Many people find it difficult to stick to their fitness regime because of frequent travel. Whether travel is for pleasure or for business, it's time to incorporate a few minutes of fitness into your daily routine to ensure your body is ready for the day's events.
Essential seven
Begin with some light stretches and warm up exercises like bending and touching your toes, marching on the spot or side steps. You can even skip; you don't really need a skipping rope. A good exercise programme must include exercises to cater to the seven basic Primal Pattern movements of the body as devised by Paul Chek, founder C.H.E.K Institute, USA. These are seven primary movements that are the basis from which all other movements are performed in our daily activity. A Neanderthal man in the wild who could not perform these seven movement patterns would have had a limited chance of survival.
Some creative exercises for more advanced and regular exercisers within the comfort of your hotel room are Terra band exercises to remind your body of your strength training sessions. Terra bands are the ultra-portable way to fit a gym in a suitcase. Floor exercises for TA activation, calisthenics that use body weight, abs and core exercises, flexibility and so much more can be done when you are on the move! Squat-thrusts, jumping jacks, chair dips, mountain climbers, walking lunges, superman, one leg squats, and the list is endless...
Explore and experience
There are two types of travellers: those who love to travel, and those who are forced to travel. Now if you are the former, it is easy to incorporate a fitness programme into your travel schedule. All it takes is a little bit of creativity. Just like you explore new places and try new food, you can evolve new fitness strategies based on the place you are visiting. From mountain bikes to canoe rides, the world is yours to explore. To those for whom travel is an unpleasant compulsion, just remember wherever you travel, you still need to eat, sleep and certainly exercise. You might as well be prepared with fitness routines within your room so that you never miss out on exercising. Finally, wherever you may go, exercise! You simply cannot afford not to!
Walk: Ensure that you walk every day! A jog or a sprint will keep your heart healthy.
Push: Perform regular push-ups or modified ones with the knees on the floor. Wall push-ups are another option.
Pull: These normally require some basic equipment. To make up for it, you could hang from a monkey bar in the children's play area or a low branch of the tree.
Bend: Try dead lifts with filled water bottles or your suitcase for a heavier weight.
Twist: A standing or lying twist or more dynamic jumping twists will energise you.
Lunge: Perform with the support of the bed if you are a beginner.
Squat: Either do free squats or try sitting on a low chair if you have never done this before.
Gita Krishna Raj, CEO of Maverick Fitness Studios & Holistic Lifestyle coach (Level 2), C.H.E.K institute USA.
