5 Tips to stay fit while traveling!

Traveling incessantly can have an adverse effect on your health and fitness if you don’t discipline yourself from the excesses of overindulgence. But it doesn’t need to be so drastic.

In fact, it is surprisingly easy and cheap to maintain your fitness and health while on the move.

A simple way to stay in shape is to combine fitness activities with your itinerary, e.g. hiking, cycling, climbing, surfing, skiing are some of the great options sports holidays. If the sports are a key component of the trip then your fitness needs will be taken care of.

Jogging is possible in most cities (depending on the pollution levels) and as long as the weather is good, it should be possible to find suitable routes in all cities. Just look on Google Maps for the nearest parks to where you are staying and run there and back.

So what you do if there is a hurricane blowing outside and you want to get some exercise in? Well, if you don’t have a gym at your accommodation then you can improvise and create your own. I use TRX ropes when I travel. These can be used indoors so even if it is raining outside, you can still work out. They allow you to get a pretty thorough workout in the comfort of your room. You just strap the anchor to the door and use the ropes as a lever to perform a variety of exercises. They only weigh 1 kg so they are not a burden on your luggage weight limit.

Many countries, especially those in the former USSR have outdoor training facilities that are open to the public for free. Usually these consist of training bars and other structures. My favorite is Hydropark in Kyiv, Ukraine. Here there is an amazing array of improvised machines and bench presses – a full gym resembling a Mad Max film set and all completely free to the public.

You can always look for a gym online in the city that you find yourself in but usually this is expensive for a one-time workout. However, most gyms will allow you to come in to try out their facilities for free, at least once, as you consider joining. You can always claim to have just moved to the city and avoid the entry fee but the trade off is that you will have to endure the tour of the gym, which can be tedious. I will confess to having taken advantage of this from time to time. 😉

What you eat and drink is also key to maintaining fitness. So the same rules apply when traveling as when at home. A healthy balanced diet with as many fresh ingredients will keep your energy levels high so you can get the most out of your travel adventures. While maintaining a balanced diet can be more difficult in an unfamiliar country, smartphones allow you to search quickly for a rough idea about the nutrient content and other dietary information, of the foods you encounter.

Basic Routine for travelers from top Munich-based personal trainer Mahmoud Karimi:

1. Go Running for about 30 min

2. Sprints x3

3. Lunges, crunches, push ups and pull ups – 3 Sets of 10 reps