Travelling Strength Training

I’m quite lucky that I get to travel a lot – both for work and for fun. My family and friends are spread far and wide, and pole workshops and masterclasses can take me anywhere.

While I’m at home I can get into a good routine – knowing when I can fit in gym sessions, pole, stretching and work – as well as everything else that life has to offer. I’m even getting relatively good at eating healtier meals – yes this is my main downfall and junk food does sometimes manage to creep into my life, but I’m trying – one thing at a time! 🙂

I’m always travelling for different reasons to different places and the type of food I eat and amount of exercise I can do varies. Sometimes it’s great: I can go to the gym at the hotel or I can pole at workshops. I can plan in advance and make sure I eat well.

Then there are many other trips – like the one I’m on now. I’m in a hotel without a gym and am staying over the night before going to a wedding. I know I don’t have any time to go to a gym on this trip and my food will be whatever I can find at the hotel this evening and on the road tomorrow for the final part of our journey. Let’s just say this won’t be a healthy trip!

Use What You Have

So my options are to give up being heathy on this trip and get back on the healthy train in a few days time… or do what I can. I figure that even a little bit of a workout is going to be better than nothing. There are a few mini workouts you can do even with minimal space and no gym equipment. Here’s a few of the exercises that I try and do while I’m away from home. If you give any of these a go, make sure it’s safe to do so, ensuring you warm up, have enough space, and you have a good technique.

Tricep Dips

These are quickly becoming a favourite exercise of mine and you can do them almost anywhere. Find your self a stable surface – this might be a bench, sofa, bed or chair. As long as it’s sturdy and hard (rather than squishy like a cushion) against your hands it’ll do nicely. Assuming it’s a bench, sit on the edge of the bench with your hands also on the edge. Take your feet out in front of you – it’s easier with bent legs and harder with straight legs so you can make this as hard on yourself as you like. Take your butt off the edge of the bench and lower your body as far as you can without your butt touching the floor. Then slowly lift yourself back up.

I usually do 3 sets of 10 – you can vary this as much as you like.

Handstands

You will need to find a sturdy wall to do these against with a lot of space around it. You can practice anyway you like depending on your level – either kicking up or lifting up slowly. You really can go to your own level with these.

You can also try to lower your legs down slowly – a straddle if you have space, a tuck is the easiest and a pike (straight legs) is the most difficult to aim for. You can also just practice holding yourself up.

Please note – only work on handstands in this way if you already have a good strong teachnique that you wish to improve. Hotels are not the place for first attempts!

Stretching

Even the tiniest rooms will still have enough space for you to do some stretching. Make sure you are nice and warm before you stretch and ease into it gently.

You can use the walls to stretch your arms and legs. You can use the edge of the bed to stretch your back and depending on the size, you may be able to try your splits in the bathroom!

It’s super important to stretch and even more important to make sure you do it safely. I’m sure you’ll be able to do put the tv on while you stretch as well, so you can make it a bit more relaxing!

Push Ups

If you have enough space you can do these on the floor, if not you can do them against the wall. Use a smooth and controlled motion – down and up. If you are doing them against the wall, you can vary the position of your arms to work different muscles. Keep your core tight and your body in as much of a straight line as possible. The further away you position your legs, the harder it will be.

And Anything Else You Can Think Of!

There are so many more exercises that you can do in a relatively small space. Think squats, planks, sit ups. The list goes on. You could go for a run outside and then come back and have a nice stretch while your muscles are warm.

The most important thing (as ever) is correct form and good technique. If you are worried you don’t have enough space, you probably don’t and it’s best to avoid that exercise. Warm up, keep safe and have a fun workout! 😀