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At first, it’s exciting. Then, after a while, the novelty completely wears off. This is the story when traveling for work and while it can have its perks, and sometimes allow you to see the world, there’s no doubt that it can also play absolute havoc with your schedule.

travel for business

As the title of today’s post might have already given away, we are now referring to exercise. You might have your set routine on home soil, but as soon as you venture away everything goes into disarray. Your time is suddenly shrunk thanks to long meetings, while let’s not even get started on the state of hotel gyms and the lack of equipment that they offer.

Following on from the above, you need a plan of action. While we can by no means guarantee that your exercise regime is going to remain untouched as you venture on your travels for business, there are various steps you can take to make sure that you can at least retain some level of fitness when you go away. Let’s now take a look at the four areas which can allow you to do this.

 

Fail to plan, plan to fail

It might be one of the oldest clichés around, but we really can’t reiterate the importance of planning when it comes to these business trips, even if you are flying to relatively close locations like France or Spain. In other words, if you don’t bring the necessary equipment, when it comes to the crunch you really aren’t going to be motivated to take to the gym, or even a run.

So, what constitutes the necessary equipment? Really, this is down to you. It should go without saying that appropriate footwear is essential, as are the standard shorts and t-shirt. From then on, you might have to pack as much as your baggage allowance permits. For example, some people might normally take yoga mats and jump ropes to the gym, but whether or not this is going to be possible when you are armed with a suitcase is another matter. You can also bring your weight loss supplements if you are using any. You can check out good products made in France, click here.

Nevertheless, try and pack as much as possible. If you are traveling with all of this in tow, you’ll feel more obligation to take to exercise when you are out and about. After all, lugging all of that equipment so many miles, only not to use it, is going to feel a little discouraging isn’t it?

 

It doesn’t have to be “usual” exercise

One of the biggest misconceptions about working out on business travel is that it has to be your usual exercise. In other words, if you are the type of guy or girl who hits the gym classes every week, you might be “expected” to create a copycat routine.

Well, we hate to break it to you, but most hotels in the world just don’t have such facilities available. In fact, you really will have to compromise with a lot of your movements, as the equipment on offer tends to be very substandard. Not only that, but with your travel schedule likely to be packed full, embarking on your usual routine is probably out of the question for other reasons as well.

Bearing this in mind, you should just try and take to natural exercises. This might be something as simple as stretching your legs at the airport and walking the entire length of the building. Or, you might just get out of your car and stretch every so often.

Sure, it’s not the most rigorous exercise on earth, but it does get you out of the sitting position which becomes a bit too long-term when it comes to travel of the business ilk.

Create habits; start your routine ASAP

We all know about how much people rely on habits. The basic premise of habits is that if you repeat something so many times, it will become naturally ingrained so you don’t even have to think twice about it. When it comes to exercise, we don’t need to highlight how important this can be to you.

As such, you should be looking to start in the way that you want to carry on for the whole of your trip. In the first free time you have available, take to some exercise. If you are lucky, this might involve using the hotel gym. However, it doesn’t have to be as serious as that and you might even be able to venture on a brisk walk around your hotel just to get your blood pumping.

If you are feeling a little more ambitious, don’t forget that you don’t even need equipment for many exercises. Runs naturally fall into this category, as do bodyweight exercises like planks, pushups and squats.

In short, try anything to get moving right away. It will set the tone for your trip.

 

Sometimes your body won’t allow you to exercise

A lot of the article so far has focused on how you must push yourself to use any equipment available, and do it as early as possible. There are caveats to this approach, though.

Let’s not forget that traveling can really take it out of people. You are not living in your usual climate, and your body might not adapt as well as it usually does.

For example, let’s take jet lag. In the worst-case scenario, this will leave you with flu-like symptoms. As anyone who has suffered this will testify, there’s no way on earth that you can respond and exercise like you usually would.

It’s not just jet lag which can throw a stumbling block into proceedings though. Your schedule is probably going to be busier than normal, and this might leave your body absolutely exhausted. At this point it’s worth mentioning that exercise can help reduce your stress levels, and even energize you, but there are caveats. If you are feeling simply too weak to exercise, don’t feel guilty about giving it a miss. As much as it is important, this can be a testing time for your body, and sometimes you just have to listen to it.

About Olivia Marsh

Olivia Marsh - Author - Professional chef and Travel enthusiast.
Culinary Institute of America (CIA) graduate. Chef Marsh has traveled the globe from France, Italy, Germany to China, Thailand, India, Tunisia and more.
Olivia lived in Tunisia for almost 10 years now.
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