Exercise While Traveling: Best Travel Workouts

If you travel a lot, whether for business or for pleasure, you obviously spend a lot of time on the road. That makes it difficult to have steady workouts since every day is different and since you won’t be in the same gym day in and day out.

But it is possible to stay in great shape while traveling. If you’re staying in hotels, many of them have gyms. If not, then you can do some very efficient bodyweight exercises, and some workout equipment takes up so little space and weight that you can easily travel with it.

Try to find hotels with gyms

It’s generally easier to work out if you have the proper equipment. Since you can’t bring weights and machines for a trip, it makes sense to stay with hotels that provide gym facilities.

A surprising number of hotels do actually have gyms. Of course, it’s more common at expensive high-class hotels with lots of space. Most 5-star hotels allow you to work out as you please.

If you’re a business traveler who likes to stay in shape, try to find take advantage of the gym facilities that many hotels provide. It will be different every time, but even with basic equipment, you can get some nice workouts in.

Alternatively, you can find a local gym in the city you’re visiting. In most places, you can find gyms with cheap day passes.

Pack these items

If you somehow can’t find a gym, or if you simply don’t want to pay extra for it, you need to be a bit creative. The workout can take place inside the hotel room, in the holiday apartment or even in a park outside.

Some equipment can be very useful and doesn’t need to take up a lot of space. You can’t bring weights when you travel – that would be impractical. But smaller items can work very well.

For example, resistance bands are light and take up very little space. Yet, they give you the opportunity to work out the entire body. Therefore, it makes great sense to bring resistance bands for your trip if you want to make sure you can work out. They are cheap, so buy 3 different bands – one with light resistance, one medium and one heavy.

Another useful piece of equipment is a hand grip strengthener. Once again, very easy to pack and it will take up very little space. You can get a grip strengthener with adjustable resistance. It will be good for working the grip strength as well as the forearm.

If you love training abs, an ab-wheel is another item that doesn’t weigh much, and it should be possible to fit it in a suitcase.

Bodyweight exercises to focus on

Most people simply do bodyweight exercises when they wish to work out while traveling.

We advise you to focus on the following exercises since they give the best effects:

• Pushups
• Situps
• Plank
• Squats
• Lunges
• Glute raises
• Neck bridge

Aside from these exercises, all of which strengthen various muscles in the body, it is also a great idea to train flexibility and balance. Be sure to warm up properly, even when you’re not working with weights!

If you have running shoes, you can always go for a run, and if you have the opportunity to rent a bicycle, cycling is another nice way to workout.

A flexible workout routine

You probably want to keep things simple when you travel. After all, working out is not the only priority, but simply something you do to remain fit as you are on the road.

There are several ways to go. One way could be an upper/lower body split. First you work the upper body for one day. Then you work the lower body the next day. And repeat. It keeps things simple, and you get to train the entire body. On the upper body day, you can do pushups, plank, situps, and use a resistance band to do more exercises. On the lower body day, you can practice exercises such as bodyweight squats, lunges, side lunges and glute raises.

Or, you can work full body 2-3 times per week if you’re busy and only need a few days per week to keep fit.

What about diet?

When we travel, we usually eat a lot of tasty food. Restaurant visits are almost a must, and most of us want to try the local cuisine when we go somewhere new. On top of that, we probably also eat more snacks when we travel.

Diet is important to keep in shape. If you are making the effort to work out, you should also make an effort to eat somewhat healthy. Try to keep 2 out of 3 meals healthy. Eat as many fruits, vegetables, nuts and good meats as you can, while avoiding fake foods. Even at restaurants, it is usually possible to order healthy dishes. So it doesn’t have to be complicated.

If you want super simplicity, try to follow an intermittent fasting routine. That means you have a short eating window while fasting for the majority of the day. It keeps things simple, and you have time for all the other stuff while traveling.