No Excuses at Home or Traveling for Not Exercising

I just returned from vacation and I was once again reminded how easy it is to avoid exercise when traveling or avoid even starting while at home when you are older! When you are not in your regular routine or having not started a regular exercise routine it’s just too easy to do nothing! In reality, there are no excuses for either when you can simply get back to the basics!

If you are 25, 35 or 45 and in a location without a gym or fitness center there are a number of things you can do to maintain fitness:
• Shoot for about 50% to 65% of your normal routine no matter how loyal you are to exercise
• Plan ahead and find out what type of workout facilities your accommodations will
• Get back to basics with an in the room routine with sets of jumping jacks, push-ups, pull-ups, crunches and leg squats
• Walk up and down the hotel halls and climb stairs
• Jumping rope is harder and more intense then you might remember, 5 or 6 – 3 minute rounds are a great cardiovascular workout
• Stretchy tubes offer weight-like resistance when you pull on them. Use the tubes to build strength in your arms and other muscles.
• Buy a funky exercise DVD for your computer or iPad and create the feel of a health club aerobics class in your own room
• Work you core - core exercises don't require specialized equipment or a gym membership - core exercises train the muscles in your pelvis, lower back, hips and abdomen to work in harmony – go online and find some low impact core exercises for your trip

If you have no budget to get a gym membership or to intimidate to venture into your local gym, you can do plenty of things to get started and maintain fitness. Some recommendations include:
• Fitness balls looks like a large beach ball and are great - you can do many core exercises, including abdominal crunches, with a fitness ball. You can also use a fitness ball to improve your flexibility and balance.
• Skipping rope can be intense
• Get some stretchy resistance tubing – tubes build strength in your arms and other muscles
• Make housework a workout. Mow the lawn, weed the garden, rake the leaves or shovel the snow.
• Play with your kid; join them for a game of tag or kickball
• Walk them to the park
• Take a family bike ride
• Go to a community pool
• Use ordinary household items for various upper and lower body exercises:
o Canned goods can serve double duty as hand weights.
o Use a chair or step stool as support when doing exercises such as leg curls. A low, sturdy step stool can become exercise equipment if you use it for step training — an aerobic exercise resembling stair climbing.
• Exercise DVDs can create the feel of a health club aerobics class in your own living room — or choose a program that'll help you improve your strength and flexibility
• You can do many exercises with little or no equipment by just using your body weight like push-ups, pull-ups, abdominal crunches and leg squats

Muscle mass naturally diminishes with age. "If you don't do anything to replace the lean muscle you lose, you'll increase the percentage of fat in your body," "But strength training can help you preserve and enhance your muscle mass — at any age." If you don’t use it, you will lose it!