Many business travelers struggle to get enough fitness in while on the road, and this problem can be compounded in the cooler months of the winter. With some prior preparation and a bit of kit, you can still get great workouts during winter business travel.
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Barriers to working out during winter business travel
Reasons people don’t work out in the winter:
- Weather and Temperature: Colder temperatures, snow, and inclement weather can make outdoor workouts less appealing or even unsafe. People may be less motivated to go for a run, bike ride, or participate in other outdoor activities when it’s cold and wet outside. This can be compounded by travel to northern states (in the US), where the weather may be worse than home states.
- Daylight Hours: In the winter, the days are shorter, and it gets dark earlier. This reduced daylight can make it challenging for people to find time to exercise, especially if they prefer outdoor activities. Some may find it difficult to get motivated to work out in the dark.
Reasons people don’t workout during any business travel:
- Time Constraints: Business travelers often have tight schedules, including meetings, conferences, and work-related commitments. These time constraints can make it difficult to find time for exercise. This can also include team or social events, which when they involve alcohol may reduce the interest in working out the next day.
- Unfamiliar Environment: Traveling to an unfamiliar city or country may make it more challenging to locate suitable workout facilities or safe places to exercise. This lack of familiarity can discourage people from engaging in physical activity.
- Fatigue: Traveling, especially across different time zones, can lead to jet lag and fatigue, making it less appealing to work out. Many travelers may prioritize rest to be alert for their business responsibilities.
- Lack of Equipment: Some business travelers prefer specific types of exercise or equipment that may not be readily available in hotel gyms or the local area. This can be a perceived barrier to working out during a trip.
Benefits of working out during winter business travel
Seasonal depression, burnout, and poor nutrition are all too common among the road warrior class of business people, especially in the winter months. Breaking the daily travel cycle of sleep, work, eat, drink, repeat can have amazing impact on your mind and body. As an additional benefit, getting outdoors can improve next day recovery by at least a percentage point (as reported by Whoop).
- Increase caloric burn during exercise (which can help manage weight and build muscle)
- Improve cardiovascular fitness
- Improve overall mood
- Assist with better sleep
- Reduce stress
- See new places (generally with very few people around)
- Build resilience (through enduring difficult conditions)
So what help do you need capturing the benefits of winter workouts?
Strategies to increase workouts during winter business travel
There are two main areas of fitness to plan for during winter business travel – indoor workouts and outdoor workouts. We’ll unpack both but as in most things, prior preparation prevents piss poor performance (the 6 Ps).
Maximize indoor workouts during business travel
Indoor workouts are a great way place to start when traveling. Most hotels have at least a minimal gym with some weights and cardio machines. They are generally safe and comfortable to get some form of exercise in. If I’m traveling regularly to the same location, I’ll test out hotel gyms and eventually settle on the hotel with the best gym for me.
- Hotel selection – getting workouts in during business travel starts with hotel selection. I’m a big fan of hotelgyms.com, where they’ve got 100k+ hotel gyms categorized.
- Research local gyms on Google Maps
- Get to bed at a decent hour
- Maximize hotel sleep to be energized for the morning
- Set your alarm (big fan of the Whoop vibration alarm)
- Plan out your workouts throughout the week. Here’s 15 hotel gym workouts to get you started. Write it down on your reMarkable to increase accountability.
- If you use a workout app like Pelaton, you can use it to guide cardio or weight lifting sessions. Bonus – the Pelaton app also doubles as a guided meditation tool.
- Pack enough workout clothes and shoes for the workouts you plan to get on your trip
- Block time on your Outlook calendar for the workout (and following shower)
- Find a buddy – if you travel regularly with other people, recruit them to go to the gym with you
Peleton
Tough up and get to an outdoor workout in
- Hotel selection is still important for outdoor workouts. I use Strava’s segment finder to find local running routes
- Pack the right equipment – in the winter a headlamp and gloves go a long way to making a cold, dark run tolerable.
- Pack appropriate clothing and shoes
- Track your progress on a Whoop to see the impact of your workout
- Switch up your routine and get an afternoon / evening run in during ours of light (and skip that team dinner)
- Look for local activities and join in (e.g., running clubs, local cross country skiing, just walking around a big city)
- Stay visibile while exercising outside – start with a headlamp but also consider reflective apparel
Tools to make winter workouts suck less
The British have a great saying, “There’s no such thing as bad weather, only improper clothing.” (actually attributed to Brit Alfred Wainwright). I think this same mentality applies to working out outdoors in the winter. It isn’t always pleasant but good clothing goes a long way to making it comfortable.
- Headlamp – I personally use the Black Diamond Storm 400 (which is on the more expensive side), but I also recommend the USB rechargable Hoxida headlamp. Both have >400 lumens and don’t bounce too much while moving. Headlamps help you see where you’re going, increase security during your run, and allow motorists to identify you as well.
- Clothing – outdoor workout clothing is very specific to the person and the environment, so we won’t provide specific recommendations. The biggest keys here for travel are (1) make sure you pack them before you leave and (2) use clothing that’s moisture wicking. When in doubt, use layers so that you can customize based on conditions.
- Top – think layers for the top of your body. I often layer a short sleeve workout shirt with a longer sleeve one or a light fleece. You can also layer a wind jacket (recommendation below) to keep the chill out.
- Bottoms – the general rule is that when temps drop below 40F, start covering your legs for workouts. I’m a big fan of running tights for cold weather, though joggers or looser warmup pants will also work.
- Hat – A lightweight, but warm hat makes all the difference on a cold morning. I’m a huge fan of Under Armour’s Storm Beanie. They are comfortable, breathable, and plenty warm (especially once you start moving).
- Gloves – Gloves are another item that can make a huge difference to comfort on a chilly job. I recommend a lightweight pair of gloves that will take the chill off without being too bulky. Obviously level up to better insulation if you’re working out in extremely cold climates. I’m a big fan of the Unigear gloves as they are inexpensive and have touch screen compatible fingers (to start that Strava track).
- Patagonia Houdini jacket – This is a special call out as I actually keep one of these jackets in my briefcase all year long. The Houdini is an ultra light wind jacket that can be paired with an insulation layer (mentioned above) to create a warm combination for very cold mornings. This jacket packs up to smaller than a laptop charger and weighs only 4 oz.
- Ice and snow cleats – Running on icy trails (especially in the dark) can be dangerous, but adding running cleats will greatly increase your traction. These G3 Cleats are made of rubber and easily pack in your carry on.
- Headphones – In the spirit of trying to use everything on travel for more than one thing , my recommendation is to use AirPod Pros for workouts. Bonus – if you’re running late from your workout for a call, you can use the new tap to mute feature.
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