Summer time is travel time. That can also mean spending more time sitting in planes, cars, hotel rooms, and on relatives’ couches. Vacations and travel also disrupt workout and exercise routines. Get in some movement while on the road or in the air by looking at options from a new angle.
1. Escalate Your Choices
Alexandra: Yes, you can take the stairs NEXT to the escalator, or climb the escalator steps instead of standing in place, just as easily as you can walk on the airport moving walkway instead of standing still.
But what about going the wrong way? If few people are about, why not walk up the down escalator, or jog the opposite way on the moving walkway? Kids do it all the time, so why can’t we adults?
2. Check Out the Hotel at Check-In
Kymberly: Overcome travel fatigue by taking advantage of fitness opportunities in your hotel. Check into your room, then check out the options.
First stop: The fitness room. No matter how modest or spacious, this is usually one of the quietest places at the hotel, which means you may have it to yourself.
Wear whatever works, sing along to your iPod, put the TV channel on your favorite rerun as you get in a brisk walk on the treadmill.
3. Step It Up and Down
Next up: Stairs instead of elevators! That first trip with luggage deserves the elevator. After that, step it up! So obvious, yet how many people do you see using hotel stairs?
If you’re staying on a high floor, take the elevator halfway, get out and walk the rest of the way. If your room is on a lower level, take the elevator a few flights past your floor and walk down. Do a mini-step class on the bottom step or landing.
4. Keep Hair Dry with This Water Workout
What next?: The pool!
Hate swimming? Want to keep your hair dry? Can do!
Jog in place at waist to chest depth or do a few powerwalking laps. Stand in a lunge position and jump-switch legs back and forth.
Be creative moving your arms and legs about underwater, creating resistance for a nifty and refreshing muscular endurance workout.
5. Take Off with This Plane Program
Alexandra: On a very long flight to Thailand a year ago, Kymberly and I were in physical discomfort from being seated for too long. Ever since 9/11, it seems we are discouraged from moving about during flights.
Fortunately, we found out that our plane had two levels with a stairwell at the back. So we climbed up and down for a while, then did stretches and leg work in place on the stairs. No one gave us unfriendly looks, and we even spotted a few copycats after we were done.
6. Trot On and Off Trolleys
Some cities offer sightseeing trolleys that allow you to hop off, visit an interesting place, then hop back on, including our home base Santa Barbara.
I was just in Savannah, Ga., and the free on/off buses were a perfect way to sightsee without having to walk the entire historic district or stay on a bus the whole time.
7. Pop a Squat Set
Even if you are stuck in the crappy middle seat of a domestic flight, and cannot “get up and move about the cabin,” you can still do squats.
Unbuckle, start to stand, then sit back down. Do this 10 times at repeated intervals and you will feel so much better when the flight’s over. You might even avoid having your legs fall asleep, which is what happens to me on flights if I stay still.
Who cares if people stare? They are envious of your talents and ingenuity.
Kymberly: They are probably also jealous of your hot fun in the summertime! Road song! Click to sing along.
Travel to related posts by clicking on the pictures. Where will they take you?
Then journey our way:
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— Kymberly Williams-Evans, with identical twin Alexandra Williams, has been in the fitness industry since the first aerobics studio opened on the European continent. They teach, write, edit, emcee and present their programs worldwide on land, sea and airwaves. They co-write Fun and Fit: Active Aging Answers for Boom Chicka Boomers. You can currently find them in action leading classes in Santa Barbara and Goleta. Kymberly is the former faculty minor adviser at UC Santa Barbara for its fitness instruction degree offered through the Department of Exercise & Sport Studies; Alexandra serves as an instructor and master teacher for the program. Fun and Fit answers real questions from real people, so please send your comments and questions to info@funandfit.org.