How To Get Fit While Traveling

January 19th, 2020 | Updated on October 8th, 2022

Do you have a fitness routine that you follow religiously? Whether it’s heading to your home gym for a morning workout before heading to the office or heading out the door at 5 am for a long run along the same safe, well-lit pathways in your neighborhood, your mojo is off if you’re not hitting these locations daily.

Now you’re changing jobs and traveling more or going on an extended vacation with your spouse, family, or best friends and don’t want to lose a step in your daily fitness goals.

1. Use A Bodyweight Workout Routine

You can get in a full workout without any equipment. These exercises work great in a pinch when you find yourself in a hotel without a fitness center or it’s closed down during your stay.

To complete these, pick a few exercises that are simple and easy to remember and complete morning or evening circuit. For example, try reps of five or ten cycles of push-ups, burpees, squats, and crunches.

Additionally, you can pack some fitness accessories with your luggage. While this is easier if you’re traveling by car, it’s possible to sneak some of these items for flights.

However, you should leave the kettlebells at home and depending on the resort and season, the jump rope might not travel well either.

Instead, sneak some of these in your suitcase for your next vacation :

Foam roller
Resistance bands
Yoga mat
Abdominal rollers

If you’re driving, consider taking your bicycle to hit the local trails or seeing if the hotel offers rentals.

2. Take The Stairs

If morning meetings or jet lag is making your morning workout harder to achieve while traveling, make up the minutes by powering up the stairs to your hotel room once or twice a day and really working those glutes.

As a bonus, if you’re hitting 10 or 20 flights of stairs daily, missing the gym one morning or sneaking a sugary treat won’t be too big of a hit to your fitness plan.

3. Bring Protein Snacks

To reduce the chances of adding extra calories between meals, pack protein snacks in your bag, such as:

Trail mix
No-bake energy bites
Almonds
Beef sticks
Protein bars
Pumpkin seeds

By snacking on these when you’re hungry before lunch or after dinner, you can reduce the risk of eating tasty, sugar and calorie-packed sweets and other items that are all around you on vacations and in standard hotels.

Additionally, the protein boost will give you some much-needed energy to power up the stairs or explore another destination before heading back to your hotel.

4. Stay Hydrated

Yes, it’s always important to drink plenty of water. But when you’re on vacation or traveling, it’s easy to drink one too many sugary and syrup-filed beverages that are heavy in calories and can lead to increased hunger and overeating.

Water will help you stay full and keep you hydrated while you explore. To save money, pack a self-filtering water bottle or purchase one when you reach your destination.

5. Don’t Skip A Full Nights’ Sleep

It’s easy to get caught up in everything going on during your trip and lose track of time. While it might be tempting to skimp on sleep for a night out dancing or an early morning fishing trip, but if you sacrifice too much sleep, you can easily crash your diet.

Eight hours of sleep every night is as important as 30 minutes of activity and eating nutritious meals. It’s okay to skip your morning run if you danced the night away.

6. Check Out The Hotel’s Gym Before Making Reservations

Before hitting the reserve button while planning your next vacation, check out the hotel’s pictures and search for the fitness center’s pictures.

Second, back up their claims by reading the reviews with a key search for “gym” or “fitness.” Sometimes the pictures don’t match what you see in person.

If you’re at a conference or don’t have many choices, 20 minutes on the gym’s treadmills is a great workout compared to nothing.

Plus, these aren’t always busy, so it’s safe to say you won’t have to wait for a spot early in the morning or later in the evening.

Fitness resorts are another option for getting fit while you travel. These healthy vacation destinations offer plenty of exercise and recreation opportunities and a healthy assortment of meals to keep you on track with any diet plan.

Between hotel room push-ups, hitting the stairs, and packing the protein, you have a full plan to stay fit and still enjoy your trip.