Stay Fit While Traveling

It’s common to take on a client who travels for work on a regular basis. But travel plans can create hiccups in the training schedule, sometimes making it harder to help a client achieve his goals. That doesn’t have to be the case.

Jade Teta, ND, CSCS, co-founder of Metabolic Effect and co-author of The Metabolic Effect Diet (Morrow 2010), explains that whether you’re traveling for business or pleasure, there’s always time for a workout. He shares his personal philosophy and tips with other fitness professionals and clients.

“Travel always involves brief periods of downtime,” he says. “If you are traveling by plane, you have time before departures and during layovers, for example.”

Teta, a frequent traveler, uses those periods to get in what he calls “blitz workouts.” He’ll find a quiet corner of the airport and perform split squats or chair dips for 1 minute, or until fatigue. When he travels by car, he includes a 1-minute burst of activity during every refueling stop or bathroom break.

Hotel rooms also offer variety and opportunity for a quality workout, Teta points out. “I do stairwell sprints--I run up and walk down. Within the room, I use my body, luggage and the mattress for workouts.”

The mattress? As long the client has the fitness ability, says Teta, doing mattress flips offers a challenging, full-body exercise.

“Small luggage is good for rows, and big luggage can be pushed, dragged and lifted,” he adds. “I do squaring one-arm rows using doorknobs (grip the doorknob with one hand and pull the body toward the door), and it’s easy to do dips and step-ups with hotel furniture.”

Teta also suggests building active events—like visiting local parks and taking hikes—into the daily schedule during vacations.