How to practice sport while traveling?

Doing a workout while traveling, may not be the first thing you think about. When i spoke to other travellers about doing some exercise, they were very surprised because “who works out on vacation?” uhm.. me. In their heads they must be thinking that I carry a gym in my backpack. But most of the time it is quite easy to take some sport equipment without looking like a turtle when you put on your backpack. So in this article I will give some tips and tricks how you can workout while traveling (with or without equipment).

When I am talking about equipment I don't mean the whole interior of your local gym (and if you could, please tell me where to buy that backpack). All jokes aside, you will not be able to take heavy stuff or huge things. Best equipment to take is something which you can build a whole workout around. You can also write down what you like to do or what training goals you have. Sometimes just a simple jump rope closes the deal. In the following list you can see what i normally take with me on my travels. Please take note, I don't take all these things with me at once. Mostly I will take 1 or 2 things.

Jump rope

A jump rope is a great tool which does not take a lot of space and will give you a great workout. Now I hear you thinking “ dude i am not going to just jump 10.000 time to make it a workout” and yes that would be quite boring. There are many variations to jumping rope and how to make it fun! just google on youtube: jump rope variations and you will find tons of it (or look at my video for some variations that i like). Jumping rope is good for: your cardiovascular system, coordination, strengthening upper and lower body and overall a great calorie burner (so you don't return with those vacation pounds)

Yoga mat

A yoga mat may be big and annoying to carry, but it is super lightweight and fits easily under, or on top of your backpack. the name already says it, it is great for yoga. When traveling I like to keep up my  mobility/flexibility and when there is a mat under my butt it goes a whole lot easier than on the cold hard floor. Besides yoga it can also be used to do some basic gym exercises (planking, push ups etc.). starting the day with some yoga gives me the energie physically and mentally, what makes it worth to take a mat with me

Gymnastic rings

I have been practising calisthenics (bodyweight exercises) for about 3,5 years and I am used to training on a bar or bridge but when traveling those might not always be around. Therefore taking rings with you gives you the opportunity to train wherever there is a tree (check if it's sturdy enough) or ceiling you can hang it from. Rings are moving freely to the air which makes them much harder than a still bar. But with some practise you will get the hang of it (no pun intended). Because they move freely it requires your muscles to move in a different manner which may lead to more muscle gains. If you fold the rings with the straps, they should easily fit in your backpack. The only downside is that a pair of rings weigh around 1kg, quite some grams more than the rope and mat.

Elastic bands 

Elastic bands are a good support when normal body weight movements are becoming too easy. For example you can make: push ups \ pull ups \ squats a lot harder than without. they will recruit more stabilizing muscles and you will help you focus on control.The resistance from the bands will push you to the max of your limits and when it becomes too easy, take a band with even more resistance! I usually have bands in the range from 5kg to 25 kg, this supports my training in the most effective way. Check for yourself what kind of bands you would need. Also the lower resistance bands are great for mobility training (keep those shoulders healthy!)

Running shoes

Probably the most expected one on this list. Very lightweight and easy to fit in your backpack or tie them under the backpack. Running while traveling is a great way to explore more of the area. You go slow enough to experience everything around you (in contrast to a motorbike) and fast enough to see more, than if you were walking. Make sure to choose the right type of running shoes for your feet for the area that you're going to run. But maybe if you are lucky you can run barefoot on the beach ;)

Parallettes 

now parallettes are quite specific when it comes to taking training equipment with you. They are mostly used for more extreme versions of body weight training. You can ofcourse still take them if you are a beginner but there plenty of other options that won't take up all the space in your backpack. But if you are already an intermediate calisthenics athlete, you might want to consider taking them with you. Make sure to take some quality ones with you because the cheaper ones have not the greatest grip for your hands.