This is not a bad thing, after all, work is incredibly important and business trips are the time to network, learn about your industry and company, and engage with other sides of your industry that you never have the chance to talk to.
However, you should not allow these great events and networking opportunities to get in your way of keeping your body fit and active the way you know you should and keeping your fitness level up.
If you spend a few days or a few weeks going to a business event and decide to not exercise while you are there, you will end up losing some of your hard-earned gains, even if it is just a little bit of them.
So what do you do? What can you do for your body on a business trip? Here we have created a short guide to help you find ways to stay in shape on a business trip.
Maintain Some Kind Of Diet
The most important thing to do when you are on a business trip is to maintain some kind of diet.
We know this is difficult, especially considering that oftentimes great food and drink are a big part of these types of events.
But that is the trap that exists on business trips as diets are the most important part of maintaining a good figure.
Whether it’s keeping to the same meal plan, not drinking alcohol, or even taking the right supplements, you need to keep some form of considered diet there, and you need to make sure you are taking care of your body.
It doesn’t have to be much, but some resemblance of health will be enough to get through those few days.
For example, after a long day of networking at your business event and not eating, you go back to the hotel and order what? A pizza? Some beers? Maybe even a restaurant dinner?
You shouldn’t do that. If you can get food from a healthy or vegan restaurant, it’ll taste good and be much better for you.
Even just going to a 24-hour convenience store and buying some fruit and maybe their healthiest meal deal would be better for you.
We realize you are probably not going to have time to eat healthy all the time. Again, just do what you can when you have the opportunity to do so.
These kinds of trips don’t allow for that, but try to squeeze in at least two healthy meals a day. It’ll be easier on your body and make it easier for you to get back to the fitness level you were originally at.
Eating junk food the entire time might be able to get you through a few short trips, but after that, you are going to feel energy-depleted and your fitness levels will suffer even after you return.
DIY Your Workout Routine
Another important thing that you can do while on a business trip is to maintain some kind of workout routine.
We know, we know, we just mentioned how most people on these trips have very little time to themselves. So how can we possibly think that you can find time to commit to a workout routine?
Well, in this next section, we want to cover opportunities that will exist that will be right in front of you that will make a world of difference!
Due to the lack of time and possibly the lack of equipment and facilities, you need to DIY your workout routine and get back to basics.
A lot of the basic or low-maintenance exercises are actually incorporated into a lot of our modern workout routines, they just serve the roles of warm-ups or post-workout exercises.
But they are incredibly effective at building and maintaining gains, as well as, very quick and very simple.
So, the first suggestion would be to establish a HIIT routine. HIIT, or High Intensity Interval Training, is, as the name suggests, a high intensity workout that lasts no more than 30 minutes and as low as 10 minutes.
It includes a number of workouts in a short space of time.
For example, for a 10-minute HIIT workout, you may do high kicks, jumping jacks, knee highs, back kicks, squats, high kicks, push-ups, lunges, and sit-ups, for 45 seconds each with a 15-second rest, and then a minute of burpees to finish.
Another option is to do one big activity in one 15-minute burst, like running.
This way you may only get to work out one area, but you can keep it maintained and do different workouts each day of the trip.
However, for this one, you need to keep to a strict routine, because any veering will result in a loss of gains.
Finally, you could bring or find low-maintenance equipment. Resistance bands, TRX belts, or your own water weights can become a great form of resistance training while you are out of town.
All you have to do is know how to use them. Resistance bands and TRX belts are good for strength and resistance training and water weights are great for targeting certain muscle groups. But keep in mind, if didn’t bring anything with you, there are still plenty of exercises or yoga and stretching that can be done.
DIYing your workout routine may be hard, but if you give it some thought, it should be easy to do.
Schedules, schedules, schedules
Know your business trip’s schedule. It will be very difficult to plan your workout routine if you don’t know what your schedule is and what you will be doing while at the event.
You don’t want your boss to come into your hotel room as you work up a sweat, furious because you missed the meeting with the steel company from Ontario he is trying to form a deal with.
With a schedule, you can plan short bursts of exercise throughout the day, without worrying about this or losing your fitness level.
As such, ask for your schedule and plan your Qwik workouts accordingly. Otherwise, you will find it very difficult to maintain your shape and fitness level.
If you want to maintain what you gained, then you need to make sure you get to bed at a decent time.
It doesn’t have to be super early, but try to keep it before midnight or 1am. Getting a full night’s sleep is incredibly important to our body’s ability to keep itself functioning in the proper capacity.
Drink Water, Not Caffeine
Caffeine is a drug that is great when you need a little extra push to get you through a long day (and it can be found in coffee, soda, and many other drinks), but it is incredibly bad for your body when you are trying to maintain a fitness level while you are on a trip.
You need to make sure that you are drinking water while you are on a trip and that you are trying to avoid anything caffeinated. Or at least do your best to balance the caffeinated drinks with noncaffeinated drinks in a one-for-one ratio.
Caffeine can also prevent you from sleeping, and the likelihood is it will be offered everywhere you go. Being powered by caffeine will keep you functioning for a few annoying days, but will be incredibly bad for you overall, and you will crash at some point.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are many things you can do to stay in shape on a business trip.
However, it can only work if you implement them properly.
We are not saying that you have to follow a completely strict plan, that just won’t work due to the pressures of the trip. But try to implement a flexible plan that keeps you from losing all of your gym gains.
Hi, my name is TJ Daniels. I am a certified personal trainer dedicated to health and fitness for the past 20+ years. We have found that consistency is the key to wellness and our company is founded on this philosophy. If you would like to learn more, please see our About Us page or Contact Us with questions, feedback, suggestions for future content, or collaboration opportunities. Let’s enjoy this journey together!
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