Well, readers, July has been, and will continue to be, a crazy month! Between school, work, friends, and family, I’ve been running at breakneck speed for several weeks. I’m squeezing quite a few business trips in this month, which means a little less time for writing, and a lot more time spent in airports, cars, and hotels. So, I thought I’d talk about how to keep fit on the road, since I’ll be doing exercising outside of my usual boot camp classes for a few weeks!

I love free weights, but sometimes you’re stuck with just your body weight. But that doesn’t mean you’re stuck without a workout, and it doesn’t mean you’re stuck with just cardio options! On a recent trip, I decided not to bring my tennis shoes and extra workout clothes, since I needed to save space in my luggage, and I had no idea what time I would arrive at the hotel. I figured I could always do something if I got back to my room in time. Here’s what I did:

– set of 25 lunges on each leg (you want a 90 degree angle on both the front and back legs, and you should feel the burn in the quads and gluts)

– set of 15 push-ups (make sure you’ve got a straight line from the head to the ankles, no butts in the air or hips dipping to the floor! The whole body has to move up and down at once!)

– set of 50 crunches (I alternate between a regular crunch, side crunch, and twisting crunch in each set)

I did this rotation 3 times, and then moved into the next rotation with some interesting “weights”:

– set of 15 squats with no weights

– set of 10 shoulder raises with my purse (hey, that thing may only be 5 lbs., but it’s better than nothing!)

– set of 12 bicep curls with my backpack full of books (again, you’re looking at ~10-12 lbs. of weight for each rep)

I did this rotation 3 times, and moved into the final set of exercises:

– boxing combo of jab, cross, hook, upper cut

– holding field on the right and left side (basically “fast feet” and fast, continuous punching to the side)

– boxing combo of jab and cross

– continuous hooks

– set of 50 crunches

– set of 25 hip raises (lay on your back with your shoulders pressed into the floor and feet flat on the ground, raise your hips up using your hamstrings, gluts, and abs only)

I did this set twice before I did a round of stretching.

My exercises took about 30 minutes to complete, and I did them while simultaneously watching a lecture for one of my online classes. You don’t need fancy weights, or even fancy footwear, to get a workout in on the road! Got any tips for staying fit during travel?