Business travel is not inherently healthy.
Travelers sit for long periods, eat odd airline foods, and decide to forgo healthy habits and routines while traveling. Jet lag doesn’t help, and neither does a hectic business schedule.
The obstacles are immense. You’re in a new location, away from your gym and neighborhood, without a kitchen. No wonder so many travelers put their health on pause!
Yet maintaining your health while traveling brings immense benefits, from staving off the adverse effects of travel to increasing alertness and reaction speed.
It’s easier than you might think to stay healthy on the road. Use these three strategies to your advantage on your next business trip!
- Commit To Your Health
Your mindset is the biggest challenge to your diet and exercise habits. Traveling takes you so far out of your home routines that it’s easy to think “Oh well, I’m traveling. I’ll get back on track when I’m home again.”
There are plenty of obstacles in your way, but if you commit to your healthy habits, you’ll be mentally prepared for them. Focus on why you chose to eat healthy and exercise in the first place, and you’ll find it easier to stay motivated.
- Make Your Room Your Gym
Wherever you travel, you’ll have a room and the city itself. You can always lace up your running shoes and jog in the streets outside. And you can always use your room for bodyweight workouts.
Everyone knows it’s possible to work out in your room, but not enough people actually do. Luckily, several great hotel room workouts have become popular with business travelers in the last few years. From the famous 7 Minute Workout to classic exercises, there are plenty of ways to leverage your temporary home. One of our favorites comes from Steve Kamb, a well-known travel and fitness blogger. He recommends a 20-minute routine focused on push, pull, core, and leg movements.
Steve Kamb’s 20 Minute Workout
Kamb recommends a fast-paced full body workout.
First, warm up with 3 to 4 minutes of jumping jacks, body weight squats, pushups, lunges, and hip raises. Then, it’s time to begin the workout!
Set a timer on your phone or laptop for 15 minutes. Then, cycle through the following four exercises as fast as you can manage with perfect form. If the exercises become too exhausting and you need to pause or reduce the number of reps, then do! Listen to your body, and stay safe.
Level 1 (Easy):
- 20 body weight squats
- 15 incline push ups
- 10 one-arm luggage rows (use your luggage as a weight)
- 10 reverse crunches
Level 2 (Medium):
- 25 overhead squats
- 20 pushups
- 10 inverted rows
- 15 reverse crunches
Level 3 (Hard):
- 25 jumping squats
- 20 decline pushups
- 10 inverted rows
- 15 reverse crunches
- Don’t Give Up On Your Diet
Business travel is one of the best ways to destroy a New Year’s Resolution. How can you stick to a diet when you’re faced with airline food, room service, and business dinners?
It can seem impossible to maintain your diet while traveling. But with just a little advance preparation, you can keep healthy eating habits wherever you go. Here are some of our favorites:
- Bring along your prep materials. Pack tupperware, shaker bottles, seasonings, protein powder, and other accessories. If you bring your home materials with you, then you can prepare simple meals and shakes right in your room.
- Buy essential foods on the way to your hotel. Fruits and vegetables can keep your hotel room and fridge stocked, and need almost no preparation.
- Pack healthy snacks. Raw almonds or a favorite protein bar can help stave off hunger pangs in the airport or in your hotel room.
- Don’t break your restaurant rules while traveling! If you can’t eat it at home, you can’t eat it in a new city, either.
Going on a business trip doesn’t mean the end of your healthy routines. If you prepare with the right mindset, use your hotel room as a gym, and continue your diet on the road, you’ll come home as healthy as you left.
