How to keep fit while travelling
Keeping up any kind of fitness routine or healthy diet can be tough at the best of times (and as we roll towards Christmas – yes I said it, I know, where has the year gone – with dark mornings and evenings, it’s getting even tougher), but constant travel, be it for business or pleasure can really be the tipping point towards complete abandonment of all reason, and genuine self-persuasion that Netflix really is a healthier pastime.
As I mentioned on Monday, I’ve travelled a lot over the past few months with work, conferences and lectures (plus some fun thrown in, in between) and have been finding it difficult to maintain any kind of healthy or normal lifestyle – which has left me feeling tired, bloated and just not quite myself. Exercise of some description is my go-to solution for most things – stress, insomnia, misbehaving skin, overindulgence and recovering after festivals and the like. However, this is one of the hardest things to sustain while frequently on the move from one place to the next. But where there’s a will, there’s a happy Jenny, so here are some things that I’ve found make it a bit easier for me.
Buy black runners
This one can sound a bit odd, but when space is at a premium, and black runners are somewhat respectable with work attire (and tend to go with pretty much anything), it makes it much easier to use the hotel gym if you actually have some decent runners – although fair play to dude I saw in full on work shoes on the treadmill in the Hilton. Credit where credit is due, but I don’t fancy the shin splints myself.
Get yourself some bluetooth headphones
Oh-so-handy for general life, especially for those of you who have an overstuffed handbag with spare protein bars, tissues, pens and highlighters and every charger known to mankind (…not guilty) and occasionally find it tricky to locate your phone, even when physically connected to headphones (RIP said headphones). What they are particularly useful for though, is online workouts or workout plans on your phone/laptop/iPad – you can look at the screen, while listening to music, without having to take it out of your armband every 5 seconds (once again, totally not me). These don’t even have to be expensive – I got mine in Pennys for about €15.
When all else fails…
Get a massage! To be fair, I haven’t done this nearly as much as I would like, but it was the only option after a couple of nights sleeping on the ground (the actual ground, a last minute ticket to EP has its downsides), made me feel every single one of my 30 years. Hips and back a mess – sitting on a flight or in work, not to mind driving, was frighteningly uncomfortable – and an extended massage fixed everything, officially attaining a place on my go-to solutions list. A sports massage of some sort is usually possible to track down in most hotels, and even some airports – so if you have a heavy few weeks of travel, try and book it in when you know you’ll be at you most tired. Or if you really need sorting out when you get home, pay Eileen a visit – she honestly is amazing.
Balancing everything when your day-to-day life is a little all over the place is hard, and if you think you’ve got too much on your plate, have a read of this for some inspiration – it all depends on why you’re doing it, not what you’re doing. I know if I don’t exercise and load up on sugar, not only do I feel totally awful, but I am nowhere near as capable of thinking clearly and focusing on the things I love to do. If you push yourself hard, why do you do it? And how do you fit it all in? I’d love to hear how you do it.
