Traveling can be a stressor in and of itself, and it’s important to recognize this before doing too much after traveling for 2, 5, 10 + hours. I can understand that it can be tempting to go workout after a long trip on the plane or car so this post will be dedicated to helping you navigate a efficient way to working out post traveling so you continue to see and feel progress.
Tip #1: Call the gyms in the area
You’d be surprised how many gyms niche there are around the country. For example if you are looking for a gym to practice powerlifting then it’s probably worth your time to call around, and ask if they allow deadlifts with chalk, squatting, and bench pressing. Of course you can always look on their website, but I find that calling the gym and speaking with one of the staff allows you to get a better feel for what the gym is about. Some corporate/fitness centers, for example, do not welcome powerlifting unless you are extremely quiet with the weight, which most aren’t. Another thing I noticed when traveling is whether or not their is a sauna. I use the sauna after roughly every training session, and surprisingly not all gyms have a working sauna. It irks me to find this is a common theme in gym. I mean why are you going to have a sauna in a gym, and not have it turned on…but I digress
Tip #2: Be smart with your training
You can break your training up into
a). Planes of motion (sagittal, frontal, transverse)
b). Movements (squat, bench deadlift)
c). Functional (movements that mimic your daily movements)
When traveling it is very easy to let things slide and lose your flow, but you can easily avoid that with having a plan. Most people work out to maintain their shape and stay healthy. So I am assuming you are one of the those people, and it is important to recognize that your body may be more tired than usual because of how stressful traveling can be. Knowing all this I would suggest keeping your focus on maintenance. Avoid trying new things at a new gym because it’s very easy to get out of your element and push too hard because you subconsciously are trying to impress the new people at the new gym. I’ve trained clients before where they would come back to their normal schedule with me, and they got hurt from pushing too hard in Costa Rica.
Tip #3: Think in terms of effort
Break your workouts in terms of effort. Train at about 60-75% of what you normally can do. It’s nice to train at a new gym and explore so keep in mind that you are there to enjoy yourself and the environment. Unless you are prepping for a competition or show then it’s understandable to keep the intensity up to par, but if you are trying to maintain your shape or in between a on/off season then learning to let yourself relaxed can go a long way. Overtraining is a real thing, and it is important to schedule rest times for yourself and know when to back off. Sometimes traveling means backing off the pedal for some time and resume when you return to your hometown.
Tip #4: Glute training and stretching
If after traveling you feel you have to workout I’d suggest training your glutes/hamstrings because being seated for that long can put a lot of stress on the low back. Try some:
Reverse hyperextensions
Light Romanian deadlifts
Stretching: maybe trying a yoga class, or explore adopting a new stretching routine
Bulgarian split squats, great for the butt
Glute thrust machine, if the gym has it
Wrapping it Up
I travel often, and have found that having some sort of system in place helps you stay efficient and manage your time. It’s very easy to get caught up in doing mindless exercises that are not serving you: i.e. doing too much chest training….That’s the last thing to do after being scrunched in a plane or car for hours!
Well those are my tips…hopefully those helped.
If you’re interested in getting trained by a beast, email me and I can help espinozi.yelena@gmail.com
Be well,
Yelena
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