Frequent travelling can take a toll on your fitness – all those hours of sitting in the lounge, sitting on the plane, sitting at the meeting… and if you still have some motivation left when you get to the hotel, the gym or the pool might be the only solace.
The pool is usually closed at night but an increasing amount of hotel gyms are open round the clock. The problem is, if you want to pack light, a pair of trainers really does not help. Some people wear toe-shoes to the gym, but they provide little protection if you are doing weights.
The solution, it seems, is resistance training that you can do barefooted – either on a yoga mat at the gym or just using a bath towel on the floor of your hotel room.
Exercise videos can provide the extra motivation, but these DVDs vary enormously in quality, so choose carefully. Read on for some recommendations, and routines that you can follow relatively safely.
Side plank with rotation
Demonstrated by Eric Ng of Fitness First Hong Kong
The move:
- Rest on one elbow and align it with the shoulder on the same side
- Keep your hips and knees stacked
- Lift hips and the arm further away from the floor to start
- Rotate your core
- Slide the free arm under your chest while keeping the torso lifted
- Rotate back to starting position
Things to note:
- When you rotate, try to reach as far as you can while keeping your body lifted
- Lift hips high so that the torso is straightened
- Turn from the shoulder
Bicycle crunch
Demonstrated by Eric Ng of Fitness First Hong Kong
The move:
- Lie on your back
- Put hands by your ears and bring elbows in line with your shoulders
- Use the strength of your abs to raise up both your shoulders and feet
- Twist your core while lifting and bring one shoulder towards the opposite lifted knee
- Repeat on both sides
Things to note:
- Keep abs braced to achieve results
- Use your abs – not your neck – to lift your upper body
Floor hip extension
Recommended by George Sung of Fiji Fitness
The move:
- Begin on all fours with your elbows directly below your shoulders and supporting your upper body
- Your knees should be aligned directly below your hips.
- Pull your belly button into your spine and stabilise your core muscles
- Extend your right leg straight behind you
- Keeping your leg straight, lift it up as high as possible without twisting your hips
- Pause at the top of the movement
- Lower your leg back to the floor
- Complete the desired number of reps and then switch to your left leg
Things to note:
- Keep your back flat
- Don’t arch
Squats workout
Recommended by George Sung of Fiji Fitness
The move:
- Place your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart
- Lower yourself to a squat by sticking your buttocks out
- Squat down to 90 degrees or more for maximum workout
- The knees should be right above your feet
- The pressure should be on your heels
- Slowly stand up again and then repeat
Things to note:
- Keep your back straight throughout
- You may raise arms up in the squat position for balance
- A narrow-stance squat works your quadriceps more
- A wide-stance squat works your inner thighs and gluteals more
Posterior thigh and calf stretch with towel
Recommended by Sam Wong from Physical Fitness Association of Hong Kong, China
The move:
- Lie on your back on the bed
- Bend your legs at the knee but keep both feet on the bed
- Raise your right leg from the knee and curl your toes upwards
- Wrap a towel around your right foot and use your hands to grasp the towel
- Straighten your right leg and use the towel to pull up towards your torso as close as possible
- You will feel a stretch in your posterior thigh and calf muscles
- Hold the position for 15-30 seconds
- Switch legs and repeat
Things to note:
- Maintain regular breathing throughout – do not hold your breath
- Movement should be slow and steady – no bouncing
Turn on the TV
Workout videos sound like an outdated concept, but there are actually new productions worth checking out. Although the bulk of releases are still geared towards women, that’s gradually changing. Here’s our rundown of the latest options, and the best choices for frequent travellers of all fitness levels.
David Haye’s Box And Tone
www.hayemaker.com (£11.99/US$18.30)
The former WBA heavyweight champion hasn’t hired a trainer to front his first fitness DVD – he takes you through the moves himself. Wisely, he steers clear of anything fancy, and sticks to classic training moves that are easily demonstrated. There’s a choice of four workouts: Shadow Boxing, Circuit Training, Conditioning, and Abs and Core. You can use the “create a workout” feature to run them in your chosen combination – saves skipping back to the main menu in-between sections.
Hotel-room friendly? Yes – the workouts are based on compact, low-impact moves that you could do without trainers.
Equipment needed None (although a pair of boxing gloves might help you feel the part).
Irritation/boredom factor There’s no denying that these workouts are repetitive, which could get boring.
Time The workouts range from 16 to 22 minutes, but you’re urged not to skip the warm-up
(11 minutes) or cool-down (15 minutes).
Diet plan included? No.
Best for Beginners at both exercise and boxing, or those who want to minimise knee or ankle impact. Intermediates may feel unchallenged, though the circuit training is pretty tough.
Insanity
www.beachbody.com (US$119.85)
Insanity has cult status in the US and a growing following in the UK. It’s a 60-day programme of 10 workout DVDs that you do in a prescribed order, six days a week. Why it’s described as “one step from impossible” becomes clear from the first warm-up. It’s an interval-based programme – think explosive suicide jumps, switch kicks, high knees and push-ups, all at super-fast pace. What makes it so challenging is that the “hard” bit of the interval lasts for three minutes, not the usual 60 seconds, followed by a mere 15-second recovery. It’s not cheap but compared with personal training, it’s a snip, and gets similar results. You start and finish with a fitness test to mark your progress and there’s no doubt you’ll get lean and toned – if you can hack it.
Hotel-room friendly? Yes, but perhaps not for the people in the room below.
Equipment needed Trainers, and a towel for mopping up sweat.
Irritation/boredom factor This DVD gets top marks for creating a truly motivating vibe. Unlike most presenters, Shaun T does the workout while he instructs, so he sweats and gets out of breath. He leads a basketball court full of six-packed hipsters, and they go red in the face and get out of breath too.
Time From 40 minutes (Cardio Power and Resistance) to 86 minutes (Max Interval Circuit and Fit Test), which includes possibly the world’s most challenging warm-up, and a good cool-down.
Diet plan included? Yes. Comes with 70-page Elite Nutrition booklet, a workout calendar and access to an online forum.
Best for Intermediate and advanced exercisers. If you’re prone to injuries, particularly knee problems, it’s probably not for you.
Sally Brown
Safety tips
Stretching and simple resistance exercises are generally safe, but it is also easy to use the wrong muscles when doing them. In most cases you just won’t get the supposed results, but in worst-case scenarios you can pull a muscle or injure your joints. Here are some basic safety tips for
your reference:
- When doing leaps, land softly by slightly bending your knees
- When landing, the balls of the feet should touch down first, followed by the soles and then the heels
- Always keep your back straight when doing resistance training – don’t slouch and don’t arch your back
- Be focused on using the correct muscles – when you are doing abdominal crunches, get the strength from your abs, not your neck
- Don’t shrug when exercising
- While you should always push yourself a bit harder, if your posture is starting to go off, take a break and regain strength before exercising again
- If you’re doing boxing moves, remember that joints should stay soft and not be locked, and after throwing a punch or a kick, you should always retract before resuming starting position
- Maintain consistent speed in your motions, avoid jerking movements
