Hotel workouts are tough, but worth it

Plan A was to work out every morning for at least an hour. After all, the hotel’s fitness room was one of the best I’ve seen. It had treadmills, elliptical machines, Peleton bikes, and a full dumbbell set of weights up to 75 pounds. Plus, plenty of other lifting machines. An hour a day? In the morning? No problem.

Well, almost no problem.

Ever work out on a vacation? It’s always a great plan, but tricky to execute. At least it is for me. I recently took my family to Las Vegas for a celebration vacation: both of my daughters graduated this year — the oldest from college, the youngest from high school. Because of COVID, it wasn’t the easiest year for them, either. Most of their classes were online. They spent a lot of time in their rooms on Zoom. Even my wife worked from home.

We had to get out! And boy, did we. We spent all day by the pool, then our afternoon and evenings exploring Las Vegas. And the food — oh my goodness — the food was amazing. Mornings were for workouts. We are a morning crew. Both of my kids are college athletes and my wife, Amy, and I are extremely active. That wasn’t the issue. We made it to the fitness room every day. The intensity of the workout was the issue.

First day: Hour. Killed it.

Second day: 45 minutes. Good workout.

Third day: 30 minutes. Tired, but made it through.

Fourth day: 20 minutes. Quick and dirty. Wasn’t the best, but I had a tee time. And I was tired.

As I plan more travel with upcoming sports seasons and through work, my goal is to make it to the fitness centers on a regular basis. And let me tell you, that isn’t always easy. I’m proud of myself for making it there and doing a workout every day. I do think it helps counter some of the splurging from drinks and meals for the week.

Best advice to make it stick during trips? Plan on, at least, a walk on the treadmill. It’s better than nothing, right? Have some sort of free weight plan. I use the Peleton app a lot on road trips. It’s like having a trainer in your pocket. It even has bodyweight workouts, meaning you don’t need weights. Combine a bodyweight workout with some treadmill and that’s not a bad workout.

Have fun this summer traveling. Find those hotels or locations that have access to a fitness center and plan your workouts as best you can. It’ll make the shock of coming home and stepping on a scale manageable.

Enjoy the issue.