Travel Workouts, Hotel Exercises, & Eating on the Road

Last year I flew over 20,000 miles and visited over two dozen airports in New Zealand, Australia, LA, Florida, Chicago, New York, Baltimore, Allentown, Detroit, and many other cities.

Along the way, I learned – the hard way – about how difficult it is for eating on the road. Especially when you’re stuck in airports for hours and hours at a time (as I was in Washington one night for seven extra hours) with no chance to do travel workouts.

Today I want to share the lessons I’ve learned about keeping fit while traveling, including using hotel exercises.

The most important way to keep yourself healthy while on the road is to plan ahead. That goes for everything you do in your fat loss program. But nutrition is the most crucial component of your success.

You see, nutrition is where people fail big-time when traveling. After all, there isn’t too much good food to eat in airports. Not to mention all the restaurants you inevitably visit while vacationing or traveling for business. The good news is that it’s easy to find nutritious food if you know where to look. For instance, you can almost always get apples, almonds, and bananas and even grilled chicken in most airports.

After nutrition, simple laziness is the next big hurdle you have to overcome while traveling. It’s easy to skip a workout because you can say, “the hotel gym doesn’t have the equipment I’m used to.” But the truth is, you don’t need fancy equipment to get a fat-burning workout. You can do dozens of great bodyweight exercises practically anywhere.

Here are seven strategies that can help you stay fit and stave off the fat while traveling.

1. Pack good nutrition options for eating on the road. Yes, you can usually find healthy options in airports or restaurants. But you can increase your chances of eating healthfully by packing your own healthy snacks. Some healthy, road-worthy snacks and fluids include water, green tea, nuts, apples, and jerky.

There’s a saying in the fitness industry, “you can’t out-exercise a bad diet.” So no matter how often you hit the hotel gym for travel workouts (although not many people do at all), you won’t be able to fight off weight gain if you continue to eat processed foods and sugary beverages. Even in your room, you can do hotel exercises.

On a recent flight from Nashville to Toronto, I sat beside an overweight women who was (ironically) reading Dr. Phil’s book on how to lose weight while she drank a glass of orange juice.

Now she clearly did not need the orange juice. She could have had water, or a club soda (like I did), or even a coffee. Instead, she chose just about the worst drink possible. Within minutes of drinking the juice, her blood sugar levels would have spiked, increasing her levels of the fat-storing hormone insulin. To make matters worse, eventually her blood sugar levels would have crashed – making her hungry again.

These types of bad food choices are dooming travelers to stay overweight forever when eating on the road. If you pack your own snacks, you can control what you eat. And you won’t be stuck with the unhealthy options that are often available.

2. Plan your business travel meals as much as possible so that you can stick to nutritious options. With all of the focus on nutrition these days, airlines and hotels are much more accommodating in meeting the special nutrition requirements of customers. Ask and you will receive.

2. Plan your business travel meals as much as possible so that you stick to your nutritious options.

First of all, you can never rely on airplane food to be healthy, so pack as many guaranteed healthy food sources as possible, such as apples, organic beef jerky, and almonds (and other nuts) to make it through the flight.

Second, when you are at a hotel, ask for substitutions in your room service meals, replacing mashed potatoes with extra vegetables or salad.

3. When you book your hotel, make sure that there is an adequate hotel gym or nearby fitness establishment for travel workouts. That way, you can continue with your regularly scheduled exercise routine. You might want to purchase a day pass at a local gym and work out with a personal trainer.

4. If there is no time to schedule a session with a personal trainer, and if your hotel exercises gym doesn’t have weights, try a bodyweight-only workout.

Here’s a unique type of push-up you can do. It’s called the “Off-set Pushup.”

Start in a regular push-up position with one exception. You’ll move one hand a “hand’s length” forward (i.e. it will be at forehead level, not shoulder level).

Do half as many push-ups as you’d normally do. Then, without resting, switch your hand position so the other hand is now a “hand’s length” forward. Do an equal number of repetitions.

This push-up works your upper body just as hard as (or harder than) normal. But it also works your abdominals a LOT harder because your torso muscles are working to stabilize your upper body more than they would in a regular push-up.

5. Stay away from alcohol. Whether you’re on vacation or traveling for business, cocktails and wine are usually bountiful. But boozing it up adds hundreds of unnecessary calories. Plus, a few drinks can persuade you to indulge in high-fat, high-glycemic foods you wouldn’t normally eat.

Canadian researchers found that just one alcoholic drink can increase calorie intake.

Tremblay, A., & St-Pierre, S. (1996). The hyperphagic effect of a high-fat diet and alcohol intake persists after control for energy density. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 63, 479-482

6. Schedule your workouts with as much dedication as you schedule your business meetings. Take advantage of whatever time slot is available during your travels for exercise. And don’t miss it. An added bonus: Your exercise appointment can be the perfect excuse to skip unnecessary post-meeting cocktails and calories.

7. Spend waiting time walking. If you have a layover between flights or are killing time between meetings, take a brisk walk if your schedule and surroundings permit.

Researchers from Duke University found that walking the equivalent of 11 miles per week helped prevent the accumulation of deadly visceral fat, no matter the intensity of the exercise.

Slentz, C., et a. J Appl Physiol. 2005 Oct;99(4):1613-8.

Travel with a “maintenance mindset.” Stick to your plan and you’ll return home without gaining any fat or losing any fitness.

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training.

Try Turbulence Training today with the Trial Version for only $4.95

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Total Body 10 Bodyweight Circuit Workout

Last Wednesday I put myself through a tough interval workout in High Park near my place in Toronto.

Afterwards I headed right back to the office and went straight to my computer to answer questions in the TT member’s area and to see how all the members were doing with their Transformation Workouts.

Then I stumbled across an unusual post from a fellow Canadian and new member, Mike Cheliak. He and I had been discussing off-day bodyweight circuit training, and he wrote in this inspirational story to share with you…

“I did the Total Body Ten Bodyweight Circuit today as my day off ‘activity’. When I got to the gym there were a couple guys and a girl beginning their usual Eliptical routines…

…but I convinced them to join me in the Aerobics room and we gutted out 3 circuits of the Total Body Ten program. It was great!

What a perfect way to get some good intense activity in without tiring yourself out on a day off! We may all start a “club” on Wednesdays to do this. I think it was a great motivator doing it with other people. We all pushed each other and had fun doing it.

I highly recommend this to anyone looking for some fun activity. You could easily do it at home but I have to say that it was a LOT more fun doing it with a group!”
Mike’s right, and the Total Body Ten is a great workout that I included in the TT for Fat Loss manual to give the “go-getters” something to do on their off-days from TT.
You can also use this circuit in place of regular interval training, if you don’t have access to a cardio machine. The general format of the circuit goes like this…

1) Easy lower body exercise for warm-up
2) Moderate upper body pushing exercise for warm-up
3) Single-leg exercise
4) High-rep upper body pushing exercise
5) High-rep Squat
6) High-rep total body ab exercise
7) Single-leg exercise
8] Tough upper body pushing exercise
9) Lower body posterior chain exercise
10) Tough upper body pulling exercise

If you want more information about the Total Body 10 Circuit and my fast fat loss system, uncover the secrets to burning fat in less than 45 minutes per session here:

=> Turbulence Training

Don’t forget you get a Free membership bonus with TT,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training.

Try Turbulence Training today with the Trial Version for only $4.95

 
PS - Are you stuck at a fat loss plateau with slow, boring cardio?
 
“Been running for 6 months with minimal weight loss. Since starting TT, I have lost 10 lbs. in 2 months. A God Send. Thanks.”
Chris Schwartz, M.D.

“I’ve just finished my third week of Turbulence Training and I already see amazing results. I’ve been weight training for about five years, so I really thought I knew a thing or two. Then I found Turbulence Training. I quickly realized what a waste of time all those isolation exercises were and how much time I had wasted doing them. After my first TT workout, I knew this was something big. !”
Wilhelmina Seamans

This was something that would change my life.

And in three short weeks, it already has. I now look forward going o the gym and knocking out my workout in less than an hour. I walk in with a plan, instead of walking around aimlessly trying to decide what to do next. Those days are over! My clothes are already feeling looser, and my waistline is shrinking. I didn’t even realize how much fat had slowly crept up on me, but once I started seeing such positive changes, I realized this was only the beginning. I can’t wait to see what the next few months will bring

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Bodyweight 500 Workout

The Turbulence Training Bodyweight 500 Workout is a revolutionary new way of burning bodyfat using bodyweight exercise competitions. The challenge of the 500 workout combined with the multi-muscle exercises will burn a lot of fat and calories, and will keep your metabolism increased for hours after exercise.

However, the full Bodyweight 500 program is not for beginners. There are separate bodyweight programs for different fitness levels. You can start with the Bodyweight 100, then graduate to the 200, and then the 350 before finally earning your right to try the Bodyweight 500. So let’s discuss the advanced Bodyweight 500 workout in more detail.

The workout is perfect for lean, athletic, advanced exercisers who have no trouble doing 10 or more pullups. After all, in the final Bodyweight 500 challenge, you have to do 25 pullups AND 25 chinups in the same workout. If that’s too much for you, start at the Bodyweight 100 and work your way up.

This could be your toughest workout chellenge ever, however, it is essential to include competitions and challenges in your fat loss program. This helps inspire you to perform better and stay motivated. You’ll avoid fat loss plateaus and build a lean, athletic body with low body fat. Always keep on improving your performance – which often leads to more fat burning .

Alwyn Cosgrove likes to talk about how training for performance will lead to an improved physique, even if the individual was not focusing on changing their body. And I always like to suggest trying to achieve one new personal best each workout…that way, you are always improving performance and avoiding dreaded plateaus.

Take your time going through the Bodyweight 500 workout. Split the reps up into chunks if you need to, but complete all repetitions for an exercise before moving on to the next. And you won’t need any cardio to finish up this workout. This workout is enought to burn the fat and feed the muscle.

The complete Bodyweight 500 program features 3 unique workouts to do during the week to in preparation for a weekend bodyweight workout challenge – eventually working up to a 500 rep bodyweight workout!

The 300 workout – featured in Men’s Health magazine in 2007 – was great for motivation for people that live on competition. If you know anything about that workout, you know that it was designed as a right of passage for some of the actors in the 300 movie. And that’s what the new Bodyweight 500 workout is…a right of passage for men and women that want advanced fat loss. So if you’re one of those people that needs some competiton and an end goal to keep you on track, the TT Bodyweight 500 is for you.

But for most people, the 300 workout was difficult to do because it includes a lot of equipment typically not found in home gyms or commercial gyms. So you couldn’t do the kettle bell clean and press or box jumps.

That’s why I came up with the Turbulence Training Bodyweight 500 workout. This is a 500 repetition workout performed using only bodyweight exercises. No weights are needed. It’s still challenging, it will still burn fat, and it will still help you achieve the body of a Greek Warrior. The great thing is that you can do it in any gym.

Don’t get me wrong, the 300 was one tough workout. But like I said, I think I’ve put together something that is just as tough with the Bodyweight 500, and easier for more people to do at home. Obviously both are advanced workouts…and you shouldn’t do either unless you are as fit as a college athlete.

So here is my TT Bodyweight 500 Workout:

• 50 Prisoner Squats
• 50 Pushups
• 25 Jumps
• 25 Stability Ball Leg Curls
• 50 Stability Ball Jackknifes
• 50 Step-ups (25 reps per side)
• 25 Pull-ups (NO substitutions)
• 50 Forward Lunges (25 reps per side)
• 50 Close-grip Pushups
• 50 Inverted Rows
• 50 Squats
• 25 Chin-ups (NO substitutions)

Whew! Where you are really going to slow down is with the pulling exercises. That is a lot of chinups and pullups and rows to do in one workout. But you will have such an arm and shoulder pump after the workout it will blow you away.

You can watch the workouts on the Internet. Just search Youtube for Bodyweight 500 or Turbulence Training.

WARNING! WARNING. This is a very advanced workout. So don’t do it unless you are already fit.

If you aren’t super-fit, but want to work up in a challenge, I have an alternative for you. Start with the following workout, called the Bodyweight 100. Please note: This is still not a beginner workout.

Here is the bodyweight 100. Do the 100 workout on a Saturday. After 7 days, try it again, doing it two times. One week after that, try doing it 3 times. Then you could be ready for the Bodyweight 500 in the fourth week.

• 20 Prisoner Squats
• 20 Pushups
• 10 Jumps
• 10 Inverted Rows
• 20 Forward Lunges (10 reps per side)
• 15 Close-grip Pushups
• 5 Chin-ups or Inverted Rows

Both of these bodyweight workouts will put turbulence on your muscles and
help you burn fat and boost your metabolism without slow boring cardio.

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training.

Try Turbulence Training today with the Trial Version for only $4.95

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Bodyweight Workout Exercises

Most guys don’t give much thought to bodyweight workouts, but some of the toughest exercises I’ve ever done have used only my bodyweight. The two that come to mind immediately are the Pistol Squat and the 1-arm pushup. You have to be very strong and fit to do either of those exercises.

If those are too advanced for you, you can try 1-leg Squats (only going down half as far as the Pistol Squat) and Decline Pushups (elevating your feet on top of a second stair of a staircase).

There are also a lot of abdominal exercises you can do with only your bodyweight, and I don’t just mean crunches. Better exercises include planks, side planks, mountain climbers, and cross-body mountain climbers. Those are all total body ab exercises and are not as hard on your low back as situps and crunches.

You don’t need a cardio machine to burn calories. For years, my clients have been using bodyweight circuits for interval training. Most bodyweight exercises are the perfect hybrid of strength training and interval training, and unlike cardio machines, they don’t put as much repetitive stress on your joints (from doing the same thing over and over again) and they help improve your athletic mobility. Bodyweight exercises and workouts are a much better way to train than with machines!

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training.

Try Turbulence Training today with the Trial Version for only $4.95

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