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Keeping fit and eating healthy while travelling isn’t easy. Flight delays, stopovers, and long flights limit your options when it comes to healthy food and access to fitness equipment.

So, what are your options?

Nutrition

While many countries have restrictions on the type of food you can bring in, nutritional supplements are usually pretty safe. Protein bars are a great source of protein, and don’t have to be high in sugar.

Most protein powders are fine too, but probably safer to avoid egg white protein, as some countries have restrictions on egg whites, yolks, eggs, etc.

Quest Bars are a good place to start, with 21 g of protein per bar and just 4g of carbs. They’re gluten free, soy free, usually cost around $20 for 12, and convenient enough to have in your carry-on.

thinkThins are a popular alternative, with 0 g of sugar and 20 g of protein per bar, priced at around $15 for 10.

Fitness

This is hugely dependent on where you’re travelling to. Major cities like New York have a wealth of opportunities. Running Central Park’s reservoir loop, cycling from Queens to Brooklyn (CitiBike bike share available, with bike paths!), or taking advantage of outdoor swimming pools can all help you stay fit on a budget.

If you’re looking for a weights workout or personal training, many gyms and fitness centres also offer day passes.

But a day pass isn’t always the best option if you’re travelling for a week or more. Rather than paying $25 per day, it could work out cheaper to choose a hotel that has a gym on-site. Many modern hotels have world-class gym facilities that are hardly ever used!

Spinning classes are also a popular option, offering a fast-paced cardio workout that won’t take up too much of your day. Many spin studios offer discounts for your first class, and if you enjoy them, you can always pick up a spin bike when you get home!

Travel Fitness Equipment

If you’re travelling somewhere more remote, that doesn’t have access to gyms, public parks, and bike paths, you might want to bring some equipment with you.

It has to be lightweight and compact enough to travel in a small suitcase, but useful enough that you can still enjoy an effective workout.

Bodyweight exercises are your best option.

This doesn’t mean you’re limited to push ups and crunches. Suspension trainers, like the TRX training system, can be attached to a doorway in seconds, allowing you to create a total body workout.

The chest press, kneeling tricep press, single arm row, and lunges are just a few of the exercises available (and a few of my favourites!)

TRX have actually started making a kit especially for travelling, which is their lightest suspension package ever. Usually priced at just under $80, the TRX GO supports over 300 exercises to help keep you fit in just 15 minutes per day.

Resistance bands are a great alternative, but it’s much more difficult to create leg and back workouts. The benefit is you can buy the bands with different resistance levels, and an entire set won’t weight more than a couple of pounds.

Hope this gives you a few ideas on how to maintain fit while travelling! 

Until next time, 

Angel Zheng

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