Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Workout Wednesday: Working Out While Traveling

I was in Charleston last week for work.  Depending on my schedule when traveling, fitting in workouts can be really hard because the days are long and air travel just seems to make me extra tired.  But my schedule was pretty reasonable on this trip so I was able to fit a workout in each day.  Here's how I got my workouts in while traveling on this trip!

1.  Hotel Room Tabata

Sometimes my day starts too early to fit in a long workout, and that was the case on Wednesday, so I did this Peanut Butter Runner 20 minute tabata workout.  I know 20 minutes is a short workout but it kicks your butt and I figure it is better than nothing.  It only requires your body weight so it's an easy one to do in your hotel room.  Jen from Peanut Butter Runner has lots of great workouts, so if you are looking for some inspiration or are bored with your current workouts, check out her workout page.


2.  Find a local class

When I was walking to get coffee on Wednesday morning, I noticed that there was a spin studio 2 blocks from my hotel.  To offset the shorter workout I did on Wednesday, I decided to do a spin class on Thursday morning.  They offered a 60 minute class at 6 am so I was able to do that and get to breakfast by 7:45.  It was a great workout and well worth the $15 drop-in class fee I payed.  I ended up having conference stuff from 7:45 am until 10 pm that night so at the end of the day (and after eating ice cream twice during the day - once at lunch and again at dinner) I was glad I fit in an intense workout in the morning!


3.  Go for a run!

Of course my favorite way to exercise when traveling is to go for a run.  I think it's the best way to see a city.  It's not always easy for me to fit it in, though, as some cities aren't very runner friendly (like downtown Los Angeles, in my opinion) and I will not run in the dark in an unfamiliar city.  Luckily my breakfast didn't start until 9 on Friday so I was able to do a sunrise run.

The Cooper River bridge just before the sun began to rise

I love running by the water, but it's even more special to run by the water when the sun is rising!

The homes in Battery Park were glowing!  This is my favorite area of Charleston.

One last sunrise photo before I headed back into the heart of Charleston
I'm not always this good about fitting in workouts while traveling but I am glad I was able to make it work on this trip! 

Are you good about working out while traveling?  I try not to take more than 1 rest day when traveling but sometimes I choose sleep over working out. 

13 comments:

Emilie said...

I was really good about working out on my cruise vacation earlier this year. I went to the gym once but ran on the running deck almost every day, and ran a 5k on Disney's island. I am craving a good workout right now - I took a full week after my marathon off completely (it took five full days for the quad pain to go away!!) and then I got sick with a wicked cough/chest cold so I haven't worked out all this week either. I don't remember the last time I've been "idle" this long!

Marlys said...

Those were some beautiful views! Sounds like the week worked out well for you!

Gracie said...

I am usually bad about working out while traveling, but these are good ideas. I like to have options in case of no hotel gym or pathetic hotel gym.

Nora said...

Thanks to Pinterest, blogs and Google Maps I'm pretty good about working on when I travel for work.

I'll use the maps to go find sights I've wanted to see and jog/run/walk to them, fit in workouts that are crazy looking in the hotel gym and I've been known to use chairs and other things in the hotel room for tricep dips, standing lunges and etc.

All that said sometimes if the work itself exhausts me I'll be sneaking in an extra bit of snooze time instead of workout time...

Amber @ A Little Pink in the Cornfields said...

I am terrible about working out while traveling! That being said though ... I haven't really been on a big vacation since I have begun running a couple years ago.

I copied your idea for a post today. Thanks for the inspiration!

Jeanie said...

Your photos are just beautiful. My work out is generally walking the area. And I'm very happy when I do that!

Carolina John said...

I love running when I can in new cities. Good call! Looks like you had a great time in Charleston. Such a beautiful city. I can't wait to get back down there.

Abby said...

Great job on fitting in workouts despite traveling! I always like to fit in a workout traveling, working night shift, no matter what. It just makes me feel so much better. When I worked in TX last summer, and I'd have to leave the house at 5:45 and not get home until 7:30-8pm...I used that PB blog to do workouts in the hotel room!!

Charleston looks amazing!!!

Amber said...

I usually can make it work to fit in workouts while traveling and like you said it makes me feel 100x better about all the bad food I'm usually eating while away for work!

I do find that when I'm traveling my workouts are more likely to be shorter like a 20 minute tabata or a 5km run. But it's all better than nothing!

Those sunrise photos are so beautiful. I love sunrise runs!

The Many Thoughts of a Reader said...

Beautiful! I need to get to Charleston!

Jolene - EverydayFoodie said...

I never work out while traveling, but we usually walk all day long (unless it's a beach vacation).

Kyria @ Travel Spot said...

You are really good at fitting it all in! I tend to get up really (really!) early and get in a run before everything starts (or if I am traveling with anyone, before everyone gets up). This way I am energized throughout the day and I have gotten it out of the way early. I find it's a lot easier to get my work out in when I am traveling by myself. With other people around, I tend to spend more time with them, or more time staying out late, or maybe I just make more excuses!

I love that view of the sunrise. What a nice place to run!

Shoshanah said...

There definitely are parts of L.A. that are great for running. Except I definitely wouldn't list downtown as one of those. Maybe next time your in L.A. you're instead able to stay in a slightly different part where running makes more sense