TRAINING WHILE TRAVELING!

This time I will share with you how I do my physical training on travel, in winter time, and for high altitude climbing.
On the road again… yes, some of us are often on the move, and many of us do some travel every year, near or far. We might be on a job travel, a holiday, a longer journey or moving to a different area temporary or permanent. In this transactions it is difficult to maintain our routines both eating, sleeping and training well. Let me tell you how I get my act together and try to keep myself on the right track.

You have to be consequent when it comes to prioritizing
You might have to be a bit less social, go to bed earlier and wake up earlier, just to get the time, and have enough energy for your work out. It takes energy to travel, and to be at new places, so we have to adjust. We have to find out how to, and where to do your work outs. In this blog post I want to help you to make it easier for you.

Always when I arrive to a place, I get myself a map, and then I start to familiarize with the area. Either by walking, running or bicycling. On the first familiarization trip I mark the following important places on my map: healthy grocery shops, healthy restaurants, steep hills, ski jump, stadium, beach (long, so you can get in some runs), and playground (where it is possible to access for doing e.g. pull-ups), benches , staircase (might be a tall building where you can get access; ask the receptionist in a tall hotel building), TV/radio tower (they are normally up on a hill, and that hill can be exactly what you need), trails in the mountains or woods or parks.

Here are some of my top tips:

Tip #1: Be flexible, and work with what you have. Challenge yourself in new ways, be creative and have fun with your work out and have an open mind.

Tip #2: Get to know the neighborhood. Don’t underestimate the power of a good walk, swim, volleyball match or DANCE.

Tip #3: Focus on mobility. If you are at the airport, maybe you have a long transfer or a long road trip. It only takes a few minutes to stretch, and you will feel so much better!

Tip #4: Use the hotel gym, the staircase or the children’s playground.

Tip #5: Do your work out together with friends and/or family when you are on vacation. It is both social and fun, and most important you get to spend time together. If you have children, you can use them as extra weight. :D



Tip #6: Download a fitness app and yoga app. There are so many free (and very good) on the market.

Tip #7: Bring resistance bands. They take no place and makes your work out much more efficient.

Where to stay?

I prefer to stay in Airbnb because then I can make my own food and make sure it is healthy. I might be lucky to have hosts who can tell me where to find steep hills or good running trails, and I then benefit a lot from all the information I can get from them.
The upside by staying in a hotel is the staircase. You might be lucky to have 10-20 floors to run up and down. When I train in stairs I like to have 13-15 floors. If you don’t stay in a hotel, try to find a ski jump area where you can use the stairs, or find stairs in a park or in the city. If I find a long staircase, I start by walking one time normal way, one time backwards, then I run or put on backpack/weight and powerwalk for at least 6 times. Good tip is to also use your trekking poles, then you get real powerwalk and some exercise on your arms. At the end of the session, I go two times backwards (up). When you go backwards you train the muscles around your knee in a very good way.

If you stay longer at some places, find a tire (longer means more than one week). You will find tires all over the world, and you can always get a rope (or you have it with you already). All you then need is your backpack and 2 carabineers. You can replace the backpack with a harness or an armored flak jacket (combat west) where you can hook the tire to. I really recommend training with a tire as you train cardio as well as building up strength in your legs. It is very efficient training. You can of course use winter chain for the car instead of tires. I also always do at least 20-30 min walking backwards while dragging my tire, I do so to strengthen the small muscles around my knees.
 

If you find a sports arena or stadium which is open to public, it is very easy to run intervals, or use the stairs at the grandstand to do stairs-run and strength training.
I always try to find a children’s playground because there you will find many possibilities to do your strength training. If you don’t find any open to public, just find a bench. With a bench you can do a lot of strength training. The only extra you need is a branch where you can do pull-ups. You can also use a simple one bar gate to do laying pull-ups.

MY full body work out:

This program I use when I travel or when I am stuck in Base Camp. This are easy exercises you can do wherever and whenever. Just get to it! 

Warm-up: 5-10 minutes of light cardio; jogging in place or jumping jacks

Push-ups: 3 sets of 10-15 reps

Squats/ jumping squats: 3 sets of 10-15 reps

Lunges: 3 sets of 10-15 reps

Plank/ mountain climber: 3 sets of 40-60 sec hold or jumping/”climbing”

Sit-ups/ V-ups/ Russian twist: 3 sets of 25-30

Superman (back-lift): 3 sets of 15-20

Hip thrust/ single leg bridge/hip thrust: 3 sets of 25-30 reps

Triceps: 3 sets of 10-15 reps

Burpees: 3 sets of 10-15 reps

Cool-down: 10-15 min of stretching; focus on the muscles you used during the work out, and other sore or acing muscles.

Please note that these exercises are part of my personal training plan. Feel free to get inspired by them, but make sure to create your own individual plan—ideally in collaboration with qualified professionals to achieve the best possible results. 

I wish you all a happy and successful training, and always remember to enjoy your mission!