Welcome back to this week’s edition of 2-Minute Tuesdays where we are talking about one exercise topic for two minutes and giving you three reasons why you should follow our advice. Now this week, we are talking to those of you who are frequent flyers. What things do you have to do with your exercise to make sure your body can withstand the demands of travel?
1) Make Sure You Are Doing Resistance Training
Tip number one – make sure you are consistently doing total-body resistance training. Sitting in a plane for long periods of time can be very stressful for your muscles and joints. Make sure you are keeping them as healthy as possible before and after you fly by doing resistance training on a regular basis.
Action Step: At a minimum, you need to be getting two days a week of resistance training in. If you are unsure of what you should be doing for your resistance training, check out our podcast titled, “The Exercise Pyramid”. You can also find a list of some of the top trainers we recommend here.
Related: Traveling a lot? Here’s how to stay on top of your exercise and nutrition.
2) Workout Before You Fly, Not After
Tip number two – if you are going to workout the day of a flight, workout before you fly, not after. Flying can be very stressful on your body, from sitting in smaller seats to the different air pressures in the cabin, so if you are going to exercise the day of a flight, do so before, not after, your body has been stressed from the flight.
Action Step: Travel days are not an excuse to miss the gym. Just make sure to get your workout in before you get on the plane. Even if it is going for a run before you head to the airport, that will be a better alternative than trying to workout after you land.
Related: Morning Workouts – 3 Things To Make Sure You Are Doing
3) Do Isometrics After Your Flight
Tip number three – if you are feeling achy after you get off the plane, consider going to your hotel room and doing some isometrics for the areas of your body that are feeling a little tight. We have created an entire ebook on this topic, but essentially, instead of trying to stretch to relax the tight muscles, you will be doing isometrics to try to re-engage the muscles that are not working well. We often see this approaching helping to relieve the tight muscles in addition to improving the function of the underactive muscles.
Action Step: You can download our free ebook on this topic here, “The 5-Minute Mobility Check”. Enjoy!
