Exercise is one of the best ways to fight jet lag, travel fatigue, and stiffness that comes from sitting on a plane or in a car all day. This is my FAVORITE, super-simple workout that can be done ANYWHERE. It’s a foolproof hotel workout just about anyone can tackle.
As soon as you get to your hotel, knock out 100 burpees for time. Pro Tip: DON’T go for a personal record here. (Though if tracking your 100 burpee time is something you actually do, I guess you CAN go for it?)
Also, if you’re staying in a place where you don’t want to make too much noise, maybe cut out the jump portion at the very end, but do make sure you’re extending those hips. I demonstrate a few “no-jump” burpees in the video above, mixed in with more standard reps.
Instead, keep effort at 75-80% of what you might feel is your max for that day. Break these up into manageable sets, even sets of 4 or 5 if you have to. The key is to keep moving, get the blood pumping, and elevate your heart rate on a day when you might otherwise be skipping a workout.
[Learn the fascinating history of the burpee!]
Make sure you’re bringing those feet nice and wide, outside the hands. This allows you to land with your heels, rather than your toes. You want to have your feet flat on the ground before the little jump at the end of the movement. I demonstrate this around (0:52). This will also help avoid excess impact on your knees.
The goal is to get in a little movement on the road, not develop crazy soreness in your joints!
[Love kettlebell workouts? Take the BarBend Kettlebell Challenge!]
You’ll actually notice in the video above that I break on form a bit and let my toes come off the ground in the bottom of the push-up portion of this movement. I probably shouldn’t have recorded this AFTER doing 100 burpees for time! 😉
What’s your favorite travel workout? Let us know in the comments below, and we’ll try it out and report our results/thoughts!