Working out and vacation—not necessarily two ideas that you might love hearing in the same sentence, however, an increasing number of people are starting to focus on staying fit even while traveling.
There are some big benefits to staying active while you travel. It helps you feel better while you’re on your trip for example. You’ll likely notice a boost in your mood and energy levels, which will help you enjoy your travels. It can also help you combat the calories of some of the decadent meals you might be having, and it can help you make sure you stay on track for when you return home.
What are the effects of not exercising, even for a short period?
Within three weeks your aerobic power can decrease by anywhere from 5 to 10 percent, and the fitter you are, strangely enough, the faster you lose your fitness.
So, how can you make it work realistically? How do you find time for fitness when you’re traveling? The following are some tips that might help you.
Choose Outdoor Activities
When you’re traveling, you might not have access to a hotel gym or fitness facilities, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be active. When you’re making your plans for the day, try to include at least one outdoor activity that will give you the opportunity to exercise by walking, at a minimum.
Just as an example, most big cities have some amazing parks that are in and of themselves an attraction. There’s the major one—Central Park in New York, but many other cities have great outdoor areas. For example, there’s Centennial Park in Nashville with the Parthenon attraction and lots of green space.
If it’s not a park maybe you spend your time hiking, walking on a beach, snorkeling, kayaking, or paddle boarding. It doesn’t have to be extravagant to get you moving while you’re on vacation.
Some other outdoor activities you might opt to include in your next trip? Tennis, golf,and biking are all good calorie-burning options that will get your heart rate up.
Choose a Hotel with a Fitness Center
If you do want to have a more structured workout, check out hotels and compare them based on their fitness center. Not all hotel fitness centers are going to be created equally, so read reviews from people who have stayed in the hotel and used the facilities before making a decision.
For example, if the fitness center has windows with a view as compared to being in a windowless basement room, you’re more likely to want to work out.
BYOW
What does BYOW stand for? Bring your own workout. There are so many options for workouts that you can take with you anywhere you go. For example, there are great fitness apps that you can use to access workouts, no equipment required, from your phone or tablet. If you have access to a streaming service, you can watch workout videos on your computer.
You can also pack items like a jump rope or resistance bands to get a great workout before you even leave your hotel room.
Wear a Pedometer
A lot of what you do on vacation may be centered around site seeing and hopping from one locale to the next, so wear a pedometer or some step-monitoring tool while you’re doing that. This will help you see how much fitness you’re getting in, and it might push you to do a little more. On vacation, particularly one where site seeing is a focus, getting 10,000 steps a day might be much easier than it is at home.
Take a Class
Finally, fitness classes can be a lot of fun no matter where they are. They get you out and about and trying new things, and of course, they’re good for physical health. If you’re traveling, you have some different options as to how you can take fitness classes. You can do a visitor pass at a lot of boutique studios, such as a yoga studio.
You might also be able to do a day pass to a larger fitness center offering group classes. You could speak with your hotel about classes they might offer, and if you’re staying at a resort, they’re likely to have a full line-up of these classes. Another option is to look in the local community for options like boot camps in the park, that are common in cities around the country.