Fitness while traveling is like day with a substitute teacher when you were in grade school: Full of slacking off and acting out.
Traveling as an adult often means ditching your normal, healthy routine—like eating well and working out—and adopting less healthy, lazier ones.
The good news is you don’t have to throw those good habits by the wayside when you leave home for a while. It just takes a little planning and will power.
Here’s what we suggest:
Travel program
Talk to your coach about writing a training program for you while you’re away. It doesn’t need to be super intense, and it can even be designed for you to do in the space between the beds in a hotel room (you don’t need much space for an EMOM of burpees and air squats or push-ups and lunges).
Or if you know you’ll have access to a hotel gym while you’re away, it can include dumbbells and some sprints on the treadmill. Calling the hotel ahead of time to find out what they have in their gym can help you coach create a useful training plan for you to at the very least maintain your fitness.
We have found athletes who have a specific program to follow on the road goes a long way in helping them stay accountable to follow through with their workout intentions.
If you’re on a vacation where you’ll be day drinking at the pool, here’s a tip: Commit to hitting the hotel gym first thing in the morning before you’re two margaritas in…
Go for a run
If you normally spend a lot of time in the gym, you probably don’t spend a lot of time running. A great way to explore a new city is by going for a jog or a walk to take in your surroundings.
I personally despise running, but while on vacation in Hawaii last year, I ran for an hour first thing in the morning each day before it got too hot, and the sights I saw became the best memories of my trip.
Seek out kitchens
Eating out for three meals a day on vacation is the best way to kiss your healthy diet goodbye. Try to stay at places with kitchens, or at the very least, a fridge. This will allow you to go grocery shopping and keep food on hand, and maybe limit your eating out each day to just dinner.
When you return, get right back in the saddle
One of the most common times clients fall off is after a vacation. They’re out of the rhythm and they become apprehensive to return to the gym.
The easiest way to ensure you’ll get back into it the moment you return is to schedule a personal training session with your coach before you take off traveling. I have one client who travels a lot and always meets me the day after he returns from vacation. He says this helps him avoid making excuses about needing to take more time off before returning to the gym.
