Resisting the urge to skip your usual workout can be hard when you travel. Your schedule is all over the place, you have long working hours, stress and sleepless nights to deal with, and time is precious. So, to help you out here are 5 top tips to reduce your chances of skipping that all-important workout.

1. Have a plan

Don’t make it up as you go along. Know what you want to do, how long you’ll workout, and where you’ll exercise.

Will it be cardio, weights or mat exercises, or a mix of 2 or 3?
Do you want to fit in a quick 5 minutes or attempt a marathon hour long session?
Are you planning on hitting the hotel gym, the great outdoors or stay put in your hotel room?

2. Have a backup plan

Nothing in life is certain, especially your work schedule. So, have a few options. If the cardio machines are busy have a bodyweight circuit to hand as a backup. If the weight rack is limited or non-existent, you want to know what else you can do as an alternative. If you’re not sure what you can do, go online and Google ‘bodyweight exercises’, ‘simple resistance exercises’ and ‘interval cardio’.

3. Keep your workouts short and sweet

The shorter it is, the more chance you have of sticking with it. Of course, the shorter it is, the higher the intensity needs to be. That means speeding up the cardio, doing harder bodyweight exercises, or giving yourself less rest. Research shows that shorter, more intense workouts produce faster results and keep
your metabolism high for up to 24 hours afterwards.

4. Keep it varied

Variety is the spice of life and your savior when it comes to escaping exercise boredom. Doing the same workout, day in, day out is sure to put you off working out very quickly, so the more options you have open to you, the better.

Workout in the hotel gym, swim in the pool, exercise in your hotel room or the park… Even use the hotel stairs. Again, Google ‘cardio workouts’, ‘bodyweight exercises’ and ‘workouts with no equipment’ for different ideas – be open to fresh exercises and ideas.

5. Fit it in before breakfast

There’s no better time to workout – you’re fresh, your working day has yet to start, and it’s just before showering and dressing. Leaving your exercise until later in the day is a big mistake unless you’re disciplined.

With deadlines to meet, business meetings, on the go all the time, you’ll be exhausted by the end of the day.

Start your day in the right way. Charge your batteries early, and feel virtuous at breakfast.