Maintaining Your Fitness While Traveling: How To Make Moving Your Body Part Of The Routine Wherever You Go

Now I'm sharing what I know with you fitness , nutrition and all the deeper stuff to help you discover your strongest body . Hello , hello , welcome back to another episode of your strongest body . Before I get into the episode , I want to be sure to remind you that this is the last opportunity for you to win the Starbucks gift card giveaway .

You can share them via Instagram stories or text or email . I know you did . For every single time you do that , you're entered to win one of these $4.15 gift cards . I realize the last day to do it is the 12th of November , that is , this Sunday . When this episode comes out , it will be that coming Sunday .

Depending on when you listen to this , it could be here or it could be over . I just want to make sure I remind you one more time . The drawing is going to be on Monday , november 13th . It has been such a treat to see these shares and it is so helpful . I want to say , if you already have done that , thank you so much .

If you are listening , thank you so much . Let's get into the episode . I can't ever tell how close I need to be to this microphone , so I keep doing the back and forth . It's a funny thing if I were being videotaped video recorded we don't have tapes anymore . So topic is maintaining your fitness while traveling .

In creating the title of this , I was thinking what do I want to convey about what I feel about fitness and traveling ? That is , that moving your body is what I'm essentially encouraging you to think about , if you want to do that . So I'm thinking about titling it how to make moving your body a part of your routine , wherever you go .

Listen , I am a big proponent of having fitness fit in to your life . If you are not a person who is absolutely obsessed with exercise , then the idea of exercising while you are traveling might be the most cringy thing you've ever heard .

I want to open your mind a little bit to what I mean by expanding the idea of exercise , but also say that I think there is certainly a place to rest and vacation , or traveling might be that exact place .

So there are going to be times where you may not work out at all , and that is actually going to be such a good choice for you because it's going to allow for the appropriate amount of rest time you need to recover and return to your fitness goals when you get back to wherever your home base is .

I don't think you have to exercise every day and I don't think you have to exercise every single time you travel . So that is what I'm saying first .

Now let's talk about how it does fit in , why you actually might want to exercise while you travel , why you might actually discover that it is a fun thing to fit in there , and why you might have different forms of movement that are appropriate as you are traveling .

So I think , depending on your goal and , to be honest , I think , for almost every person's goal , because if they're trying to create a consistent habit , you need to be there's going to be a place for movement in most times that you travel . Notice that I'm distinctly saying movement versus exercise .

What I think everybody needs to do , regardless of your goal , is be intentional about when you're choosing to rest , when you're choosing to exercise and when you're choosing to move your body and I see those as three distinct categories Rest , moving your body and more structured exercise , and I'm going to talk about these different kinds of things here .

So I think there's a difference between rest , gentle movement , unstructured movement or play . That's probably up a level from that gentle movement , so something that may make you sweat or make you feel like you're working a little bit hard , and then structured exercise or structured movement .

I see specifically exercise , because the aim there is to really challenge yourself . So I think we need all of these things in there in our fitness regimens in general . We need them in general . We need dedicated rest where we are truly not moving , and some people have a hard time with that .

We need gentle movement , movement that is more on a form of recovery and a form of nervous system regulation than anything else . So more of something that fills our cup rather than takes away . Play or unstructured movement is really important and probably the biggest piece that's missing from sort of middle-aged to older adult fitness programs .

So for young people who are maybe in high school or early 20s college age , maybe even right after college , there's a lot of opportunities for active socialization and unstructured play or rec sports or things where you have an unpredictable path , an unpredictable event ahead of you , where your body and brain are having to work together and work more on the fly , and

that is really useful for both your brain and your body in their sort of athletic pursuits , but also just maintaining general fitness . Because if you think about it and this isn't a direct link , so I don't want to say this causes that but I do want to say that a lot of injuries that happen to the general fitness client don't happen while they're lifting .

It happens in movements that occur outside of their exercise sessions , so reaching for a heavy box or tilting to a side , or starting to trip and trying to catch yourself , or having to cut in a different direction than anticipated , and then that is where those kinds of or having an uneven load that they're carrying .

These are the places where people either feel discomfort or get injured because our exercise sessions are so structured .

This is why I think , if you are an older adult or a middle-aged adult or you know anyone , finding some opportunities for unstructured exercise are really important , like playing on a rec sports team or even just like taking a lesson in a sport where you are going to move differently taking a dance class , going to just a like , more open dance event , something

where you're moving your body outside of those confines of the exercise session , where it is more about the , you know , in the exercise session it's about this proper form , it's about this , you know , repetition that we're trying to recreate the movement over and over and over again in that similar fashion , whereas in more recreational , unstructured play you're just

moving around . You see , kids do it all the time .

You know they're breezing on the monkey bars or jumping up and down , they're having to shift their weight , they're , you know that's maybe a whole nother episode , but that's a category that I think is important and can be a really great category to access on a trip or a vacation , because you can go and do a fun local sport or participate in something that is

local to a specific area where you're traveling or something that you just wouldn't be able to get to do at home , and it provides that unstructured play that can fill your cup up , challenge you at the same time . And then the last category I'm going to call is that structured exercise . So let's talk about how I think you can fit these in .

When it comes to traveling . You got to think about when and how and why they would fit in . Ask yourself you're going to look at three different categories . You're going to look at your goal .

So if you're thinking about your long-term goal , if your goal is to stay active , healthy , maybe change your body composition slightly , change your weight slightly , improve your aerobic capacity , things like this then there is definitely room for you to go off program slash , have a less challenging time when you travel . Let's think of a different goal .

If your goal is more on a timeline that is faster , you may need to find ways to adapt your program to fit your travel .

Or if you are training for an event or a competition , you may not have the luxury of being able to shift things , but if you do , these , vacations and or trips or travel can offer that opportunity for you to get some of that variability in or at least just to change a pace that allows you to come back to your regularly scheduled workouts with a refresh state

of mind and an eagerness to get back to what you were doing or at least just like change it up enough that you don't feel as bored . Now for individuals who are traveling almost nonstop there are people whose jobs are traveling nonstop , that is more of their every day and that's also going to look more routine as far as a structure of their workouts .

And if you are traveling all the time , you may need a program created by a coach or something that takes into account that travel and is actually built around your travel schedule .

I have many clients who are going to travel enough where they can send me images of the gym where they're traveling and then I build their program around the available equipment and the pieces that they are going to have access to . But if it's only occasionally , that might not be necessary .

So then the last thing is just kind of looking at the purpose of the track or sorry , that was the second thing . So look at your goal goal number one . Number two is looking at the purpose of the travel . If the purpose of the travel is to rest and spend time with family , you may excuse me .

You may decide that you want to rest and spend time with family and that the workout priorities are low for you , so you might try to fit in some of that gentle movement and rest . Maybe you're getting in some stretch sessions .

Maybe you bring your little lacrosse ball or yoga ball or some bands with you to do a little bit of stretching , but it's not anything all that intensive and it can really not be scheduled ahead of time because you can sort of be flexible .

Maybe you're going to get some walks in and then maybe there are days where you're just like literally going to lay on the couch I have . And then the third thing is the length of your trip , and this is where my next thought comes in . I have sort of some lengths of time for myself that I know where I get antsy .

So I can do maybe two days max of the absolute no movement . Sometimes that's a real treat and I really like it . But like on the end of day two I'm like , okay , I got to do something , even if it's go for a long walk , but like the sit around , do nothing thing , I've got 24 to 48 hours max .

When it comes to not working out in a gym or doing like a more structured workout , I probably have about seven days in my , you know , mental state . I can go a week , I can do other stuff , but after a week I'm like I want to go back to being in the gym and that might look , you know , different if I'm somewhere , like if the trip is 14 days .

What I'm saying is that some of that time I'm gonna be in a gym . Now , sometimes I like being in the gym a lot more and I have Found myself on shorter trips going to the gym . So the three things , let me just remind you the three things you're gonna look at .

So then , to help you make this decision , are looking at your goal , the purpose of your travel and the length of your trip . Going back to that purpose of travel , we , you know I said , if you are you going to see family , great . If you're going to rest , great . Let's say you are traveling for work and you want to maintain Some sense of normalcy .

If that's the purpose of your trip , then you may want to Work out a little bit closer to your normal workouts . So , goal , purpose of travel , length of trip , then you're gonna decide what am I getting in ? So am I getting in days of complete rest ? Other options include walks . You can go explore the place that you are .

You can spend time chatting with people on a nice walk , especially like in nice weather . And if , if you want to walk after a big meal around these holidays , help aid in the digestive process . By taking a walk after a big meal , you can get some stretching in , you can get some foam rolling in . Things like that might be something .

If you're going for a more restful sort of movement scenario . You want that more gentle movement , that unstructured , gentle movement . You might think about having bodyweight workouts so you can find some . Online . You could find a trainer who creates bodyweight workout , bodyweight workouts for you and you can have them in your back pocket .

For whether or not you want to fit in a workout . The great thing about most bodyweight Workouts is that you don't necessarily need a ton of space and you can fit it in . You know , sometimes you travel and you visit people and they don't wake up as early as you do .

A Quiet bodyweight workout is probably good , or you can ditch out quick and go to the gym . Local classes or Sort of one-off workouts that are offered locally can be nice because you might be in a place that offers a wider variety Then what you typically have access to .

You know , if you go to a big city , you've got options for different kinds of workout classes if you don't live in a big city normally . So that can be a really nice treat and a change of pace , but you still get a workout in and that's a little bit more structured .

If that's what you're looking for , you can do local Rec sports , like I mentioned before . So maybe you go visit friends and you guys bowl , or you , I knew ? When I got to this part I was like what are you gonna say that's ? You can bowl , you can what's that thing called ? Oh , in Wisconsin , when I visit my husband , they like to disc golf .

Disc golf we haven't done it in a long time . I think I did it one time . So I don't want to , I don't want to pretend like we go and disc golf all the time , but that's an option

. Or ice skating oh , we love to ice skate when we go other places that have available ice cany rings , because Gainesville does not have an ice rink , so we can go skating , things like that . So that's some of that unstructured kind of play and you can really take advantage of where you're going . We did a lot of active things .

We went to Hawaii oh my gosh . Oh , maybe more than 10 , yeah , more than 10 years ago , 11 years ago and we , like , went on this outrigger canoe and then they let you get out of the canoe and we swam . I will sw if we go to a warm weather place . I'm in a pool and I'm swimming . I'm in an ocean and I'm swimming , swimming .

But there are also trips where you're going to like lay on the beach and do nothing , and I love those too . So again , that comes back to that purpose of the trip .

So things that you might do with friends , that Unstructured play with kids we go to a lot of playgrounds and run around and sometimes if you're an adult and it's not too crowded , you can do some of that stuff too . I am known to do some pull-ups and Some monkey bars when I go places with my children . Hotel gyms are an option .

A lot of hotel gyms , especially at like nicer hotels , are just getting better and better , better equipment . You know they're not usually like the most luxurious space , but they have what you need to get a good workout in .

And sometimes what I like to do in those situations is especially if I'm not , you know you preparing for a certain competition or anything , which I don't really do and I'm so diligent about my workouts . Otherwise , it's really nice to do something completely different when I get to the hotel gym . So I'll go to the hotel gym .

Just look at what they have and go . What are the five exercises I want to do in here and then off the dome , as they say , I will come up with a workout with what is available . Now , that's a privilege of mine because I have sort of the exercise sort of I do have the exercise knowledge to create that on the spot . It was actually really fun .

Went to a college friend's wedding this past summer and one of my current clients was also at the wedding and we I said , hey , I don't want to be pushy , but if you would like , I'm going to go down to the hotel gym because we're staying at the same hotel and workout I will .

I would love to work out with you , like , and I can come up with the workout , but this is not me training you and we can just go and have a good time . And he was . He was like I was going to ask , but I wasn't sure we went . It was so much fun .

I just like got in there I said , all right , here are the circuits , we're doing with what was available and we knocked out a solid workout in like 30 to 40 minutes , had a great time catching up , but like getting to be in the same room because we do sessions virtually right now and it was such a treat .

And so sometimes , especially if you like exercise which I know is not everybody jumping off program it can be a real treat because it's like oh , I don't usually do this , I don't usually do it this way , I don't usually do it in this order , and it provides some variety . That can be a really , really nice change of pace .

The other thing at hotel gyms is you can do the exact workout that's the next thing on your program . And if you have a trainer , a lot of my clients will say here are the days I'm traveling . Then I go into their program and I change the workouts to fit most hotel gyms .

Or , as I said before , they'll send me pictures of the gym when they get there and I'll edit the workout to fit what is available to them .

Sometimes that's really nice and I think people people associate working out while you travel with , like this guilt and like , oh , the only people who work out when they travel are people who feel so bad about missing a workout that they won't do it . No , sometimes you just know that it feels good . You know that , like .

Sometimes I don't want to start this , but if I go do this , I'm going to have more energy for the day . I'm going to look , I'm going to appreciate things more , I'm going to feel better . I'm eating a lot of foods that I don't normally eat and they don't feel great , but if I work out I get a good sweat , I feel good .

That's how I feel most of the time . I'm like after two days I'm going okay , I just want to . It's going to make me feel better if I work out and I think that's like such a nice thing . If you know that about yourself , that's a great way to fit it in . Also , there are guest passes at gym , so you can actually call a gym .

So when I went to Southern California , I went to LA and to Long Beach a few now , like almost two months ago or a month and a half ago and I called two places . One was a gold's gym . It's like the most iconic bodybuilding gym because it's where Arnold Schwarzenegger worked out .

They actually have like a pretty expensive guest pass rate , but it's like because you're going to , it's almost like a tourist attraction . So I went there one day and then I called another gym while I was in Long Beach and I said , hey , I'm going to only be here for one day , but I'd love to come work out .

They said , okay , come , we'll give you the tour and then you can get the guest pass for the day . And they didn't charge me , I just got to go and try it out . If I were going , he said , you know , just let people know that you went there if they're local and want to come . And so it's great and it's such a beautiful facility .

It was very generous of them , I think in a lot of ways . You know , I said I was a trainer so they weren't all that concerned . You know you sign a waiver , but other than that it was very comfortable , it was a beautiful facility and that's a nice thing too . You get to go try different places .

Now I know that requires a level of comfortability in a gym to go into a brand new space where you don't know where things are and you don't know what the handles are like and all of that . And that's some a level of comfort that I have a lot of , a lot of confidence in new gym spaces .

So it's harder for other people , but I will let you know that if you start making this a part of your life . Going to a different gym can feel like going to a different ice cream shop Maybe that's not a perfect metaphor , but like oh , we get to see how they do this here , I get to see what these machines are .

Like this other gym oh gosh , now I got to look up . Let me look at the name , because here I am saying that they gave me a pass and I got to do it and I'm not telling you where it is , but okay , it's called Iconics Fitness and in Long Beach , california , if you're there , if you're there , tell them Betsy's at you .

But they have a rooftop space with a big rig for pull-ups and they had bikes up there and like a really nice TRX set up there . It was just so beautiful and it was a really cool thing to get for me to get to do something different than I normally do . So those are some of the options just to play around with .

I'm going to leave you with these three things that I think you need to do . When it comes to traveling and stand on your fitness plan , you're gonna be intentional One . Be intentional , that's being intentional with rest or with using the trip as a break from your routine or using the trip as an opportunity to maintain your routine .

Being intentional about whether you wanna do unstructured movement , just being intentional , and being intentional without guilt . Being intentional with this is what I want . If you don't want to do it in some form or another , you need to figure out a different option .

Like if the idea of doing structured exercise on your trip is actually stressing you out and you're not someone who has signed up for a competition or a race or something like that , then say , no , I'm gonna do something different on my trip and that's what runners runners get a real advantage there , where you can kinda just take your shoes with you and do your

workout anywhere that's . There are certainly , like you know , rough terrain or unsafe places , but you know what I mean . There's a level of like a lower barrier to getting it done . But be intentional about it . Choose what you want and then commit to that and go through with that . Have a rough plan or idea ahead of time about what you wanna do .

If you need it to be really structured and set in stone , you can , but I think if you're going on that trip especially for pleasure , have a rough idea of what you wanna do , like oh , we're gonna go for seven days . It'd be great if I worked out three of those days . It'd be great if I walked for 20 minutes each of those days .

Whatever fits in your plan , have a rough idea of it . And then the last thing is tell others that that's what you wanna do and either include them or just you know whether they want to . If they don't want to , then just say this is a time I need .

I think it's important to let people know who are traveling with you that that's an important thing for you , and you might get pushback or whatever . Some people are like oh , you have to work out . Let them feel that way , let them see the passion about your exercise or radiate , and maybe they wanna do it too . I wish you could see me on video .

Maybe they don't , but just like , communicate that so that people know what you wanna be doing and so that you don't feel like your plans get bulldozed . You know , if you're traveling with a few people say I'm just gonna make sure that I get a half hour workout in .

Let me know what time we're starting X , y or Z because I'll get up a little early and run and do my workout and be back so we can all get started at the same time .

Okay , so be intentional , have a rough plan or idea or something more structured if that's important to you , and then tell other people , either include them or just make sure they know that is a priority for you , that trip , okay .

So if you're traveling for Thanksgiving or Christmas or anything like that , see if you can use these , if they work , if it's helpful , if any of this , like set off a light bulb or even just reignited an idea for you , let me know . You can reach me at Betsy at bfosterstrongcom that's B , the letter B fosterstrongcom . Or you can send me an Instagram DM .

I'm at foster underscore strength . You've got until the 12th to share this podcast to be entered , but you can share it from now to eternity . You just don't get entered after the 12th for the giveaway . Thank you , as always , for listening . Go build your strongest body and I'll talk to you next time . Bye , our next video will be on fixed time .