Resistance Bands

Hi folks! I hope everyone is thus far having a great 2010 and sticking with their goals and resolutions. If you haven't quite gotten on track, that's okay. Regain your focus and don't waste another minute feeling guilty about it. Tomorrow is always another day. Perfection is not something to strive for. On the other hand, consistently giving your best effort is a worthy goal and that's all we can ask of ourselves.

I had a request to discuss vacations, specifically how to keep from getting derailed if you leave town or have a shift in routine. For me, I have to keep my head in the game. When I know that I'll be out of town for any period of time, I try to squeeze in a workout right before I leave. If I have access to a decent hotel gym, I'll take advantage of that and go first thing in the morning (making sure to scope it out the night before so I'm not intimidated by just walking in blind). If, however, I don't have access to a gym, I bring these along:



These are my Gold's Gym resistance bands that I picked up at WalMart for about $15 dollars. Conveniently, they come with 3 different tension levels as well as a DVD (that you can watch before you leave) and written instructions (with pictures that you can take with you).

The box looks like this.



I picked up the resistance bands for a number of reasons.

(1) They are incredibly light, weighing in at less than 1 lb. so they are easily transported.

(2) I used a much more primitive version of resistance bands as a competitive swimmer and I very clearly remember the burn. Don't make the mistake of thinking that you won't get a decent muscle workout with these. The more you increase the tension, the heavier the weight.

(3) I could do a large number of exercises that I would normally do with dumbbells or a weighted curl bar - bicep curls, tricep extensions, squats, lunges - you name it!

(4) They were inexpensive, so even if I only used them a handful of times a year, it was no biggie.

I will tell you that I usually use them about once a week (on the days that I probably should go to the gym to lift, but don't make it there). You all know that my motto is JUST DO IT so there are no excuses for not squeezing in some form of exercise three or four times a week.

If you also want to throw in a bit of cardio while you're traveling, I recommend buying a simple jump rope. You'll burn as many calories jumping rope for 10 minutes as you would running and you'll get a heck of a calf burn in the process! I have a weighted Gold's Gym jump rope (that I bought at the same time as the resistance bands) and on cold, rainy days, it gets me warm and helps burn some calories.

Also, don't be afraid to go ahead and bring your running/walking shoes with you on a work trip. I've gotten to explore a number of cities by running their streets in the mornings. Just make sure that you do either an out and back route or a simple loop so that you don't find yourself lost.

So remember, when leaving town (or even when you just get swamped), make sure to plan ahead and squeeze in 30 minutes for yourself. It will do wonders for your physical and mental well being.