When you’re travelling for business it can be tricky to maintain your fitness levels. The change in routine, jet lag and the pressure of business means exercise regularly drops off the radar. Being away from your home gym doesn’t help either and whilst some hotels offer great gym facilities others may not.
Fortunately, the solution is simple. Pack your own lightweight travelling gym. Here are five of the best lightweight travel fitness
Activity tracker. Whether you’re wearing the latest tech or a simple step counter, studies have shown an activity tracker will motivate you to keep moving for longer. Set a daily goal of at least 10,000 steps a day and you’ll soon find yourself using the stairs more often and walking between meetings. Track your stats and watch your average heart rate beats per minute drop as your fitness improves. If in doubt over which to use, then we have picked the top three rated on amazon on our website. You can also buy from Dixon’s Travel vending machines in the departure lounges of some airports. Gatwick South Terminal has a vending machine in Gate 23 – 28 and 31 to 38 which stocks activity trackers.
Skipping rope. Loved by little girls and boxers alike even a light skip will get your heart pumping and the calories burning. Start your day with a quick jump routine in your room. It can be as simple as one-minute skipping and 30 seconds resting for up to 10 minutes. Or take the rope out on your evening run and pause to do a few reps every five minutes for a higher intensity workout. Michael Obama loves skipping when travelling, so you’re not alone when it comes to skipping to keep fit.
Resistance bands are super light and will fit snugly into the side pocket of your suitcase. They come in a range of lengths and resistance levels and are suitable for strength training, balance and coordination. Work your legs, arms and core with these resistance band workouts on YouTube. If you don’t have any already, then you can purchase from amazon before you go.
Swimsuit and goggles. Most hotels have pools these days and a swim workout is an excellent morning energizer. Instead of logging on to your emails as soon as you wake head down to the pool for a refreshing swim. 20 – 30 minutes is all it takes to kickstart your business day.
Yoga mat. You can buy super light yoga mats weighing as little as 2lbs designed to be folded rather than rolled that will fit perfectly into your suitcase. Yoga is an excellent way to wind down at the end of a busy stressful day ensuring you get a good nights sleep so you’re refreshed and ready to deal with any challenges that come your way the following morning. In my view Yoga with Adriene is one of the best sources of yoga workouts online. We’ve included some highly rated yoga mats, which are lightweight and suitable for travelling, on our website.
So you see there’s really no reason not to workout when you’re away from your home gym on a business trip. These travel fitness essentials will take up very little space in your suitcase and will give you a well-rounded workout whilst you’re away. You never know you might even come home fitter than when you left!
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