This post teaches you how to stay fit traveling the World. But first, print this out and get your doctor’s approval before doing anything suggested here.
After 13 years of almost constant travel to 65 different countries, I have some ideas that will help you stay fit while traveling the world.
First I will explain the travel challenges you will face and then I will tell you how to overcome each challenge.
Travel Fitness Challenges
One. Physical and Mental Stress and chaos of Travel.
Whether you are twenty years old staying in youth hostels or 70 years old staying in Airbnb apartments, or some age in between, you will quickly discover that there are extreme conditions that you will encounter during travel. You might be drinking alcohol half the night and getting up to hike a mountain, you could be swimming and playing on a white sand beach all day, or you may be lost because Google Maps isn’t functioning properly while exploring an ancient city in a country where you can’t speak the local language.
Whatever the case, there will be consecutive days where chaos is the rule and you experience a continued level of stress over many consecutive days. The chaos can be physical where the trail is much more difficult than you expected or mental where you are stuck without Internet connectivity and you are stuck using hand gestures to communicate what you need.
If you are on holiday once a year for two weeks, you will get through it with pure willpower knowing that it will all be over in a few more days or weeks. But when you decide to make a life of travel, retire in a foreign country, or live as an ex-pat for a few years, you must have the energy and stamina to see things through for months or years at a time.
Is it still all worth it? Yes, it has been the greatest joy of my life. But only because I continued to feed my body with a constant regiment of physical activity that prepares me both mentally and physically for this continued chaos.
Thus, to stay healthy in this chaos and empower yourself for the travel fitness challenges, you have to know how to stay fit traveling the world. So, what are the challenges you will face trying to stay fit?
I will explain that now, but please subscribe, comment, like or share if you see value here. Thank you!
Two. Potential Lack of Fitness Infrastructure and Organization.
When you were in your home country, you probably had 3 fitness studios or gyms within 3 miles of your house. You could drive there in 10 minutes.
When you leave your home country for months or years, in some countries, or in some areas of all countries, you may find a total lack of fitness infrastructure. Further, even if one town or one location has a gym, the next one may not. So you have to develop strategies that allow you to assure your desired level of fitness no matter the conditions.
In fact, even if you are in your home country today, your gym may have been closed for weeks and months depending on how your country handled the coronavirus social distancing rules.
Okay, now let me explain the strategies I have used to maintain a level of fitness that has allowed me to power through all the chaos I have encountered with boundless energy while I explored 65 countries over 13 years.
These are my best strategies on How to Stay Fit Traveling the world.
Best Travel Fitness Strategies
One. Use Gyms When Available, Free, or Cheap
We typically stay in each city one week to one month.
When we are planning our move to a new city, we start by looking for Airbnb apartments that have gyms included. If there is an apartment that includes a gym that fits within our budget range, we rent that. If it is overpriced or the gym looks rudimentary, we move on to another strategy.
Even if we pick an apartment with a gym, they may be in very poor condition upon arrival. In that case, we may not use them at all. We may find just one or two stations at the apartment gym that is in good condition. I prefer free weights but some gyms only have machines. My goal is to spend at least two months per year in gyms with free weights. There is nothing like free weights to maintain or build muscle mass.
My next trick is to cross-train so my body doesn’t get too comfortable with the same routines. But I have to tell you my typical main routine before discussing cross-training variations.
Two. My Main Routine. Rotate Muscle Training and Flexibility.
Run (Monday through Friday)
My main routine is to run for about 30 minutes, five times per week. I run outdoors when possible. The beach is my favorite place to run. Then I finish with about 200 crunches on my abdomen.
Muscle Training (Monday, Wednesday, Friday)
Gym: On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, after my run, I do free weights if I have a gym. On free weights, I do two sets of twenty repetitions: Triceps, Biceps, Back, Chest, and Squats.
No Gym: On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, after my run, if there is no gym, I use resistance bands. I do two sets of twenty repetitions: Triceps, Biceps, and Back. Then I do two sets of push-ups and squats against only gravity.
Flexibility (Tuesdays and Thursdays)
On Tuesdays and Thursdays, after my run, I work on flexibility for 30 minutes or so. If the Internet is working, I like to follow Yoga with Adriene on Youtube. I usually follow one of her routines on flexibility or core training.
As we age, we slowly lose some strength each year. The key is to maintain your core strength and flexibility. Your core strength will keep your back healthy so your mobility is never compromised. Your flexibility will reduce pulled muscles and the chance of permanent damage to your tendons.
As men, we tend to think Yoga is for women. But the truth is, if you keep Yoga in your Tuesday, Thursday routine, you are likely to maintain a strong back and flexibility which will help keep you sexually active for the rest of your life.
Muscle training without core and flexibility training will eventually destroy your back and your mobility. Without that core strength and flexibility, your muscles will eventually atrophy. So Yoga means a great sex life. Nothing more masculine than that.
Three. Cross Train Every Third Month
Your should cross-train periodically to confuse your body and work your muscles in totally different patterns.
For example, I am cross-training right now. I am doing 100 burpees per day, six days per week. The video I am showing you now is me doing 100 burpees per day. After 100 burpees each day, I do 100 crunches and 100 leg lifts, to maintain my core strength.
I read online about guys cross-training with burpees to remove the final layer of fat on their abdomen to get six-packs. So I thought I would try it out.
Usually, my cross-training routines have more complete body movements. Maybe you remember the P90 Cross-Training that was popular a few years ago? There is always something new like that online that will confuse your muscles and give you quick powerful results.
But this time, I was looking for something more abs focused so I can get a six-pack by my 60th birthday in August. People like me that have done all of this stuff for my entire life may not hurt themselves trying new routines, but anyone not in that lifer-category should check with their doctor first.
And remember, even if your doctor says something is okay, please start very slow and easy. Long term, it is much better to go slow, so you don’t have too much pain the next day. Because if you make the rookie mistake of pushing too hard today, the pain may stop you tomorrow. If you stop tomorrow, you may not ever get back to the routine. So start slow so you can continue and get healthy travel energy and benefits for life.
Thanks for listening to my ideas on How to Stay Fit Traveling the World. If you would like to see my other videos on travel fitness, please click the Healthy Lifestyle Playlist arriving on the right of the screen about now.
To find out how I fired my boss and traveled the world to 65 countries in 13 years, click the Free eBook link at the top of VagabondBuddha.com. You will also find over 50 reports there, that will teach you how to retire early for cheap in paradise. The world is your home, what time will you be home for dinner?