The Traveling Man

Sticking to your workout is hard enough when you’re close to home. But when you throw in an out-of-town conference here, or a weekend excursion there, a regular exercise routine becomes even tougher to sustain.

If travel is a regular part of your job, you have some inkling of what I am talking about. When you travel to another city you’re in unfamiliar territory and often an unfamiliar time zone. Fatigue takes its toll on your plans for an evening run; daylong meetings quash your opportunity for a morning workout.

If you’re trying to stay fit, travel can be tough on you. It’s not just the issue of making time for exercise while you’re traveling. Just as big question is: Where can I go to exercise?

Taking Your Workout on the Road

I call them the twin demons of travel fitness: finding time to work out, and finding a place to work out once you do find the time. But you can exorcise these demons once and for all with a little ingenuity. And I’m not just talking about calling ahead to make sure your hotel has an exercise facility (although that’s a great idea). One of the factors that made humanity the dominant species on the planet was our ability to adapt to changing surroundings, improvise with the materials at hand and overcome the obstacles to our survival.

And so it is when you’re on the road and there isn’t a barbell around for miles. Now, the point isn’t to try and duplicate your at-home workouts. The idea is to do enough substitute exercise so that when you can resume your regular exercise routine, you won’t have lost any ground on your physical fitness. If you want to ensure the survival of your fitness in those situations, try these expert tips.

Pack for a workout. The easiest way to miss out on exercise is by conveniently forgetting to pack appropriate exercise clothes. You have to make it a habit to always keep workout clothes in one of your suitcase pouches. If they’re always in that pouch, you’ll never have the excuse that you forgot them. Wrap the clothes in a plastic bag, though — you wouldn’t want your suit smelling like sweat socks.

Ask at the front desk. If your hotel has a weight room and a couple of stair-climbers, or a pool where you can do a few laps before bedtime, then you’re set. But even hotels that don’t sport these facilities do have at least one useful exercise resource — the concierge.

“It never hurts to ask at the front desk where you can go for a workout,” says my friend Steve, who travels a lot. At the very least, a concierge can direct you to the local YMCA or the nearest squash court. And if you are an outdoor exerciser, the front desk can certainly tell you the safest places to do your exercise — which is an important consideration in a strange and unfamiliar city.

Walk when you can. One problem with traveling is the fact that we become overly reliant on vehicles to move us from place to place: the company car, the red-eye flight, the express train or bus. So it’s very easy to forget that you have your own two feet to help you to move around.

So walk when it’s practical. Take the stairs instead of the hotel elevator. Walk around the terminal while you’re waiting for your connecting flight.

Seek out a partner. It may help to remember there are others of your kind, traveling men and women who would like to stick to their workout. If you’re at conventions, make sure to check out the message boards you always see in the lobby. I’ve seen messages announcing a morning fitness walk, or that someone was looking for a running or exercise partner. And if you don’t see any messages, post your own.

Visit the local clubs. If you belong to a fitness club at home, remember that membership has its privileges, even when you’re out of town.

Make an appointment. At home, exercise is simply part of your routine — something you do at a set time everyday. When you’re on the road you don’t have a routine, you have an itinerary. You’re on a travel schedule, so the routine goes out the window, and then it’s easy to forget exercise. That’s why I’d suggest actually scheduling exercise time. Put it in your daybook like any other meeting. By actually building exercise time into your schedule, you’re more likely to find time for it.

Even when there’s no weight room at the inn, and no fitness club where you can drop in, you can still get together a halfway-decent weight-training regimen.

But before you begin, a note of caution. Some of the exercises suggested here call for using furniture or hotel-room accessories that weren’t designed for exercise. If I suggest using a bed, make certain the mattress is firm. If you’re using a chair or luggage rack to do an exercise, test them, shake them, do what you need to do to ensure that they’re stable and sturdy enough to support your weight. If they’re not — or you’re not comfortable using them — then skip the exercise.

“There’s nothing wrong with being inventive and trying to develop a workout using materials close at hand. But it’s important that you use common sense and be safe about it,” says my dear friend Steve. With that in mind, try these.

Hotel-Room Push-Ups

Like the standard push-up, this exercise works your upper and outer pectorals. For this exercise, you’ll need two beds placed side by side. If the beds are so far apart that you can’t position your hands properly, then use two sturdy chairs

Stand between the beds and get yourself in standard push-up mode — legs extended behind you, toes touching the floor. Place a hand flat on either bed, fingers pointing straight ahead. Your hands should be about shoulder width or slightly wider apart. Your arms should be extended so your upper body is elevated slightly above the level of the bed.

Now slowly lower yourself toward the floor. Keep your back and legs straight and bend your arms; your elbows should be close to your sides. Lower yourself so your chest is in line with the beds. Pause, then raise back up.

Reverse-Grip Dips

This dip works your lower pecs and triceps. Start by standing between the beds or two chairs.

This time, your legs will be straight out in front of you, toes pointing up, heels touching the floor. Place a hand on each mattress and extend your arms so you’re holding your butt off the ground. Your fingers point straight ahead, parallel to the sides of the bed.

Now slowly bend at your elbows and lower your butt toward the floor—but don”t let it touch. Pause just above the floor, then raise yourself back up to the starting position.

Note: If the mattresses aren’t firm enough, slide your hands under the mattresses and support yourself on the box springs.

Luggage Rack Shoulder Raises

For this exercise, which works the top and back shoulder muscles, you’ll need one of those fold-out luggage stands (check the closet for them), which will act in place of a weight bench.

Note: Again, test the rack to make sure it doesn’t wobble and that it will support your weight. If you don’t think the luggage rack is sturdy or large enough to support you, do these luggage rack exercises on the bed, working one arm at a time. If you haven’t brought a set of light weights with you, use a couple of heavy books, like the telephone directory or the Bible in the nightstand.

Kneel facing the luggage rack, using it to support your upper body. Let your arms dangle off either side of the stand. Hold a weight in each hand, palms facing inward. Your arms should be fully extended. If your arms are long enough to touch the floor, raise them slightly so they’re no longer touching the floor.

Now raise the weights in a semicircular motion, keeping your arms as straight as possible without locking your elbows. Raise your arms to shoulder height, then lower and repeat.

Luggage Rack Flies

You’ll need the luggage stand and a chair for this pectoral exercise. If the stand is not sturdy enough, do this on the bed, working one arm at a time.

Push a chair up to one end of the luggage rack. This time lie on your back on the luggage rack, with your knees bent so your feet are touching the floor. Support your head on the chair. Extend your arms up so you’re holding the weights above your chest. You should be holding the weights so your palms are facing each other.

Keeping your arms as straight as possible (it’s OK if they bend a little), lower the weights in a semicircular motion out to either side of your chest. Lower until the weights are even with your chest, but back slightly so they’re in line with your ears. Pause, then raise the weights back up. Repeat.

And always remember, “Without good health, nothing else matters.”

If you need more help on nutrition or any help with your fitness goals, you can find me at King Studio, 1400 Foothill Dr. (above Stein Mart). You can also reach me at laimis@laimisenergy.com or 801-815-7725.

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