The Gym and Travel

[FreeballinDC]

I travel on business at least once a month, and the trips usually last a week.

I usually can find a gym in the towns I travel to, but every now and then there are those cities/towns that the gym is inconvenient to get to, or it's too expensive (some gyms charge $10 a visit) to work out at.

Who here travels frequently and can work things out for their gym routine? Any suggestions on what/where else once can look or do to get in a good workout while on the road?

Thanks!

 

[USMC_Devildog]

I don't travel much

I'm still a student, so I don't have that problem. But I can offer some suggestions. Exercise is better than no exercise. Get a push up/sit-up/dip/pull up routine going while on the road. You may never have access to a pull up bar, but you can still perform the other exercises. Do pyramided push ups/dips and pull ups. Example:

Set Reps
1 1
2 2
3 3
4 4
5 5
6 6
7 7
8 8
9 9
10 10
11 9 12 8
13 7

etc, you get the picture. They're not really sets though since you're not suppose to rest. It's just easier to take smaller steps. Say if you did a full pyramid of 10, that'd be a total of 100 reps. I remember before when I thought doing 100 push ups would be insane. But after getting into this kind of pyramiding, I was doing 100 reps without even realizing it. You may not be able to complete all of it, but just try your best. I feel it's productive. You can do this with pull ups, pushups and dips. This kind of routine would be good to do twice a week, along with running perhaps. Depending on how busy you are. These are only suggestions to use if you don't have access to a gym. You can do dips between chairs. I did this kind of routine while I stayed with my bro in Hawaii. He lives out in the middle of no where. Beautiful place, but no gyms in that area. I just got in a habit of doing this routine when I was bored and wanted to exercise. I hope this post offered at least a little bit of help.

 

[USMC_Devildog]

Got messed up

The sets and reps weren't lined up, so I'm sorry if you get confused. I think you will have some kind of an idea.

 

[Grizzly]

I think Gold's Gym has some sort of "Gold's Gym Card" thing going. Something like you pay a few extra dollars for the card, but you can use it when traveling at other Gold's Gyms and not have to pay the day fee. Atleast, I saw some sort of advertisement for it at my Gold's a few years ago. Check it out. Gold's are a pretty popular chain and should be present in just about any good-sized town.

 

[acuraman]

At Gold's they offer travel cards all you have to do is ask for it and where you are going you have to be a member of course. But they only allow so many days per month at gyms outside your local ones. So for a someone who travels a little it is a good deal. You don't have to pay for day passes which at my Gold's is $15 a day!

 

[FreeballinDC]

Thanks guys. I used to have a membership to Golds here in DC, but the gym closest to me was in bad condition and crowded, so I had to change gyms.


You don't have to pay for day passes which at my Gold's is $15 a day!

Damn, $15. Maybe I should transfer my membership back to Golds and suffer the gym.

Anybody else have any other suggestions?

 

[diablo135]

I think because of your situation, the first thing you should do is to make sure that when you are home, NEVER miss a workout and make sure it is hard and intense. That way, if you have to miss a few on the road, you'll be ok. I would concentrate on heavy, multi-joint exercises. Then when you are on the road, you can do the "light" stuff.

As far as working out on the road, most hotels have some sort of fitness center, even if it's just a universal machine and 10 lb db's. Some hotels do charge for the nicer centers, but sometimes you can get a package to include it or, if you are a frequent guest, they will give it to you for free. The Hilton Chicago O'Hare has an excellent gym right there on O'Hare grounds. They have yearly memberships so if you thru Chicago alot, it's worth it. You don't have to stay there either. As a bonus, many flight attendants work out there! I am a little biased because I helped open the club then managed it for 6 years.

 

[FreeballinDC]

Diablo, thats a cool idea, but I would feel guilty if I didn't work out hard on the road. The kind of guilt that comes with not working out at all.

I heard that the Hilton had a good gym at the airport, so next time I'm stuck there, I'll give it a try.

 

[njmuscle]

If you're reimbursed for your travel expenses (not a true independent contractor), suggest that your company let you expense day passes as part of encouraging employees to stay in shape and hold health costs down. My company reimburses up to the local equivalent of GBP 10.00 every day you're travelling for a health club pass, and I've expensed receipts from health food stores for MRPs in lieu of restaurant meals too.

 

[mattcanning99]

the main thing to remember when you travel, is not to completely ignore fitness. do something, anything, for chest, do push ups if you cant get to a gym. for back, find a bar and do a few sets of chins...do anything that wont get you out of bodybuilding completely for that period. this will minimize any losses in strength and muscle, as well as help you stay in the groove, so to speak. also, there are several surprisingly small workout stations which are very portable. even some rubber bands you can buy to replace the idea of conventional free weights for resistance. main point: something is better than nothing!

matt