We all know how hard it is to have a steady workout routine and good dietary habits, then leave on holiday just to have everything go haywire. But the good news is you can actually stay in shape even when you’re traveling and without packing all your weights too. Curious to know how? Read on.
Exercise to stay fit
First things first: you should move around as much as you can even if you need a vacation from everything.
Jogging
There are streets where you’re going right? Then what’s stopping you to run on them? It can all be as easy as a power walk, or as refreshing as a more intense jog. The only things you’ll need for this are a pair of comfy pants and sports shoes that fit.
But even if you’re sightseeing around town, it still counts. You’re up and moving and that’s what matters. After all, everyone knows that walking improves posture and tones the legs, while also improving your core strength. So if you’re not up for that midnight jog, consider taking frequent walks, we’re sure you’ll have plenty to explore.
Hiking
Another idea is to find some nice hiking trails and further your explorations on secluded paths. You’ll get your dose of nature, breathing in some fresh air while you work out. However, you might feel the need of a good warm-up first, so don’t forget to do some exercises for hiking beforehand.
You don’t have to do anything strenuous here either, it can all be as easy as short backpacking trips on the nearby hills. The important thing is to let your feet take you to fantastic views and an improved gluteal tonus.
Swimming
So, you’ve arranged a relaxing vacation on the seaside, so you can get lazy around the beach and enjoy the sunshine. But that shouldn’t exclude the opportunity of a good exercise, which is swimming.
Let’s face it, swimming is fun, but it’s also hard because it uses your entire body, including the eyelids if you keep closing and opening them up. But your arms, core, and legs are bound to have a complete workout, and you’ll have lots of fun in the process.
Bodyweight exercises
If you’re traveling for work and have no time to run, hike or swim, you can always count on a half an hour of bodyweight exercises to keep you in shape. There are plenty of things you can do to keep your body toned, and some of these exercises are actually pretty difficult, even if you’re a gym rat.
Start with a light warm-up, moving a bit around your room. You can even do some jumping-jacks when you’re feeling more warmed-up so you can increase that calorie burn.
- Do 3 sets of 10 squats, but do them really slowly and add a pulse at the end so you can increase the difficulty level.
- Again, 3 sets of 10 lunges will do for each leg, after which you’ll need to add a set of pulses to make your muscles burn.
- Inside leg raises.This is a Pilates movement, but it’s pretty hard if you go really slow and add those pulses at the end.
- Outside leg raises.You should lie on your side, raising your leg up while keeping your hips facing forward. Don’t forget the pulses.
- This is for the glutes, and you can make it harder with doing a one-leg bridge or adding, you guessed it, pulses.
- Core work.Planks are great for the core and your upper body as well, though crunches, back-bows, as well as most core exercises can easily be done without weights, and literally everywhere.
- Bicep curls.We know you have no weights, but you can easily replace those with bottles or do antagonistic movements that burn like crazy.
- Tricep dips.Do these on the ground or with your hands on a coffee table, and your triceps will scream with joy.
- Push-ups.Amazing for your chest, upper back and core, these are a top exercise no matter where you are.
Don’t forget your cool-down once everything’s done.
A short gym membership
If you’re gone for quite some time, you can always include a gym membership because that can help you feel more motivated to actually do your workouts. It will also feel more familiar, and you can stick to your normal routine.
Or you can actually become a gym-regular now, even if you’re not used to doing this at home.
Eat clean
But keeping in shape isn’t just a matter of exercising, it’s also a matter of what you eat. So here’s our advice in that department:
Don’t overdo it
We all know how good a beer can taste like at the end of a day, or how savory a late brunch is. It’s not necessarily bad to indulge once in a while, especially when you’re traveling, but the key is to keep yourself within limits and don’t make your treats the norm.
Choose the local cuisine
Most of the time local restaurants cook cleaner food with fewer calories. Even if some meals are jam-packed with fat like it often happens in the Mediterranean cuisine, these are healthy fats, way better than processed fats you’ll find in fast-food meals.
Do the cooking
This is a great idea if you’re staying at a resort that allows you to use the kitchen. That way, you can buy the ingredients and do all the cooking, staying faithful to your good eating habits. Unfortunately, it takes longer and you might not always be willing to sacrifice your vacation for cooking.
The most important tip
… is to keep enjoying yourself, but keep the balance. It doesn’t have to be a chore to stay fit no matter where you go, but keep in mind that the way our bodies look fluctuates over time. So don’t stress about this, there are plenty of opportunities to have fun, yet still, maintain a great shape.
That said, do you have any tricks for staying fit when traveling? What have you tried and worked? What didn’t? Leave us a comment below.
Author Bio:
Rebecca lives in USA, but loves hiking all over the world. Her favorite is Everest Base Camp Trek in Nepal. It usually takes 16 days, but she likes to slow down, enjoy mountains, company of other adventurers and take more pictures, so it took her 28 days last time. Another of her passion is the ocean, so all short and long hikes along the ocean shore bring a lot of joy. She also writes for HikingMastery.com.
