Jake looked good.
As he walked through the annual Christmas party with his wife, everyone was amazed at how good he looked.
You see, at the beginning of the year, Jake was overweight and out of shape. His clothes fit a little too snug, and he had no energy.
He made a commitment to get back into shape. The problem was that he often didn’t have time to get to the gym.
Over the last year, he spent a week in Atlanta, three days in Las Vegas, and another week in Florida for work. He also spent two weeks visiting family out of state.
On top of that, when he was home, he worked about 60 hours a week, and has a young family to care for.
How did he manage to lose so much fat and get in the best shape he has been in for twenty years?
He took the advice of CBRC’s fitness manager, Morgan Fewel. She says getting in a workout when you “don’t have time” is not as hard as it seems. You just need a little foresight, and a lot of commitment.
When most people travel, they tend to let their healthy eating and workout habits go. This can be easily avoided.
If you have an upcoming trip, plan. Find a hotel with access to cardio or weight training. It shouldn’t be too hard; most hotels have some sort of fitness room.
Then plan your days. Once you learn what your schedule will be, figure out when you can get in your workout. First thing in the morning? In between seminars and meetings? Pick the time that fits the schedule, and commit to it.
Make your health a priority. Don’t make excuses.
One thing that can help is telling other people at the beginning of the trip that you plan on spending some time in the fitness room every day. They may look at you cross-eyed as they munch their cream cheese bagels. But after you’ve let other people know your goals, you’ll be more likely to follow through.
You won’t want someone else to see you fail.
But what if you just can’t stay somewhere with a fitness center? It’s ok.
Check out Amazon Prime or YouTube. There are tons of good videos with body weight exercises, yoga, stretching. Jillian Michaels has lots of good stuff on YouTube. These are the workouts you can do in your hotel room.
Whether you’re travelling or at home, you can do a lot of band work. Bands are incredibly efficient. You can get some SPRI bands at Big 5 or on Amazon. They come in sets of varying resistances. You can also get an attachment to be able to anchor them to a door jamb.
Some of the basic exercises you can do with bands include rows, pushes, lateral hip work, squat and press.
You can also do body weight exercises. Do them very slowly. This will create more tension, and your body will fatigue faster.
Here’s an example. Pushups are a great exercise. They work your core, lats, pecs, triceps, and shoulders. Get in push up position, and do a 20-count all the way to the ground. Pause. Then do a 20-count all the way back up.
This gives your muscles more time under tension, so you don’t even need extra weights.
There are endless options. You just need to be aware of them.
One of the best ways to make yourself aware of them is to find just a half hour to come to the club, and work with one of our trainers. They can help you develop a personalized home workout plan. Or a travel workout plan.
So, if you’re serious about your fitness goals, but just can’t find the time, do what Jake did.
Plan for your trips. Use Amazon Prime and YouTube. Use bands. Do slow body weight exercises.
Then, at next year’s Christmas party, you will be the one people are admiring.
We wish you good health,
Columbia Basin Racquet Club