 minutes. So do not tell me you cannot run.

Me, shortly after finishing my 2nd half marathon, with 2 of the best fans anyone could ask for.

Start out slow, and just jog around. It’s a nice way to see the city while getting your heart pumping a little bit. Just make sure you are sweating and your heart rate is increasing, otherwise you are not going to be burning enough calories. You don’t have to run a marathon or sprint like an olympian, just move your legs and get your blood flowing.

Using your surroundings
In Buenos Aires, I paid on a class by class basis to be a part of an outdoor boot camp . Of course every city does not have bootcamp classes, but you can apply the principles basically anywhere. When I travel, I go for runs through parks and try to find things I can use to enhance my exercise. I will say “Okay, from here to that statue, I’m doing butt kicks. Then from that statue to that rock, high knees. When I get to that bench, I’ll use my arms to jump onto the bench, do a vertical jump, then use my arms to jump back down and repeat that 15 times” Make the park your gym!

Me (on the left) with some great friends I made in Boot Camp classes after we all ran a 6K together.

Do a workout video
If inventing your own workouts is not your thing, just do videos. You can download them, find them on youtube, or just rip DVDs to your laptop. Just look for workouts that use body weight and not free weights or any other sort of equipment that will weigh down your luggage. All you need is a little space and you can knock out a workout in anywhere from 20-minutes to an hour. I suggest starting small with short, intense workouts and then move up to the longer ones. It’s also nice to have those short (but still difficult) workouts on hand for days when you are feeling lazy or rushed.

Fitness on the road workouts

As promised, I’m going to give you some of my go-to workouts for when I am traveling. I am not a fitness professional, but my big

This tank top with a handy little zipper pocket is from Clever Travel Companion It’s actually meant to just be a pick-pocket proof clothing item, but I think it works awesomely as a workout shirt with a key pocket.

brother is! He is an amateur Golden Gloves champion and a licensed personal trainer. These are workouts he designed for me when I was first getting started with exercise and also traveling. They are tough, but they work!

For the timed workouts, I suggest using this free online workout timer.

Full body workouts

Workout #1: 4 x 3 min circuit.
1 minute rest in between each 3min set.

30 sec Burpees
30 sec Jumping Jacks
30 sec Squats
30 sec Burpees
30 sec Jumping Jacks
30 sec Mountain climbers

Workout #2: A pyramid workout

10 Burpees, 10 Tuck jumps*
9 Burpees, 9 tuck jumps
8 Burpees, 8 Tuck jumps
…etc, etc, all the way down to 1. Complete with no or minimal rest.
* If you are like me and simply cannot do a tuck jump with proper form, you can substitute squat jumps

Workout #5: 6 sets
100 Jump rope turns (as fast as you can. High knee sprinting if you can)
10 Burpees
10 Squats
10 Pushups (can alternate with pushups one circuit, then split jumps the next circuit to spread the load from upper and lower body)

Core workouts

You should combine these with a cardio workout. You should also alternate days so you can give your abs a rest in between.

Workout #1
Complete 4 sets
15 v-ups
15 – in and out claps
30 mason twists
15 leg lifts

Workout #3
Complete 4 sets
Knee hugs x25
Supermans x15
Slow side crunches x15ea
Bicycle crunches x30 (elbow to each knee counts as 1 rep)

Workout #3
Do every move 20 times
Crunches (knees bent and feet on floor, use abdominal to come up slightly)
Crunches with knees turned out to the right
Crunches with knees turned out to the left
Crunches with feet elevated, knees bent 90 degree angle. Come up and touch elbows to knees
Toe touches
Hip rockers (bottom of feet together like a butterfly stretch position, hands behind. Rock hips toward head and lift butt off ground, then back down.)
Reverse crunches
Leg lifts
Bicycle crunches
Double crunches

I hope these workouts help you stay fit on the road! Feel free to use me as your workout buddy. You can count on my for encouraging words and solidarity!