• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

By Root 647 0

will be a little more work getting back to where you were when you return home. CONSISTENCY is your new friend. No matter how “small” and “pointless” you think a little exercise is—honestly, fifteen to twenty minutes of yoga, stretching, or walking in the morning is enough on the road—just train yourself to do it. Philosophically, a workout is not always blasting heavy weights, burning the most calories you can, or achieving some new height in your fitness level. A workout can be as simple as stretching, if that is what your body needs.

The ultimate goal involves getting to a place in your fitness where you can have a dialogue with your body (instead of just listening to it bitch at you). The more I worked out, the more I understood what I needed at any given time. Learning to listen to my body over my ego has helped me maintain a level of pain-free fitness these last few years. This should be your ultimate fitness goal.

With all that in mind, here are some small yet effective items you bring with you on your travels:

• A yoga mat

• A small foam roller

• Resistance bands or exercise tubing

With just those few items you will be able to maintain a workout regime and avoid the normal stress and tension caused by traveling, not having your gym, and not sleeping in your own bed (all of which can make your body turn on you). Full disclosure: I don’t travel with any of this, but I still think they’re good suggestions. I tend to focus on cardio and stretching, as most hotels have gyms in our modern era. It really just depends on what you like and are comfortable with. I saw a woman in the San Francisco airport pull out her mat, partially disrobe, and drop a steaming pile of yoga right there at the gate. A guy next to her decided that her routine needed to be set to guitar riffs. I decided to join in with something I was good at, too, so I tweeted the whole thing.

“Fine. You’re going to do yoga? I’ll practice ‘Blackbird’ loudly.”

This display was a bit much to me, like, “Hey, everyone! I do yoga! See??” But who the hell am I to judge? I hosted Shipmates.

Chest

Once again the easiest, anytime/anywhere snack: push-ups. Make sure to keep your back flat and your neck in line with your spine. One way to vary the push-up move is to change your hand position. You can also modify the push-up by doing it with bent knees.

PUSH-UPS: FIRST SET

■ Place your hands on the floor wider than shoulder width and assume the push-up position. Rest knees on the ground if you want to reduce the level of difficulty.

■ DO 10–15 REPS.

PUSH-UPS: SECOND SET

■ Use a narrower hand position, like shoulder-width apart while keeping your elbows tight against your body, and assume the push-up position.

■ If you really want to try some ninja shit, put your hands on the floor such that your thumbs and index fingers touch to form a triangle and do push-ups from there.

■ DO 10–15 REPS.

What? Bored ALREADY? OK! Try these!

INCLINE/DECLINE PUSH-UPS

■ Put your feet on a chair (often found in even the fleabaggiest hotel rooms) and your hands on the floor and do the push-ups.

■ OR put your hands on the chair and your feet on the floor and GO.

■ DO 10–15 REPS OF EITHER.

Back

Resistance band time! You can buy one on the webs for $10. The main exercise motion for the back involves pulling toward your body, so this will give you a perfect amount of resistance, as the title so deftly denotes. Many of these will come with a clip or attachment that you can connect to a door, which will be the stationary object from which you will be pulling.

NARROW BACK PULLS

■ Attach the hook or clip at the middle of the band to a door or other stable, stationary object. Grasp the handles in each hand.

■ Stand just far enough away that the band is taut.

■ Stand with your back straight and your knees slightly bent.

■ Move one leg forward and step one back slightly to give you some stability.

■ Start with your arms in front of you, palms down.

■ Pull back until your elbows are tight at your sides while rotating your hands 90 degrees. Your palms