7. Choose your gym or check your hotel fitness facilities in advance
Many people work out right in their hotel rooms with a body weight exercise
program or even portable equipment. Since I'm a bodybuilder, I refuse to go
without a fully equipped gym. Unfortunately, on-site Hotel gyms are notorious
for sounding great in the advertisements and then when you arrive, you find that
the "gym" is a room about the size of a walk in closet, with a few pieces of
(mostly broken) archaic equipment from the 1970's. There are a few exceptions,
but having learned my lesson a couple times, I now use the Internet to locate a
gym prior to my trip. Call in advance and ask if there are daily or weekly
rates.
You can also ask if your hotel has an affiliation with a local health club.
During my last trip, the hotel was affiliated with a Bally Total Fitness Center
that was just a 10 minute drive away and use of the Bally's was included with
the price of my room. It turned out to be an excellent club, so I was a happy
camper.
If you are already a member of a gym in your local area, check to see if your
gym has an affiliation with other clubs around the country or if they belong to
an organization such as IHRSA (international Health, Racque & Sportsclub
Association). Some clubs are part of a network which allows you to train at
other clubs when youre traveling - all you have to do is show your membership
card and you will get access to train at other clubs that are part of the
network. IHRSA has more than 6,500 clubs in 67 countries in its network.
8. Pack your workout gear and plenty of workout clothes
When you pack hastily at the last minute, things can easily be forgotten and
left behind, so be sure to pack plenty of workout clothes with you and bring any
other gym gear you might need (belt, lifting straps, etc). For extended trips,
inquire with your hotel to see if they have laundry facilities. (The hotel where
I recently stayed had an onsite laundry room, which came in handy with my 2.5
week stay).
9. Change up your workouts as you change up your gym
Some people get accustomed to their hometown gym and they're upset or
disappointed when they don't have access to the same equipment when they travel.
They feel that it cramps their style or hinders their results. However, this can
really be a blessing in disguise. Your body adapts to any workout, often in just
a matter of weeks. We tend to be victims of our own habit patterns in life and
that includes our workouts. You might want to take advantage of it when you have
new and different equipment at your disposal.
After "scoping out" the gym's facilities, design an entirely new workout program
for a change. Do something 100% different. Sometimes a simple change of
exercises is enough to stimulate new progress. The club I trained at during my
last trip had a full line of "Strive" machines which are not available at my
hometown gym. These machines allow you to choose three different resistance
curves on each exercise. Very cool. Since I had access to this equipment, I did
a totally new routine and used more machines than usual. Although most fitness
experts these days generally advise you to use more free weights than machines
(and I agree for the most part), using these machines was a great change up and
I could feel and see the difference.
10. Walk, bike or make physical recreation part of your travel plans
Personally, as I am already in very good shape, I usually don't count casual
walking as part of my "formal" workout (cardio) program, although it certainly
might count for other people. However, it never hurts to get some extra activity
and all physical activity burns calories and provides some health benefits. I've
found that more often than not, when I am on the road, whether for business or
pleasure, there are plenty of opportunities to get some physical recreation and
see the sights by foot.
On a trip last year, I spent an entire afternoon hiking in the hills of a
beautiful national park. On another trip, I rented a bike and rode for miles
along a beachside bike path. On my recent trip, I spent an entire day walking
through museums and then sightseeing. I walked for hours. I also couldn't help
but notice other people (mostly conspicuously unfit people), tooling around
outside on those stand-up scooters. Funny thing too, because right next door to
the motorized scooter rental was a bike rental. Which would you choose – foot,
bike, or "lazy-person's chariot?"
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