A Moment with Travel & Fitness

Not having access to a gym or equipment doesn’t have to impede your ability to stay fit while travelling. Simply using your own body weight provides enough resistance to keep your muscles functionally engaged. There are several exercises from which to choose and can easily be performed in a small space in a short amount of time. Here’s my pick for the 3 most popular exercises that target various muscle groups:

Exercise highlights:
Legs, gluteals (core)
Squats and lunges
For our squat tutorial, click here.
For lunges, place feet just under the inside edge of your hips and step one foot a long stride behind you (at least the length of 1 leg). Lower yourself until knees are bent to 90º. Depth of movement can be modified if there are joint issues.

Chest, shoulders (core)
Chest push-ups on the floor or against the wall
With arms outside of shoulder line, lower yourself down (or towards the wall) until elbows are at a 90º bend. Return to start position (arms almost completely straight). Aim for 8-12 push-ups with correct technique for 2-3 sets. There should be about 1-2 minutes between sets depending on your fitness level. Perform the sets on alternate days up to 3 times per week.

Mostly core
The plank
This prone position exercise (i.e. abdomen facing down/the floor) can be performed with straight arms or bent elbows, on the knees or toes. Aim to hold for 30 seconds. For extra challenge, remove a limb from the floor (i.e. arm or leg) while holding the plank.

If you are visual person, stay tuned as we work on bringing you more tutorials on Travel & Fitness.