On The Go: How To Maintain Your Lifestyle with this Travel Workout
Nothing throws your healthy lifestyle into a tail spin faster than a vacation. I’ve traveled extensively and I know how hard it can be to stay on track exercising, eating healthfully, getting enough rest, etc. when you’re on the road. But, with a little pre-planning and with a few tips & tricks you can absolutely enjoy a healthy vacation with a travel workout.
I find starting my day with just 10 or 15 minutes of exercise gets me off on the right foot. Many hotels have gyms, but I’ll be honest, I’m not a huge fan of spending tons of time in a boring hotel gym. I’d much rather be out and about exploring whatever city I’m in then cooped up in some gym. For cardio, I just like walking and exploring the city. At the time I wrote this post I happened to be in Vegas staying at the Aria hotel. While in Vegas Andy and I got some exercise by taking a fast walk down the Vegas strip. We walked from our hotel to the Stratosphere (I think that’s about 3 miles?) I can tell you this was MUCH better than being on a treadmill walking to nowhere back in the gym.
In addition to walking, I have four different super-fast 10 -15 minute hotel room resistance training circuit workouts I like to do first thing in the morning (after my coffee!!) I’ll either do a lower body workout with exercises such as lunges, plies and light plyometrics or a core workout with some exercises for my abs and back, a short yoga workout or an upper body workout. My upper body workout is really the most unique, so I thought I’d share that one with you.
The Ultimate Hotel Room Upper Body Workout
The video below is my basic upper body workout using just a hotel hand towel. Don’t laugh at the towel; this is a no-joke workout that is incredibly challenging…if you do it properly. The secret to the “towel workout” is that you want to start by pulling the towel apart using as much force as you possibly can (watch the video for how to do this). No matter how strong you are, you will never be able to pull that towel apart and you’ll never outgrow this workout. I don’t care if you are a 220 pound NFL football player, the towel workout is a killer. The video below shows you how to do it. This is a no-excuse workout you can do anywhere, anytime (as long as you have a towel!) In fact, it’s such a great workout you could consider sprinkling in some of the upper body towel exercises into whatever workout you do at home.
Ivy’s Upper Body “Towel Workout”
Equipment needed: Hand towel The towel workout is very challenging, so be sure to give yourself 30 seconds of rest between each exercise. Run through the circuit 2 x’s.
- Pushups (10-20 reps)
- “Towel” Bicep Curls (10 reps)
- “Towel” Overhead Presses (10 reps)
- “Towel” Front Arm Raises (10 reps)
- “Towel” Tricep Series:
- Pulses (20 reps)
- Side to Side (10 reps)
- Straight Arm Raises (10 reps)
- “Towel” Chest Press (10 reps)
- Pushups (10-20 reps)
Other Great 10-Minute Workouts if You’ve Minimal Equipment at Hand
As I said earlier the towel workout is a great 10-minute upper body challenge you can do at home, too: I’ve got some other 10 minute workouts worth trying if you’ve got a couple basic pieces of equipment to bring with you or you’re at home. Try these:
Simple Yoga Exercises for a Great (Feeling) Body
Core Training Workout for Core Strength & Balance
If you’re looking for a more serious full body experience why not give my Full Fitness Fusion exercise DVD a try. Click HERE to learn more.
You can buy the Full Fitness Fusion DVD at my store by clicking the image link below:
If you prefer to stream the exercise video directly to your computer or smart TV or you want to start the 30-minute workout right away link to Amazon by clicking the image link below for our digital version of Full Fitness Fusion.
If you have any healthy travel tips or exercises you do on the road I’d love to hear about them! Please feel free to leave a suggestion.
kari
Thursday 9th of September 2010
Thanks Clara, great articles.