Travel kicks workout plans right in the pants. And it always happens as you settle into a good routine, right? You’re humming along. You’re hitting your gym sessions every week. You’re getting in your steps, and you’re doing extra mobility training to keep your muscles and joints right. Then Thanksgiving hits and you have to head to Aunt Edna’s in Albuquerque. After that, it’s Uncle Barry’s in Wisconsin for Christmas. In between, you have one last work trip for the year. And you’re like, fuuuuudddgggeee, how am I supposed to keep exercising with all of this? (Only you didn’t say fudge.)
Whether you’re traveling for the holidays or work has you jet-setting around the country (or world), there are simple things you can do to keep yourself moving. Here are a few simple tips on how to keep exercising while traveling.
Change Your Definition of Success
One of the biggest roadblocks to training consistently while traveling is the all-or-nothing mindset. This means that you tell yourself if you can’t do all of what you’re “supposed” to do, it’s not worth it to do anything. For example, since you don’t have access to a full gym and can’t exactly do the programmed workout, you might as well sit on your keister and binge Netflix. It’s a cognitive distortion and it’s just not true. The most important variable for long-term success and bodily transformation is consistency. So, in times of lifestyle anarchy due to travel, the most important thing you can do is stay consistent. That usually means accepting that the situation isn’t perfect. You have to work with what you have to keep the momentum going.
It helps to shift your definition of success. Rather than seeing success as doing a full gym session, see it as doing anything that keeps your body moving that day. It could be doing some mobility exercises, taking a walk, and hitting some pushups and bodyweight squats.
Start small. This is important because you’re away from your normal environment that’s laden with triggers that tell you it’s time to exercise. Without them, it’s harder to goad yourself forward. But small amounts of momentum beget larger amounts of momentum. Meaning that if you set the bar low and achieve that low bar it’s more likely that you’ll keep rolling and do more. Maybe you tell yourself that you’re just going to do one mobility exercise. Once you get rolling with that exercise you just keep going, eventually doing a whole mobility training sequence and finishing with a brisk walk. Because you started small, you ended up doing a full workout. You’ve successfully kept the momentum going, stayed consistent, and taken care of your body.
Exercise First
Not only does travel remove you from your normal environment and exercise triggers, but it also puts other priorities on your plate. It might be time with family. It might be spending eight hours sitting at a conference table wondering who keeps farting. No matter the situation, the reason that you’re traveling will get in the way of exercise if you let it. So, don’t. Exercise as early in the day as possible.
Get it done before Aunt Edna takes two hours to show you all the photos of last year’s petunias. Do it before you become the Sherlock Holmes of flatulence. It’ll give you a psychological boost. Plus, it’ll ensure that it’s just done before the rest of your day gets in the way. And, just as with changing your definition of success, if you exercise early and get it done, you’ll stay consistent.
Check-In with Your Why
This tip will help your success with the two preceding tips. Purpose is the main driver of progress. That’s especially true when things get difficult.
Let’s imagine a likely scenario. You’re lying in bed and the alarm goes off 10 minutes earlier than usual. You set it that way so you’d have enough time to get up and do some mobility training before the rest of the day gets in the way. But that bed is comfortable, and those blankets are warm. Your hand reaches for the snooze button.
Then it hits you. Through the fog and the comfort, the reason why you’re training slaps you right in the brain. It comes as a not-so-gentle reminder that you won’t be who you want to be if you stay in bed and skip training. It reminds you that, even if slightly, your life will be worse if you don’t just get your ass out of bed and do the thing. So, you pull off the covers, drop your feet on the floor, and get moving.
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You can’t count on your purpose just hitting you like that. Sometimes it works out that way and motivation lifts your bones out of bed and gets you going. But it’s more often the case that we need to consciously remind ourselves why we’re doing what we’re doing. Comfort will be at the forefront of your mind, not the idealized version of who you want to become.
Fight back by giving yourself consistent reminders of what you’re working towards. Make it the title of your alarm on your phone. Write reminders throughout your planner. Set reminders to pop up on your phone. Keep it top of mind, whatever it takes.
After a while, you won’t need so many reminders. It’ll be integrated into your habits and behaviors. But in the early going it’s necessary to bombard yourself with why you’re doing what you’re doing.
It’s the best way to beat comfort’s allure.
It’ll keep you exercising while traveling.
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