If you travel constantly, knowing how to stay fit and healthy anywhere might be a constant struggle. And that’s exactly why you will find this post useful. I hope you have your healthy popcorn because this is about to get fun!
This article will cover:
- The challenges of staying fit anywhere
- Morning routine to get your energy going
- Staying fit while short on time
- Keeping your heart happy and your body burning
- Quick hacks to keep your metabolism going all-day
- Enjoying tasty foods and staying fit on the road
How to stay fit anywhere/Challenges
Some common challenges people have in terms of staying fit abroad are:
- Not having the proper equipment
- Being short on time
- Dealing with jet-lag
- Lack of knowledge/support
- Doing what easy versus what’s right
We will cover these topics throughout the post so keep on reading, there’s plenty of gold nuggets!
People often think that you have to have a huge gym filled with equipment in order to stay fit. It doesn’t hurt to have some weights, but you’d be amazed at the physique you can accomplish just by using your own body weight.
Some of the fittest people on the planet have been able to achieve incredible results by using just their body weight and some imagination.
There’s power in being able to adapt to the environment. Those who accept their current situation, and are able to utilize it to perform at their highest potential will see themselves naturally performing better in all facets of their life.
When traveling to various hotels around the world, you’re most likely traveling light. Unless you don’t mind astronomical overweight baggage fees, you probably won’t be carrying around weights in your backpack.
Therefore, you can accomplish everything we’ll cover in this article with three pieces of optional equipment:
- Running shoes/clothes
- Swimming goggles/clothes
- A yoga mat
Again, these are completely optional. But they will enhance your workout experience and comfort.
When you go to a hotel, there’s most likely a fitness area where you can do your exercise. While the room you’re staying in is more than enough space most of the time, the gym area gives yourself the environment forgetting a productive workout in.
No beds to lay on for rest, no television, just you, your mind, and this amazing workout you’re about to get into.
A great way we like to get our workouts in is to think about a well-rounded routine. A cardio only workout isn’t enough. Likewise, strength only workouts don’t improve your mental state and daily stamina like cardio.
However, if you mix a strength workout with cardio, you get the best of both worlds.
Staying Fit Anywhere Examples
Head over to the pool, or the sea if it’s close by you. Start with 4 minutes of nice slow steady swimming, followed by 1 minute of high-intensity swimming. Repeating this for a total of 3 Rounds will be more than sufficient for your workout.
The same thing goes for running. do 4 minutes of a nice easy job, followed by one minute of an all-out run. if you’re like me and you don’t like running, do some jumping rope (if you don’t have one just pretend) in place for 4 minutes, followed by one minute of jump lunges or any other intense movement.
Read more: Why You Should Take Up Running While Traveling The World
Whatever the situation, find ways to mix in a nice slow steady cardio with bursts of high-intensity.
By the way, If you enjoyed reading this topic, I’ve covered some at-home workouts to explain this more in-depth.
Morning routine to get your energy going
Personally, morning routines NEED to be a part of your life. If you don’t already have a productive morning routine, we’ll quickly highlight some that you can establish in your own life.
Quiet Time
This relates to simply going into an area where there is little to no sound, and either praying, meditating, or just sitting in silence. Whatever the case is, this is YOUR time so love all of it.
Exercise
Personally, starting your day off with the hardest task has always been a big focus of mine and many other successful people. when you accomplish something mentally difficult like exercising early, you gain so much more momentum throughout the day.
We’ll cover some exercises later that you can try. For now, any physical movement is good just to wake the body up.
Related read: Staying Fit While Visiting NYC
Affirmations
Affirmations and visualization go hand in hand. But affirmations are what you believe to be true and are confident is going to happen.
The verbiage for this would be “I am confident”, “I am a knowledgeable World Traveler, I am happy, healthy, and successful.”
Speaking as if it is happening now tricks your brain to think that’s who you are currently instead of who you might be someday.
Visualization
Visualization is thinking of a goal you want to achieve, 1, 5, or 20 years from now, and fully visualizing how you feel in that moment.
For example, if your ultimate goal is to be a renowned world traveler/author, you might visualize sitting on a table surrounded by people who love you, asking you what your favorite country to travel was. And what inspired you to write your best-selling book.
The more detailed the better.
What color is the book? How many smiles are you surrounded by? How does the environment smell? Imagine how you feel at that moment at the time which you want to achieve that goal.
Writing
This one serves many purposes. It relieves stress, improves creativity, and gets your thoughts out on paper. Some people might do the planning, organizing their day, or just simply putting their thoughts on paper.
Personally, I do a mix between writing out my daily goals both personally and professionally, I write what I’m grateful for, the characteristics of a successful person, and my big thoughts and feelings that I’m currently having.
It’s also kind of fun to look back on your notes you had 3 months ago and be amazed at the progress you’ve already made in just three months.
Reading
“Leaders are readers” as Jim Kwik says.
Picking up a book and reading even 10 pages a day will dramatically improve your lifestyle one year from now.
Let’s assume every book you read has an average page count of 300. In one month you would have read 1 book. Repeat this for the rest of the year, that’s 12 books a year.
Small changes added up over time lead to big results.
Staying fit while short on time
Time is everyone’s most precious asset. Learning how to maximize it and get the most out of your day will always be a priority for almost everyone.
I love short workouts and so should you. I can’t remember the last time I had a workout that was over 45 minutes. If your workout runs over an hour either you might be training to be the strongest man in the universe, or you might be lollygagging too much.
We’ll cover some foundational parts of what makes a great workout throughout the next few sections.
15-minute workouts to get your day started
Workouts are not as complicated as people think, all you really need is some open space, a teeny weeny bit of creativity, and a desire to be the best version of yourself.
2 great workouts formats I love doing in 15 minutes include:
- Circuits
- AMRAPS
Circuits are for people who like structure, and to know how many reps and sets they are going to work for in the exercise.
For example with circuit training, it could be 1 minute of bodyweight squats, 1 minute of push-ups, and 1 minute of crunches followed by a 20-second rest in between exercise.
Repeat this for 4 rounds and that puts you right at 16 minutes. if you want to sue me for going 1 minute over the 15-minute promise time, go for it.
Sometimes I really like to know that I have to accomplish a specific amount of reps in a specific time frame and then I get a break.
Other times, I just want to push myself to my absolute limit, and that’s where AMRAP comes in.
As many reps as possible (AMRAP for short) is a training style focused on pushing yourself to its ceiling, and then some. A simple form out of this might be 20 pushups, 20 jump squats, and 40 mountain climbers.
Repeat this for a total of 15 minutes.
You’ll find that your body can go a lot harder than you imagined when under time pressure. When you know you have 1 minute left and you finished your mountain climbers, you’re most likely going to finish strong.
No matter the training style, pushing yourself for 15 minutes might seem simple, but by the 8th minute you probably checked your watch 78 times waiting for the pain to be over. Don’t worry, it’s good pain.
An alternative and simple 15 minute morning workout
For those that may just want a simpler and exercise, doing some Pilates, or yoga can be an incredible way to open up your body to start the day.
It also brings attention to the breath which is one of the most important superpowers our body has.
If you don’t like yoga or pilates, just laying on the floor and going through various stretches and holding them for a long period of time while focusing on the breath can be more than enough.
App-Based 15-minute workout
I love app workouts when I travel. Not only do they have the formats laid out, most of the time they have someone there to virtually pushing you a little harder than you could on your own. The three I recommend are:
- Nike Training Club App
- Sworkit
- The 7 Minute Workout
All three of these apps have amazing features that have their own individual benefits. Personally, I like the Nike Training Club app simply because I like the live coaching that they give.
Speed and strength switch offs
As mentioned earlier, when doing an exercise, switching off from strength-based movements, to speed, you get both benefits. Strength movements are focused on slow and controlled motions, while speed focuses more on the tempo and explosiveness of the motion.
Strength motions build muscle, strength (obviously), and get you toned. Speed motions build endurance, explosiveness, and help you burn fat. So again, mixing them together will give you the best of both worlds.
One example might be doing slow and controlled split lunges for 30 seconds and then switch into alternating jump lunges for 30 seconds. You get your slow and controlled strength movements and then immediately switch into your explosive power movements.
15 minutes workouts from 1 exercise
Simplicity sometimes yields the best results. When I really want to challenge myself, I will do one specific movement for about 15 minutes and see how many reps I can get. This is now my baseline.
I will repeat this exercise for my next workout to give myself something to push for.
One example might be burpees for 15 minutes straight. If you could only do one exercise, burpees will give you the most results. They target your upper body, your core, and your lower body.
If you’re short on time and space, burpees might be an amazing option.
Keeping your heart happy and your body burning
It’s no secret that high-intensity interval training has amazing heart benefits. By pushing your body even when you don’t feel like it, leads to a happy and healthy heart. Always be looking for ways to challenge yourself that extra 1%. If you see an escalator, take the stairs.
Is there someplace nearby they usually drive to? Walk there instead.
Switch out what’s easy, for what’s right.
Especially when traveling, it can get easy to think you’re on vacation. But imagine how much progress you’ve lost just because you got lazy in your eating habits. make the decisions that your body will thank you for for the next few days. Healthy eating is one of the ways you can receive dividends from something you did days ago. Foods have a direct effect on your mood, make it some of the good stuff!
Quick hacks to keep your metabolism going all-day
- If possible, keep some healthy food like almonds/nuts, fruit, or vegetables on you throughout the day. This way, you don’t feel the need to gorge yourself at meals.
- Doing a few minutes of exercise every few hours to keep the body moving. For example, do 20 squats in the bathroom (staying fit while traveling is a way of life no matter the method.)
- Have filtered water on you at all times if possible.
Enjoying tasty foods and staying fit on the road
While away from home, the temptations to try all the different foods can be high.
While there’s nothing wrong with enjoying a snack here or there, overdoing it will have negative compounded effects.
As mentioned above, developing some good habits can refrain you from overdoing the snacking.
- Learn to cook restaurant-standard recipes from the greatest chefs in the world on Squaremeal
- Keep healthy snacks on you when possible
- Try to track your calories using an app like my fitness pal
- Cut your sugar intake and search for gluten-free options if you are intolerant
- Stretch often to promote physical activity
Conclusion
Staying fit on the road is easy in theory but actually doing it is hard. It’s committing to your personal health and wellness while distracted in beautiful countries that become the struggle.
We hope we have given you some gold nuggets to apply in your own life!
Staying fit while traveling might be stressful at times, but it beats the heck out of being stuck at home all the time!
Key takeaways from today:
- Develop a productive morning routine.
- Implement a simple but challenging high intense workout so you can keep your body burning throughout the day.
- Enjoy your foods but with moderation.
- Do what’s right, not what’s easy
- Keep healthy foods within reach throughout the day to prevent cravings
- Drink plenty of water to keep yourself hydrated and energized
- Stay active and do some squats or burpees to get your heart rate up a bit before going to eat somewhere.
This will also help you resist unhealthy foods as you just exercised a bit and you’re telling your body, “I’m a healthy person.” Your body will then reject bad foods as a result.
Thank you guys and gals for reading! We hope you enjoyed reading as much as we did making this! Have a great day and as always,
Stay amazing!
