Bending over backwards and jumping through hoops: How the business traveler stays fit - Articles

Melpomene Journal, Fall-Winter, 2001 by Mary Miller

When you're climbing the ladder of success and pulling out all the stops to be at the top of your game, take a fitness break to avoid going over the edge -- especially when you're on the road. Business travel has always had its own built-in, guilt-free excuses to skip exercising -- no room to pack weights in your briefcase or suitcase, remote destinations far from gyms and health centers, an itinerary so tight that there's no time to squeeze in exercise. Beware: these excuses don't fly anymore.

In fact, if you are flying, you may not even get to your destination without a reminder that you could be a bit healthier. Just when you reach a comfortable cruising altitude and are ready to settle back with a good book, you could be faced with an in-flight exercise routine.

Not only do airlines recommend in-flight exercises for a more comfortable and less fatiguing trip, some show instructional videos on extended flights. Lufthansa offers "Flyrobics," 10 minutes of computer-animated stretches for your whole body, and Northwest's "Airobics" features seven minutes of stretching and relaxation techniques.

Rumor has it some airlines may get even more serious about travel fitness by making passengers carry their own luggage to the plane and load it. Keep your fingers crossed they don't adopt parachuting to promote a more invigorating arrival!

But fitness goes beyond exercise, especially for business travelers. Here are some routes a few people take to on-the-road fitness.

The Opportunist

Northwest flight attendant, Rita Kearns, said, "For me, fitness means eating right, getting enough sleep and exercising. Sometimes I feel like I have to choose." But sometimes there is no choice for Kearns. Flight schedules aren't always conducive to her sleep schedule so she compensates by paying closer attention to eating right and exercising.

She packs travel-hardy fruit and high-energy snacks. She also keeps a large bottle of water within reach at all times. "Lots of water intake is vital to feeling well," she said. "And I've found full water bottles are a great alternative to packing weights. You can use them to work out and stay hydrated."

As a 22-year travel veteran, Kearns has observed one of the biggest fitness dilemmas faced by business travelers is the hours they're forced to keep, not only in travel time but the extended days imposed by companies trying to get the most bang for their buck.

The multiple meetings that businesses pile on top of informational seminars, strategy sessions and dinners, leave little time to squeeze in an exercise routine. Kearns faces the same narrow windows of fitness opportunity in her profession.

Her advice? Do what you can. Rather than agonizing over not having enough time for a workout, she finds 10-minute blocks, three times a day, when 30-minute blocks are unavailable. She keeps her eyes open for fitness opportunities, like taking the stairs instead of the elevator, speed walking at a local shopping mall or jogging around the hotel parking lot. "Doing something is better than doing nothing," she said.

"And," she adds, "tapping your foot while waiting to check in luggage or board a plane is not enough to keep you feeling fit when you travel."

Unhurried and Unharried

Char Franey, a senior analyst for 3M, has a different take on travel fitness. She said that since most business trips are go, go, go, travel fitness for her focuses on the slow, slow, slow. "I need to stay relaxed to feel fit," she said, explaining why she always does a 20-minute stretch-out at the end of a travel day. She uses an eye mask and earplugs to shut out the world and fully concentrate on stretching fatigued muscles.

"I've even been known to lie down in hotel lobbies (sans mask and earplugs) to do this, because there are times I just need to be horizontal," Franey commented. "Of course, if you're traveling internationally, this could cause some problems," she added. She's gotten plenty of astonished looks from people in countries where public stretching or exercise is culturally unheard of, compared to the laissez-faire attitude, stateside, where people will politely step around her without getting involved.

Franey also packs racquetballs when she travels. By putting the balls in a knotted sock and grabbing each end, she can roll this homemade massage device over tight muscles, helping to take the edge off until she can stretch out at the end of the day.

The Detail Person

If neither one of these fitness routes appeals to you, perhaps you're the business traveler who lives and breathes by her Daytimer. You choose workout-friendly hotels, based on their stare-of-the-art facilities or guest privileges with a local health club. When you can, you stay at larger chain hotels, so you can dial room service and have a NordicTrack or WalkFit treadmill delivered to your room. Or, during long layovers, you're the one who seeks out an airport fitness center. Believe it or not, Las Vegas, Chicago's O'Hare, Pittsburgh and Miami have 24-hour, walk-in activities for just $15 a pop!