Workouts While Traveling

It’s spring break time! Many folks are traveling to their vacation destinations. For the working professionals, this might just be another day/week on the road 🙂 For most, though, it’s always a challenge to workout while traveling. You worry about whether or not the hotel you’re staying at has a gym, whether they have the equipment you need, or whether you’d need to wait for someone to finish the equipment and end up wasting your valuable time. Some people just give up completely and don’t bother. I hope you’re not one of them! So how do we workout while traveling?

Plan Ahead

Well, none of above are my concern. Why? Because I don’t go to the gym. I don’t care if the hotel has a gym or has the equipment I need. I workout in my room with or without equipment!  Having a gym at the destination is a plus but it doesn’t really impact my workouts. However, I still suggest that we plan ahead and know what is available where we’re going so that we can be prepared. There are generally two things that I have in mind before I travel (other than packing my clothes) — one is workout gear and another is nutrition.

Workout Gear

This includes the workout clothes, shoes, gloves (if I’m lifting weights), and equipment. If the hotel has a gym, I could just use theirs. Otherwise, I’ll bring my B-Line Resistance Bands along which is a great alternative for weight training.

The beauty of Beachbody programs like P90X and INSANITY is that I can do it at the comfort of my home. It works just as well when I travel. I can bring the DVDs along and play them in my laptop. If I decide not to bring the laptop, I can use the P90X and/or INSANITY workout sheets, in case I can’t remember all the moves. It’s so convenient!

If I’m planning on doing cardio exercise like INSANITY, I won’t be needing any equipment at all 🙂

Nutrition

I keep in mind that nutrition is 80% of the success. My workout won’t be complete without considering the nutrition I need. So what do I do when there are so many temptations on the road? Should I just turn a blind eye on my diet? Absolutely NOT. I’ve been maintaining my diet long enough to know what my body needs and how to handle temptations. There are already bunch of temptations surrounding my daily life even when I’m not on the road. I didn’t give in then, why should I now? Heck, I can even eat at Golden Corral for lunch twice a week and still lose weight and meet my goal. It’s a matter of knowing what your body needs, what your calorie budget is and staying accountable.

• Eating Out: This is what we all do when we’re on the road. I’m on a 1700-1800 fat shredder diet and I know that my body needs 50% protein (about 235g) , 30% carb (about 125g) and 20% fat. I make sure I stay away from the fatty food and food with high sugar content, as usual. I use MyFitnessPal to look up what the calorie and macro-nutrients are for what I’m about to eat and keep track of them. 
• Supplements: I take multivitamins, fish oil, Shakeology, whey protein and/or Premier premix protein shake, Pure protein bars, and a few other supplements on a daily basis (Click here to see the supplements I use and recommend). I can pack the multivitamins and fish oil pills in the small medicine bottles enough to cover my trip. And put Shakeology and other powdery supplements in either ziplock bags or small plastic containers. Voila! Protein bars and the premix protein shakes are excellent snacks when I’m on the go.
• Water Bottle: I can’t leave the house without my 20 oz aluminum water bottle. I fill it up at least 5 times a day to keep myself hydrated. There’s no reason I leave that behind, right? 🙂

Be Consistent & Win Everyday!

The key in getting/staying healthy and fit depends on a healthy lifestyle. And lifestyle isn’t a one-time deal or a “seasonal special”:) It’s a daily routine. We want to be in the driver seat of our destiny so that we can control the environment and not let that control us! If we can do that consistently, we can declare our victory every single day.

Keep pushing and live a meaningful life! “Share” this article if you like it 🙂

Cheers,
Coach Al

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