On The Road Again

Do you travel for work? Me, too. I spend a good chunk of my time in hotels and airports and this can wreak havoc on my exercise routine. Fortunately, I have an arsenal of road workouts and habits that help to stay active on the go.

Let's start in the airport.

- If there are stairs,  take them. You will be spending most of your day sitting,  so it won't hurt to skip the escalator.

-I like to get to the airport early.  Once I'm at the gate,  I'll use my carry-on bag for a terminal farmer's carry. Walk to one end of the terminal with your bag in one hand and then switch hands and walk to the other end. Repeat until you board your flight. If you have kids, they provide extra weight for this one.  If you don't have kids, just borrow someone else's. (Do not borrow a stranger's child for farmer's carry).

-For the truly dedicated,  you can do plank, wall sit, lunges, pushups and any other bodyweight exercises. Find a quiet, sparsely populated corner and perform these moves slowly to avoid sweating. Nobody wants to sit next to a sweaty guy on a flight.

Now for the hotel.

-Most hotel gyms are pretty thin on equipment. Treadmill, eliptical machine,  bike and dumbells up to 50lbs. My staple hotel workout is an incline walk with weight.  I put the treadmill on speed 2 and max incline and carry 2 x 25lb dumbbells. It helps to alternate carrying the weight low (like two suitcases) and high, on your shoulders (like the straps of a backpack). Shoot for 30 minutes without stopping or putting the weights down. Feel the burn.

-If the hotel has a pool,  chances are it's short and shallow, not great for lap swimming. Instead try sprinting the length of the pool. A sample pool workout might look like this: on the side of the pool,  do 20 pushups and 20 arm haulers (*see description below*). Then hop on the water and run to the other end and run backward to the start point. Repeat this cycle 5 times.

-Finally, get outside and run. There is no better way to learn the area than by running around and seeing the sights. Just don't forget your room key

*Arm haulers - Lie face down with your hands by your side. Lift your head and chest off the ground. Raise your hands over your head and then being them back to your side without touching the ground. This is one rep. These work rear shoulders and back. Enjoy.

2 minute rule

It's the beginning of a new year and the Internet is flush with ideas for resolutions. Diets, workout plans,  productivity tips abound.  I'm always on the lookout for ways to improve my routine, be it taking out head trash,  working on a weakness or revisiting old or lost habits.  Today I want to talk about an easy habit I'm trying to add; the 2 minute rule.

How many times throughout your day does a little task come your way?  Respond to an email,  clean a spill, fix a problem: these usually get put off until later and they either pile up or get forgotten.  The rule that I am trying to implement is if I can check something off of my to-do list in under 2 minutes,  I do it right away.  If not, I shelve it until later. Simple as that

The idea is that I don't want a bunch of little tasks to tackle at the end of the day. I will knock out quick items immediately,  leaving myself with more time to focus on larger,  usually more important tasks. 

Sometimes, these little tasks can turn into larger, more time consuming projects;  a lengthy email response or a trickier problem to solve. If you find a task taking more than 2 minutes, decide if it needs doing right now.  If not,  save it for later.

I hope this helps you navigate your world more efficiently.  It is working well for me.

Have a great day,

Jack