Jetting off quite often can disrupt your physical fitness routine. If it’s important to you, there are savvy ways to keep it a part of your schedule, even when holidaying or traveling. How do you stay fit even when you are on a holiday or have to live on a suitcase? Is staying in an expensive hotel a guarantee you’ll get enough space to do your routine or there is a gym on site? What are your smart solutions when the room you book is expensive only because it’s the peak season, but a gym is nowhere in sight? What if you are living under a tight budget and getting a room in an expensive hotel with such amenity is out of the question?
Swanky Hotels and Gyms: Where to Go
The idea is not too far-fetched if you travel in style and staying in swanky hotels. These days, most 4 or 5-star hotels have gyms or some other facilities that can put you on your fitness track easily. Those hotels that lack gyms usually partner with local studios and gyms so guests will have options. If you are wondering which hotel or what you can expect to do in the hotel gym, check out Sandra Ramani’s Trendy Hotel Workout Classes for Travel + Leisure – Hotels and Resorts gives you a few ideas.
Barre
What it is: Ballet meets Pilates meets strength training—no dance skills required.
Where to try it: California’s Hotel La Jolla, which partners with nearby studio Barre3.
Aerial Yoga
What it is: A Cirque du Soleil–inspired twist on yoga, with silk hammocks in place of mats.
Where to try it: The Fairmont Scottsdale Princess offers classes on site.
Studio Spin
What it is: High-intensity cycling classes with breaks for upper-arm conditioning.
Where to try it: The rooftop of New York City’s Refinery Hotel.
Lithe Method
What it is: A blend of cardio and weights that takes cues from competitive cheerleading.
Where to try it: The Stratus Rooftop Lounge at the Hotel Monaco Philadelphia.
Crossfit
What it is: A military-style mix of squats, weights, and sprints.
Where to try it: Balance Gym’s Foggy Bottom studio, inside the Fairmont Washington, D.C., Georgetown.
Peak Season-price Room with Little Amenities
If you decided to travel in high season – Christmas, Thanksgiving, etc. – chances are, you’ll be paying an overpriced hotel that lacks the amenities that will keep you fit while on holiday. With a small space to live in, you would need imagination to make your regular routines. But wait, what about trying some new routines that don’t need as much space? Jay Cardiello’s The Vacation Workout posted in Men’s Fitness – Training Section may be for you.
“… Try this routine. It’s suited to the sparsest hotel room or guest room, and you won’t lose progress while you’re away.
The routine uses the bed as a wobble board and the pillow is used as a medicine ball to do the workout without needing traditional gym/exercise equipment. The workout can be used to improve balance, core strength and endurance for as short as five minutes.
Be Inspired and Innovative
Whether you like it or not, the perfect scenario for your workout regime is disrupted or becomes less perfect when you travel. That doesn’t mean you have to drop the physical fitness idea altogether. There are other ways to get all worked up and sweating while on holiday. The most important thing is to keep your fervor burning and have some tricks up your sleeves.
If you need ideas, Casey Gueren of Women’s Health shares some thoughts in the blog 5 Ways to Stay Fit When You’re Traveling
- Go on a hike to Terminal B: If the flight has been delayed, use the free time taking a brisk walk around the airport or terminals.
- Stretch post-flight: Once your feet can feel the land again, do some stretching to get rid of the tightness.
- Pack the right tools: Bring lightweight exercise equipment, like a jump rope, that you can stash in your stuff to be taken whenever there’s an opportunity.
- Scope out the fitness scene: Get a look around gyms and studios in the vicinity of where you are staying. Ask the hotel desk about their suggestions.
- Go fast and hard with no equipment: The fact is, if you are crazy about staying fit, you’ll find a way to make your body sweat, whether there is equipment or none, or the hotel has a pool or gym, or none.
Staying fit while on holiday is possible, if you are interested at all. Meanwhile, why not check out some and enjoy the outdoors. Go for a walk or rent a bike, really great ways to intimately experience the neighborhood.
