Working out on the road

I don’t think I still have any of my original followers, but this blog originated over a year ago as a means for me to track my attempts to stay healthy on the road.  I realized I liked talking about travel more than eating right and working out so I reformatted, but the dietitian in me keeps finding ways to try to maintain enough fitness to walk from the T concourse to the E concourse in ATL without taking the tram (that’s over a mile according to the distance markers).  Even though I haven’t adjusted the items in my carry on it seems to get more and more difficult to put in the overhead so it’s time to make a concerted effort at fitness again.  Many frequent flyers, including me, believe that you should be able to put your own bag in the overhead bin.  If you can’t lift it, check it.  I need to do my part to get my bag into the overhead in record time.

I’ve tried using hotel gyms.  They are just so hit-or-miss.  I like treadmills, but I’ve tried to run on too many old hotel treadmills that have what I call “freeze points” where if you step in the wrong spot it freezes the belt and I feel like I’m going to die.  Last time I tried to use the treadmill it just simply didn’t work so I knew I needed a better solution.

I have some friends who did a program called P90X.  I finally looked into it and it’s a DVD bootcamp series with 90 days of progressive exercise.  Each day it rotates through different muscle groups.  There are 3 different flavors and the routines have a different rotation based on the flavor you choose.  I am trying the Lean routine with more cardio.  Today was day 3 which was arms and abs.  I missed yesterday because I met up with flyertalkers, but I knew I couldn’t quit alra close-up of a resistance bandeady.

The work out routines mainly just need resistance bands.  Free weights are the usual way, but the DVD today had someone showing every exercise with bands so that made me happy.  I can bring resistance bands on the road with me, I can’t bring a rack of free weights.  There are other substitutes for a typical dumbbell also, but the bands work for me.  I had a band I bought when I first started blogging, but it was a little heavy for certain arm motions so  I needed to buy some more thicknesses.  I headed over to Target and I could have purchased several different bands or a yoga kit, but the product pictured on the left seemed to balance form and function.  I have more variety for resistance with this system than with purchasing individual bands.  The old Reebok band I have has hard plastic handles and they hurt.  This has nice and soft handles.

I think P90X is a little too intense for me, but so far I’m OK.  This blog will not revert to being a travel fitness blog, but I will periodically post my progress through my 90 days.

2 Comments

  1. I discovered the “Fit for Duty” workouts at the Pentagon channel – http://pentagontv.feedroom.com/ There’s a list on the left side with all the video streams, Fit for Duty is one of them. It’s also on iTunes. Some workouts require equipment, but most are fine to do in a hotel room or tent. 🙂

  2. Seeing that we already happen to be discussing points regarding Working out on the road – Fly Gracefully, One of my favorite motivational techniques is to try something new. When your routine becomes boring and stagnant, there’s nothing like trying new stuff to spice it up and keep you interested. You are engaging in fitness for life. That doesn’t mean you have to do the same old boring routine for the rest of your life! Having a new plan of action can keep you mentally fresh and your body challenged.

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