heraldtribune.com: Southwest Florida's Information Leader

Friday, June 27th, 2003.

PHOTOS BY ROB C. WITZEL/NYTRENG

Fitness counselor Karen Coley demonstrates hotel-room exercises by performing lunges using a phone book.

Fitness tips for travelers

1. Drink a minimum of eight 8-ounce glasses of water each day. Airport food, sitting on a plane, jet lag - all contribute to bloat. The best way to fight it is to stay hydrated.

2. Use good body mechanics when you lift your suitcases up to the check-in counter. Lift from your knees, not your back. Be aware of your posture as you carry your bags.

3. Even though you've left behind your daily routine, try to eat three meals a day, maintain a balanced diet and eat plenty of fruit and vegetables. If you're going to eat a high-fat meal, eat a smaller portion, or order an appetizer instead of a main course. Split desserts with a friend.

4. Rest. If your schedule is shot and you're not sleeping enough at night, take cat naps whenever you get the chance.

5. Stretch in the morning and evening, especially if you've been sitting all day.

6. If you will be drinking alcohol at business mixers, drink a lot of water between events.

7. Pack snacks: bananas and apples, yogurt, protein bars. You can make meal replacement shakes in your room. No, you don't need a blender, just a container with a tightfitting lid, large enough to shake the contents.

_ Karen Coley, fitness educator

On the road to fitness

Maintain healthy habits and your workout schedule when traveling

By Julie Garrett
NYT Regional Newspapers

If you've worked hard to establish a good fitness routine, going on a business trip doesn't have to mean your healthy habits will be derailed.

You can keep your momentum and endorphins flowing and maintain your fitness level when traveling.

How? For one thing, keep moving.

Maura Moore, 44, of Gainesville, Fla., travels half the month in her job as a pharmacy recruiter for Cardinal Health. When she maneuvers through the Atlanta airport it's on her own two feet, not on the airport shuttle.

''When you walk from terminal A to E, it's quite a hike, especially when you're lugging your computer bag,'' she said.

When she arrives at her destination she takes advantage of the hotel's gym - ''some of the bigger hotels really do have nice workout facilities now, especially downtown hotels in Atlanta and L.A.'' - or she finds a nearby health club where she can pay a day fee (typically $10 for a day pass or $25-$35 for a week).

To find out if your gym reciprocates its membership with a gym where you'll be traveling, log onto the International Physical Fitness Association's Web site, http://www.ipfa.us/, or ask at your home health club before you leave town.

Moore said if she wants to go for a walk or a run in an unfamiliar place, she chats up the concierge. That's how she discovered Town Lake Park, a beautiful, safe spot in Austin, Texas, frequented by joggers.

When you' re traveling, you're typically in unfamiliar territory, out of your daily routine. That can mean more stress.

''Exercise when you're on the road helps you unwind,'' said Karen Coley, who has been a fitness counselor and educator at Gainesville Health and Fitness Center for 25 years.

Coley said three to five days off from a strength routine can give your muscles a rest. But you wouldn't want to go a week or more without serious exercise, and a short respite for your biceps doesn't mean you should ever let your cardio workout go.

For more fitness options, place in your luggage a Resist-A-Tube or any of the home exercise tubing, a stability ball, jump rope or exercise video.

''If you like classes, make your own class in your room,'' she said. If you work with a personal trainer, ask him or her to design an exercise plan before you leave town. When you're sitting on a plane or in a conference room, take deep breaths occasionally, tighten your stomach muscles, then relax.

Travelers need to periodically flex and stretch the hamstrings and hip flexors, the muscle at the upper part of the leg that connects into the pelvis.

For women who spend the day in high heels, a walk around the room toe-up, heel-down will stretch the calves muscles. Or, do toe raises by putting the heels on the floor and stepping up onto a telephone book.

Men often complain of being cramped when traveling, Coley said. They need to stretch their lower back and legs. She recommends the cat stretch. Get up on your hands and knees, arch your back for 15 seconds, then release. Repeat.

Other fitness professionals point out that the more comfortable you are with operating fitness machinery at your home gym, the easier it will be to set up unfamiliar equipment when you're on the road.

And consider Thera-Bands, which you can buy online and at most sporting goods stores. Thera-Bands are heavy-duty elastic tubing, graded by color according to elasticity and tightness, that you can use in resistance exercises. They are easy to pack and you can do a complete maintenance workout with them.

Coley performs standing push-ups.

Gary Schneider, 52, is on the road four or five days a month for his marketing business in Gainesville. When he's in a hotel without a gym, he does a 20- to 30-minute cardio workout on the stairs. His hotel-room workout consists of push-ups, sit-ups and dips.

''I usually do it like a circuit,'' he said. He jumps rope at the end of each circuit, then starts the whole series over again. ''I'll do that for 30 or 40 minutes.''

He's run in London's Hyde Park, and the Lake Trail along Palm Beach.

''When you're traveling you get a chance to run in some of the most beautiful places in the world,'' he said. ''There's always something you can do. It's just a matter of doing it.''

(Julie Garrett writes for The Gainesville (Fla.) Sun.)

Coley exercises using items commonly found in hotels, such as this towel.

For more information

Check out these Web sites for more information about staying fit on the road.

WOMEN FITNESS
http://www.womenfitness.net/

Tips for exercise, muscle fitness and home exercises you can do while traveling. Top 10 tips on a variety of topics, free fitness analysis, fitness articles.

Fact sheets about many aspects of fitness, from choosing the right sneakers to eating well and exercising correctly.

_ NYT Regional Newspapers

Last modified: June 16. 2003 3:39PM

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