How to stay fit on vacations

Your Travel Essentials to Pack

It might be a business trip you are going to, or perhaps a family vacation to an uncrowded place. The point is, you might be going away, but how to stay fit on vacations, and what should you pack for your travel?

The summer might be over for some, the COVID crisis might have mixed up all of your travel plans, but it still doesn’t mean that you will stay at home all the time.

In this article, I’ll talk about the essentials you should consider to pack going on a vacation, whether you travel by car or flying.

Training equipment

Depending on where you are going to, you might not need any of the equipment with you.

If you are staying in a city, you can check out the gyms in the area, if that’s convenient for you.

Look them up on the internet in advance, and check their location, conditions, and whether you can drop by.

Many of the big hotels have a gym, too. And you might be surprised by how well some of them are equipped!

However, if you won’t have access to a gym or you don’t want to go there, then take a set of resistance bands with you.

They don’t take much of space, they are light, and you can work out with them anywhere.

If you are traveling by car, you could even take a couple of light dumbbells or just one kettlebell with you.

Meal prep bag

Unless you visit your family or have access to a kitchen, where you can cook by yourself while on vacation, there is a good chance you would benefit from having a meal prep bag with you.

What is a meal prep bag? A meal prep bag usually comes together with meal containers you can store your food in. It also comes with ice packs, and it helps to keep food fresh longer.

This kind of bag is especially essential if you are longer on the road and won’t have access to a fridge or car fridge.

Which bag to choose?

I have two different meal prep bags, a Backpack by Six Pack Fitness and the Trunk Bag by Fitmark. Both are really great and keep the food fresh and cooled for a few hours.

I find a backpack is more convenient when I travel by train and I’m on my feet most of the time. I can put in all my stuff like my laptop, some clothes, and other utilities I need.

A bigger bag only for your meals, like the Trunk bag I have, is very convenient when you drive a car. Just recently, I put the bag in test when we were traveling by car from Germany to the South of France. First, we drove for seven hours straight on the first day. Then we had a sleepover in a hotel with no fridge in it, and then we went on for four hours on the next day, and then as if it wasn’t enough, we took an overnight ferry to the island Corsica. 

We had our frozen ice pack during the first day, and all the food stayed cold and fresh during the whole ride. On the next day, some food was still fresh. And on the second day, we used the bag to take some food with us onto the ferry.

While on our vacation, we used the bag to store our food when we went the beach. It was very helpful!

And by the way, all of those bags have so many different pockets. I’m loving it!

Snacks

Additionally to the fresh foods you have to keep cool, don’t forget to bulk up for the road with different kind of snacks you don’t have to cool.

Options here are literally endless: snack bars, bars made of dried fruits, protein bars, oat bars, rice cakes, fruits, some fresh vegetables like carrots, cucumber, tomatoes, cookies, and anything else you might like and you can find in your local store.

My favorites are dried fruit bars, energy balls (the same as bars, but in a ball form), and rice cakes.

Check out this page for great snacks, and get 10% off with my promo code “Elena10”.

Supplements

Sometimes it’s still hard to plan your meals or even get some healthy meals during travel. In this case, some supplements can be convenient.

Here are my recommendations:

Whey protein is great to have some extra protein. The benefit of whey protein is that it’s digested fast. You can drink it after your workout as well.

Casein protein is great as a meal replacement. It will give you an extra portion of slower digested protein, and it will keep you satiated longer. It’s great if you are going to have long stretches without any food. Another option is to have a protein blend, where whey protein is already mixed with the casein protein.

There is also oat powder, which is plain oats in powder form. It’s great to add into your shake to have some extra slow digested carbs and fiber.

If you know that you won’t have an optimal and balanced diet on your travel, it might be beneficial to take with you some multivitamins and omega-3.

The great thing is that all you need in addition to the mentioned supplements is water only.

Oh, and don’t forget to take some essential medicines with you, in case you feel bad, hurt yourself, or get food poisoning. In my opinion, painkillers, band-aids, loperamide, and stuff like that are a must-have on travel.

Sport shoes and clothes

And finally, don’t forget your clothes you can work out in.

Yes, you can train barefoot, in any clothes, and even naked! But if you are going to work out on your vacation, it might be a good idea to take with you sport shoes and clothes.

Elena Biedert

Elena Biedert is an award-winning and globally recognized pre- and postnatal coach, internationally published author and model. Driven by her son’s traumatic birth with an unexpected c-section that almost took her life, Elena founded "Mama Fitness Coaching“ to support other mothers. With a holistic approach, Elena focuses on helping new mothers recover and reach their fitness goals post-pregnancy so that they can feel confident and strong without sacrificing important time with their loved ones.

September 30, 2020

Elena Biedert

Elena Biedert is an award-winning and globally recognized pre- and postnatal coach, internationally published author and model. Driven by her son’s traumatic birth with an unexpected c-section that almost took her life, Elena founded "Mama Fitness Coaching“ to support other mothers. With a holistic approach, Elena focuses on helping new mothers recover and reach their fitness goals post-pregnancy so that they can feel confident and strong without sacrificing important time with their loved ones.

September 30, 2020

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