No Excuses: I Can't Workout on the Road.....
Friday, June 25, 2010 at 11:53AM 9 Comments 
Holy Crap! This is a goal to be able to accomplish. I actually was googling "functional training" images and found this gem. I really want to incorporate more functional training into my weekly workouts.
If you aren't yet familiar with functional training, I don't want to define it here..but overall what I've learned about functional training is that for the most part it relies on bodyweight movements that mimic activity done in "real life". There is also a lot of core training in functional fitness and much of functional fitness is based on core training, doing moves that require your core to stabilize the body for movement. **Please don't take this as a definition of it, it is simply my way of describing what I've experienced through videos or trainers.**
I found this gem on YouTube as an example of some kickbutt functional training:
I'm including this functional training as a segue into more talk on NO EXCUSES. Y'all may know that I am in Park City, UT for a conference. Many people use the excuse of traveling for business as "I just don't have time to fit a workout in" - and in some cases yes, I can see that this IS valid. There are indeed times when I've traveled and your day at a convention starts at 7am and ends after cocktails and parties at 11pm. Some of you might say, "You don't have to go the party! Go to the gym and workout." Well, that isn't true in most cases. If your business relies on solid relationships, you MUST attend the parties. You stay in and workout, you lose out on time with the client.
I'm sharing the video above because one of the things that I hear from people making excuses is that, "I travel for work all the time and I don't have time or there is no hotel gym". BLAH BLAH BLAH.
Here is the thing. Although there are times as above where many of us can't fit in a workout in a day that goes from 7am to 11pm.....(and for those of you about to say, well get up at 4am and workout- please note that if I'm going to bed at midnight the night prior, getting up at 4am isn't gonna happen AND it is just as important to get a good night's sleep as it is to stay active.), I have found easy ways to get a KILLER workout going IN MY HOTEL ROOM. Seriously. And I've timed it with my Polar HRM so I know I can get a 500-800 calorie burn just as easy in a hotel room as in my home gym. Pay attention.
This is an example of a fairly nice hotel gym. I know that Doubletree Hotels is starting to install kick butt gyms in all their hotels (I know this because their head of PR is my BFF ok). However, in the mean time many gyms in hotels are SUCKTASTIC. Seriously. They have 2-3 cardio machines from the late 80's and maybe if you are lucky some free weights but mostly old-school "all-in-one" machines that are lopsided and broken. Plus you'll get some Jock-Wannabe in there staring at your cleavage and/or bootie the entire working offering to "spot" you when you are on the treadmill. Ladies, you know what I'm talking about.
This is why I like to workout in my room. Plus it takes away the time excuse. Get up and everything you need is right in your room. I bring my Valslides with me whenever I travel, coupled with the kick butt Val Bands. I actually use Val Bands instead of Cathe bands when I do Butts N Guts- the Val Bands provide more resistance and don't break. Hello.
I also have some resistance bands that are like 2 oz and fit nicely into any suitcase. So, I might not have free weights but I have a room, some great equipment that does all kind of good stuff, and no excuses.
To get your cardio going, think about all the options!! I bring 3-4 DVDs and play them on my laptop. This trip I brought a kickboxing one, sometimes I bring Cathe HIIT- and hello maybe P90x Plyo. Heck, say you forgot your DVD, go to YouTube- you'd be AMAZED how many full length workout videos you can find. I shared one of my favorite Taebo Boot camp videos - full hour length video is available free on YouTube. Go to YouTube and search ValSlides, you'll find all kinds of core, leg, and functional moves from men and women that are using them daily. Plus once you've done some kind of HIIT or Plyo, you know that you can make up a routine in your room easy. Just go 20 or 30 seconds then rest, then 20 or 30 seconds and rest and so on.
No Excuses. Working out in your room can be just as killer as how you workout at home. So, you miss some free weights for a few days. Man DID workout and get buff before free weights people. Go lift a rock or a dead body, it's all the same.
hehehe
Gotta run. I will shoot some vlogs today - hopefully I can upload on this hotel high speed connection. Remember what happened last time. Took 4 hours. I'm not having that.
Have a kick butt day.
For those of you that travel- how do you like to workout on the road?