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Healthy Business Travel: Exercising on the Go

The following post is sponsored by FitFluential LLC on behalf of National Car Rental. 

Steve and Bonnie PfiesterNational Car Rental wants you to be a healthy business traveler, so today Steve and I are going to give you everything you need to Go Like a Pro and be a healthy business traveler – even if all you have is a little hotel floor space.

If you spend many of your days in cabs, planes and hotels, you probably have already experienced the challenges of maintaining some kind of fitness routine. Luckily, most hotels have some type of fitness room – some smaller than others. But, at least you normally have the option of getting on a treadmill or elliptical, if nothing else.

Before smart phones, people had a difficult time going for a run without knowing how far they were going. Now, with handy dandy apps like the RunKeeper or MapMyRun, you can throw on your tennis shoes and go for a productive run even if you have no clue where you are or where you are going. With the help of the built-in GPS system in our smart phones, you can know exactly how far you went, and how to get back to your hotel if you get lost.

Learn Your Go-To Exercises

Hotel workoutFirst, let’s talk exercises. There is cardiovascular exercise, which we use to burn calories and stored fat, and there is more traditional strength training to tone muscle. If running outside or working out in a hotel gym isn’t an option, what can you do? Plenty! The problem is, most people don’t have a big enough exercise library in their head to pull from. This is where Steve and I come in! We are going to give you a list of 20 exercises you can do anywhere – and all you need is a little floor space.

Click on the links below to see video demonstration of each exercise. Once you get familiar with each one, then we can talk about how to put them together in a purposeful, and effective, workout.

20 Bodyweight Exercises You Can Do In Your Room

  1. Burpee – Full body/cardio
  2. Double Unders – cardio20 Bodyweight Exercises
  3. Jumping Jacks – cardio
  4. Heismans – cardio
  5. Butt-kicks – cardio
  6. Mary Catherines – cardio, legs & glutes
  7. Crisscross Squat – cardio, legs & glutes
  8. Skater – cardio, legs and glutes
  9. Air Squats – legs and glutes
  10. Static Lunge – legs and glutes
  11. Curtsy – glutes
  12. Bridge Crunch – hamstrings, glutes & core
  13. Push-up – Chest and arms
  14. Squat Thrust – upper body, core & cardio
  15. Triceps Dips – upper body
  16. Bicycle Crunch – obliques & abs
  17. Plank – core
  18. T-plank – core
  19. Superman – core, low back, hamstring and glutes
  20. Seated Glute Stretch/ Sciatic Stretch – great stretch for people who sit, for long periods of time (like being on the road) to help or prevent sciatica.

Create a Workout

create a workoutTo simplify things, I listed each exercise into categories, A (cardio), B (lower body conditioning), C (glutes), D (upper body) and E (core).

Now you can create a simple workout by choosing the right combination of exercises to help you reach your goal. Before you can do this, you need to know what your goal is. Do you want to burn calories? Do you need to just work a specific body part (like upper body, lower body or abs)? Once you determine your goal, you can follow these programming tips to create your very own custom workout using this simple graph below.

A B C D E
Cardio Lower Body Conditioning Glutes Upper Body Core
Burpee Air Squats Static Lunge Push-up Bicycle Crunch
Double Unders Mary Catherines Curtsy Squat Thrust Plank
Jumping Jacks Crisscross Squat Bridge Crunch Triceps Dips T-plank
Heismans Skater  Glute Stretch* Superman
Butt-kicks

*The Glute Stretch should not replace a regular exercise. It should only be ADDED to the day you do glutes to help stretch out your glutes to help, or prevent< sciatica.

5 Workout Formulas

First, choose your workout (below). Then, using the workout formula, choose the exercises from the assigned categories to customize your workout. Write down your workout so it’s easy to follow. Next, you’ll choose your time.

#1 Full Body Conditioning Workout:
Choose 1 exercise from each category:
A, B, C, D, E
Do each exercise once and repeat 3-5 times. #2 Cardio Workout:
Do all the exercises in A only.
Repeat 3-5 times.#3 Lower Body Workout:
Do 1 exercise from A
Do 1 exercise from B
Do 3 exercise from C
Repeat 3-5 times
#4 Upper Body Workout:
Do 1 exercise from A
Do all exercises in D
Finish with 1 plank exercise in E
Repeat 3-5 times#5 Ab Workout:
Do 1 Exercise from A (preferably one that
works your core, like mountain climbers)
Do ALL exercises in E
Repeat 3-5 times*The Seated Glute Stretch can be added to the end of any workout to help sciatica – but especially on lower body day.

Choose Your Time:

timeEach of the above workouts are based on 5 exercises that you will do for 1 minute each. This means, each circuit will take 5 minutes to complete 1 time through. This way you can curtail your workout around your schedule. If you only have 15 minutes, then you will do it 3 times through. If you have more time, you can add more rounds, sets, exercises or additional workouts.

While I am allotting 1 minute for each exercise, that doesn’t necessarily mean you will be exercising for all 60 seconds. Depending on your fitness level, your work time may vary. Here is a suggestion: 

Beginner: 30 seconds of each (30 seconds rest)
Intermediate: 45 seconds of each (15 seconds rest)
Advanced: 60 seconds of each (no rest) 

Sample Workout

costa d' esteTo make things even easier for you, we came up with a simple workout you can do in your hotel, along with a video demonstration for you! Just to prove it, we went to the lovely Costa d’ Este Beach Resort to demonstrate the workout for you. You can start with this workout, and then build your own with the tools I gave you in this blog. Let me know how you do!

Here are the exercises. Watch the video for instruction & tips!

Couplet #1: 10 Tuck Jump & 10 Air Squats (3 X)
Couplet #2: 10 Mountain Climbers & 10 Push Ups (3 X)
Couplet #3: 10 Roll Ups and 10 Bicycle Crunches

[youtube=http://youtu.be/tjhGoyOJeCQ]

Stick to Your Routine

2013 stick with itNow that you have some workouts to choose from, your next question might be “how often do I do these workouts?” How often you workout is all up to your schedule and personal preference.  If you are able to do all 5 workouts each week, you are doing pretty good! A day off here and there is not bad either, but if you miss a few workouts in a row – you could completely fall out of your routine altogether.

Here are my simple rules to helping me stick to my routine.

Rule #1: Never go 3 days without exercise. This will help you stay consistent, keeping your fitness ball rolling. Take a photo or fitness magazine with you to remind you of your goals and to keep you motivated to stick to your routine.

Rule #2 Workout at least 3 days a week. This will keep you healthy. Knowing there is a minimum of workouts you will allow per week helps keep you accountable too.

Rule #3: Never miss a Monday. This will help you start fresh, even when you have failed. The same way people like to start fresh at the first of the year, Mondays are sort of our “new week resolution” day – the perfect day to begin again.

Rule #4: Do the workout you need the most first. We tend to put off the exercises we need the most. For instance, if you need to burn calories, then you should tackle cardio first – whether the first of the week or first in your day. If you have a certain body part that needs work, that should be one of the first workouts you do that week. The more you put off the workouts you don’t like, the less chances you have of getting it done.

Rule #5: Never give up. Start fresh every week no matter what.

Be on the lookout for my next healthy travel blog coming July 2nd!
Continue conversation on Twitter with the hashtag: #HealthyBizTravel

FitFluential LLC compensated me for this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Owner of Lift Vero and motivational "pfitness, pfood and pfaith" blogger in Vero Beach, Florida.

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