(I owe the clever title to my personal trainer, Steve Bechtel, who referenced my recent travel workout with the aforementioned title. It’s perfect, given my blog’s title)
This is Post 3 of my reporting on my mid-life training program. (For backstory, see Post 1 and Post 2)
So, those of you who know me, or who read this blog, know that I travel a fair amount. Lately I’ve been traveling a lot to Zion, Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Miami, Yellowstone, etc., in the last 3 months.
Summer is now officially here, and many of us will be stepping up our travel. There are adventures to be had, places to see, and people to visit while the kids are out of school and the weather is optimal for getting out. Certainly our summer is shaping up that way.
Stopping for a picnic on a recent Yellowstone trip.
Yet, given my investment in a personal trainer and my “mid-life training program,” while I’m traveling, I can’t afford to turn my back on my commitment to losing weight, getting more fit and gaining energy.
So, being the good trainer and hard driver that he is, Steve, of Elemental Gym, designs workouts for me to follow while I’m traveling and away from the gym and my personal training sessions. Most of these can be done in a hotel room, or in a campground, or alongside the highway, even. : >
Getting some incline pushups in while Jerry and the kids walked the Upper Geyser Basin trail in Yellowstone.
Following are some examples of workouts I’ve done on recent travels that don’t require a gym or any special equipment.
Workout #1, which I did on my recent trip included 3 rounds of the following, which I did in the cabin we were staying at in Mammoth Hot Springs, in Yellowstone Park:
–Air Squats: 60 seconds
–Alternate Lunges: 60 seconds
–Jump Squats: 60 seconds
–Jump Lunges: 60 seconds
Rest 1 minute
Repeat (2 more times)
Total workout time: 16-20 minutes, and it is a killer. It’s a high intensity, a lot-of-bang-for-your-buck session. At least it was for me!
Workout #2, which I did on a different day during our trip involved climbing a hill that was behind our cabin as fast as I could 5 times. It took 1-1/2 minutes to ascend it as fast as I could and I’d rest going back down.Total workout time was about 16 minutes.
Workout #3, which I did during our Spring Break trip to Grand Canyon, involved doing step-ups on a big rock or stump, dips and incline pushups on a picnic table bench, air squats and lunges, and some 60-second planks, which can be done anywhere.
Getting some bench dips in at Grand Canyon while family was in tent still sleeping.
Finally, one of Steve’s tips that I’ll share in this post has to do with applying a “fitness filter” to your decisions. Whether it’s trying to decide if you should have that handful of chips or bowl of ice cream, or whether you should go to the gym to do your 20-minute workout today, or whether you should have that pitcher of beer on Tuesday night is to see if it passes the “fitness filter test.”
Ask yourself: Will it bring me closer or farther from my goal?
In conclusion, here’s a quick video clip of Steve explaining the importance of finding even a little time each day for high intensity exercise:
Next week, I’ll be reporting on “Having My Cake and Eating it Too,” which will publish on June 29, which will mark my 41st birthday. I’ll write about some of the nutrition habits I’ve adopted as part of my mid-life training program, and offer some tips that I use that have helped me prevent cravings from taking over.
National Park Trips
Yellowstone International
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