Time is a premium and finding the time for exercising can be hard especially when you are travelling for business. Travel delays, jet lag, meetings, dinners, work socials along with staying on top of your day job can consume your waking (and sometimes sleeping!) hours. If you are committed to staying fit on your travels you may well have scheduled time in to exercise but when it comes to the crunch you don’t do it. Why is that?
Motivation can be harder to find than time. When you’ve had a bad night’s sleep or you’ve worked a ten-hour day often the last thing you want to do is jump into your workout gear and head to the hotel gym. So here are a few strategies to get you moving even when you don’t really feel like it.
Switch it off
Do not be tempted to take a sneak peek at your emails or even your social media feed immediately before you are due to hit the hotel gym, head out for a run or do a HIIT workout in your room.
A quick two-minute check can quickly turn into 40 minutes and suddenly your exercise window is gone.
Work it out
Exercising is an ideal opportunity to unravel the business spaghetti of the day and find the answer to those tricking legal, financial or people problems.
Placing yourself in a different environment can stimulate alternative thought processes and ideas. Suddenly you’ll have the answer you’ve been struggling to find all day.
Smart thinking
There is no health without mental health and regular exercise is excellent for your mental health. If travelling for business causes you anxiety or you feel down being away from family and friends know that exercise can both calm you and boost your mood.
Take a break
Give yourself permission not to work out. If you have had a series of difficult meetings, experienced huge travel delays or are not sleeping well sometimes the best answer is to take a break.
Taking time out allows your body to rest, recover and reinvigorate so you can approach your next session with renewed enthusiasm.
Feel good factor
Think back to how you felt at the end of your last work out. Exercise stimulates the production of endorphins your body’s natural feel-good hormone.
At the end of a good exercise session, you typically feel satisfied, strong and happy. Store those memories away to use next time you’re struggling to get motivated.
Name change
If the word exercise conjures up thoughts of hard work and pain and exhaustion for you call it something different and reframe. Movement, workout, fitness, health – choose a word that resonates positively for you.
Which of these strategies will you try to ensure the next time you’re travelling for business you actually look forward to your workout and stay physically and mentally strong throughout your trip?
