February 20, 2025 • 26 mins
#131 - Struggling to maintain healthy habits with a packed schedule? In this episode, I talk about practical strategies for staying fit despite the challenges of frequent travel and long desk hours. Drawing from my experiences and insights from the Inspire to Run community, you will hear ten actionable tips that busy professionals can implement immediately.
From creating an effective morning routine to quick hotel room workouts, this episode brings together wisdom from multiple perspectives, including insights from hybrid athlete Kristine Pavelchak and marketing executive Stephen Brent May. Whether you're constantly on the road or tied to your desk, these quick health solutions will help you maintain your fitness goals without disrupting your professional commitments.
Topics Covered:
- How to plan workouts around business travel and hotel fitness options
- Quick, equipment-free exercises you can do in any hotel room
- Smart strategies for maintaining nutrition and hydration while traveling
- Simple ways to stay active during long office days and airport layovers
Your Host
Richard Conner
Richard is a strategic marketing professional with experience in B2B marketing. Richard is the founder of Inspire to Run and is passionate about helping others reach their goals. He is a Connecticut native, a husband, dad, writer, Star Wars fan, and, of course, a runner!
Resources:
- Stackable Leakproof Protein Powder Dispenser
- Arbonne hydration solutions
- Incrediwear: Code for 10% off RICHARDCONNER
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, my friend.
Do you find yourself on theroad a lot or sitting at a desk
due to your busy schedule?
Does it make it challenging tostick to healthy habits?
Well, today I'm gonna talk toyou about what you can do to
maintain healthy habits evenwhen you have a busy schedule,
with 10 quick health and fitnesstips for you as a busy
(00:20):
professional.
Hope you enjoy.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Welcome to Inspire to Run podcast.
Here you will find inspiration,whether you are looking to take
control of your health andfitness or you are a seasoned
runner looking for community andsome extra motivation.
You will hear inspiring storiesfrom amazing runners, along
with helpful tips from fitnessexperts.
Now here's your host, richardConner.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Hi, my friends, Welcome to Inspire to Run
Podcast.
It's been another productiveweek of work, workouts and
podcasting for me, but myschedule has gotten a little off
track due to travel that I hadearlier in the week.
And I'm getting back on trackand I'm ready to take on what's
coming my way, including someupcoming races.
But just for some detail aroundthat, I was traveling for a few
(01:12):
days last week, so I was in thecar a lot and then I was
sitting in an office a lot.
And then this week, earlier inthe week, I had basically a one
night trip to Florida.
So I had a full day at work onMonday, then drove to the
airport, flew late at night toFlorida, had business meetings
all day the next day and thenflew back home that night.
(01:36):
So it was just really busy,really hectic and not a lot of
time for me to do what Inormally do and kind of stick to
my routine of time for me to dowhat I normally do and kind of
stick to my routine.
So while I was traveling Istarted to think about like,
well, how do I best maintain myroutine and some of the things
that I do, and I thought it'd beinteresting to share that with
all of you, and most of the timeit works.
(01:56):
But then when you have likereally compressed trips, it's
really hard to do it.
But being intentional canreally help you maintain those
healthy habits, even if you havea busy schedule, even if you
travel.
So I'm going to share thosetips with you and I'm also going
to try something a little new.
So I'm going to bring on voicesfrom our community into this
(02:18):
episode so you can heardifferent perspectives and
different tips as well.
So let's get into theconversation and I'll share with
you the 10 quick health andfitness tips to help you as a
busy professional.
So here is quick health andfitness.
Tip.
Number one is to create amorning routine, and I
(02:39):
personally love this one becauseI am more of a morning person
and if you get your workout donefirst thing in the morning, you
really can make sure that yourday doesn't interfere with your
plans.
So this works pretty well forme.
I personally don't do my morningworkout in the morning on
(02:59):
Monday through Friday, but Idefinitely do it on Saturday,
sunday.
It's practically the firstthing I do and then I can get on
with my day, and then duringthe week it's typically my
morning routine where I do somethings at home.
I get to the office, I have afull day at the office and then
I grab my gym bag and I go rightto the gym.
So I have a pretty good routinethere.
So I don't always go with themorning routine when I'm at the
(03:21):
office during the week, but thenI'll do it on the weekends and
then definitely when I travel.
I will do my workout in themorning more often than not,
because once I get into my day,especially when I'm traveling,
it's super hard to kind of fitit into my schedule there.
So create that morning routine.
And I was kind of looking backat some of my past episodes and
(03:44):
we had this conversation in anearly episode with Mike and
Marissa from Two Fit Travelers,so one of my first episodes or
first interviews and they talkedabout this kind of in the
conversation, about you know,getting it done first thing in
the morning, not letting the daykind of interfere with your
plans, and you know, if you getup and you do it early, you
could just ensure that you'renot going to be too tired later
(04:06):
on or you're not going to gofrom your business meetings to
right into dinner or otheractivities that you might have.
So it really just ensures thatyou get your workout in if you
do it first thing in the morning.
So the second quick health andfitness tip is plan your workout
schedule according to your workand travel schedule.
(04:28):
So for me, I know it's superhard to get in my workouts when
I'm traveling, especially if I'mgetting on a plane.
So going out to wherever I'mgoing that day is probably shot,
and then the day I'm comingback that day is probably no
good.
So it doesn't leave me with asmany days to get in my workout.
So what I typically do is numberone I will try to get in as
(04:51):
many workouts as I can before Itravel, and then I'll use my
travel days as my rest day.
So that's the first thing I tryto do.
The second thing is you neverknow what you're going to get
when you travel.
So like if the hotel gym mayonly have a treadmill and an
exercise bike, maybe it may nothave weights or just may not be
conducive to do the kind ofworkout that you need to do.
(05:13):
So I make sure that I get thosetypes of workouts in before I
travel, if I can.
And then when I travel, then Imay just do my run because more
likely than not I'll be able tofind a treadmill or I'll be able
to run outside.
So that's kind of easy.
But for everything else, Ireally try to do that before I
leave for my trip.
So really just kind of playingyour schedule around that in
(05:35):
terms of the types of workoutsthat you're doing, depending on
how flexible your workoutschedule is, but also the days
that you're doing them.
And again, I try to plan myrest days around the days when
I'm traveling and I know I'msimply just not going to have
the time to do my workout,whether I'm traveling on a
flight or whether I have all daymeetings, and it's just going
(05:55):
to be, you know, superchallenging for me to do that.
So those are the first two tips.
The next three tips are goingto come from a friend and
colleague of mine on theAmerican Marketing Association,
stephen Brent May.
So we both serve on the councilfor the AMA and Stephen has
such an amazing fitness story.
(06:16):
But today he's going to sharethree quick health and fitness
tips and I really hope to beable to share his story very
soon on the show.
So listen in to what Stephenhas to say.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
Hi, my name is Stephen Brentmay and I live in
Houston, texas.
I've owned a marketing agencyfor about the last seven years
and prior to that I led theglobal marketing team for a
software company, so travel hasbeen a part of my professional
life for a while.
I also was not someone thatprioritized fitness and working
(06:52):
out until a few years ago and Irealized as I got older that was
really something I needed toprioritize for my own health.
So I needed to really figureout a way to do that and make it
work for my life and mylifestyle.
So I have three tips that havereally helped me to prioritize
this and make it a part of mylife and be consistent with it.
(07:15):
So the first tip is reallyfinding something that works for
your lifestyle and thatincludes finding something you
enjoy.
Over the years, I've tried goingto the gym by myself just you
know, making up my own workouts.
I've worked with a trainer.
These things never reallyworked for me.
They didn't stick and Irealized what it was was.
(07:38):
I was making so many decisionsthroughout the day and having to
use my brain for, you know,making professional decisions
and management decisions andpeople decisions that I was just
really mentally exhausted andthe thought of figuring out what
to do, how to do it, how to doit right Even with a trainer,
(07:59):
you know, it's still thatcognitive load was really
wearing down on me, and so Ineeded something that allowed me
to just enjoy it without muchthought to it.
I never thought I was someonethat would be a group workout
person, but I tried an OrangeTheory class and I really found
myself enjoying it.
(08:20):
I realized that people aren'tthere to work out as a group.
They're really just there tocompete against themselves.
I didn't think high intensityinterval training was going to
be for me, but it's the onlything that stuck, and I've been
doing it for a little over twoyears now, and I do it pretty
consistently three to four daysa week and realize that you know
(08:42):
this is something that worksfor me, it's something I enjoy,
it's something that I've stuckwith.
So the first tip is really,once you find that thing, you
know you're good to go.
The second tip is if you'resomeone that travels a lot,
you've really got to plan foryour workouts.
You've got to make it a part ofyour schedule.
(09:03):
I'm someone that lives and diesby my calendar, so if it's not
on my calendar.
It's not real to me.
When I travel for work,especially when I have the
opportunity to choose my ownhotel, I research where is the
closest Orange Theory studio inthat area and try to book a
hotel close to it.
(09:24):
That way I know if I'm going tobe gone for five days.
I can plan two, three of thosedays to get up and work out.
If I know, my meetings start at8.30, 9,.
Let me book a 6.30 class.
I can be back to the hotel at 7, shower be ready for my
meetings.
So it's really about planningthe location and what days are
(09:48):
going to work around yourschedule.
I've even done this withleisure travel.
I've been on cruises where I'velooked at what's being offered
ahead of time and you know I'llsee a high intensity interval
training is offered two daysduring this seven day cruise.
So I've planned for that.
I know all right, two days Ican work out there, even if
(10:08):
there's not an Orange Theory ora similar class that I can sign
up for.
I'll make sure the hotel thatI'm staying at has a gym and
I'll use Reddit, the OrangeTheory.
Reddit usually has the workoutof the day, going back to that
concept of not having to thinkand not having to use my brain.
I can just pull up the template, go to the gym and then follow
(10:30):
that template, do the exact sameclass I would have done there
and just make that a part of myday.
I don't have to think aboutwhat to do.
It's written down in front ofme.
That's really helped me withstaying consistent when I travel
, especially with theseback-to-back trips.
I have where I'll be in Chicagofor, you know, four or five
(10:51):
days and fly directly to NewYork without going home in
between.
So the last tip that I have isvery similar to planning for it,
but it's a little different.
You've got to pack for it.
You have to think about howmany days am I going to work out
?
What days do I need to thinkabout having laundry done?
(11:11):
If I'm going to be gone anextended period of time, you've
really got to not just plan forhow you're going to work out,
but you've got to be gone anextended period of time.
You've really got to not justplan for how you're going to
work out, but you've got to packfor it.
And if you're somebody like mewho tries their best to only
take a carry-on bag.
That can get really challenging, especially if you're gone for
an extended period of time.
A lot of people, myselfincluded, you know we wear hokas
(11:34):
when we work out.
Those are not conducive tocarry-on bags.
So I try to plan to wear myworkout shoes to the airport and
then on the way home if I don'thave meetings that I've got to
be in as soon as I land.
So I try to make sure I don'thave to put those in my carry-on
bag where they take up so muchspace, have to put those in my
(11:56):
carry-on bag where they take upso much space.
I can wear those to and fromthe airport, leaving room for my
other you know, quote-unquoteprofessional clothes while I'm
on my trip.
So hopefully these tips helpyou guys.
Hopefully you know somethinghere will work to help you stay
consistent in your workouts.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
So I hope you enjoyed listening to Steve and Brent
May talk about what he does as abusy professional, especially
when he travels, in terms ofwhere he works out, in terms of
how he schedules things and howhe packs for when he travels.
So hope you enjoyed that.
And the next two are specificto kind of how we hydrate
(12:33):
ourselves and how we eat.
So these two things, you know,nutrition and hydration are
super, super important and I'llshare with you what I do and
this really works well for whatI bring to the office.
But also, you know, I do mybest to also bring these things
for when I travel.
So what I do is I try to starteach day with oatmeal and
(12:56):
protein.
So that's relatively easy to dowhen I'm in the office, but not
as easy to do when I travel.
So what I do is well, what Iused to do is I'll bring little
packets of oatmeal and then I'llalso bring, like, my bag of
protein, which you know can besometimes big and bulky, and
(13:17):
somehow I've got to get thatinto my bag and get that on the
trip with me.
So one thing that I'vediscovered from Raquel Farris,
who we've had on the show a fewepisodes ago.
So thank you, raquel is thisstackable, leak-proof protein
powder dispenser and if you'rewatching the video you can see
the dispenser, but I'll put theinformation in the show notes
(13:38):
and this is actually really cool.
So this has helped reduce theamount of things that I need to
you know, containers that I needto bring with me when I travel,
and it's been super, superconvenient for me to bring my
protein, my amino, my creatine,and then put it in this nice
container and then I can mixeverything.
So it also makes it easy foryou know, when I'm traveling.
(13:59):
I don't have to spend the timemixing it.
Everything is already pre-madebefore I leave the house and
then I could just pour it intowhatever I need to pour it into,
you know, before after myworkout.
So that's some of the thingsthat I typically do is I try to
bring at least my protein and atleast my amino, my creatine,
and then, of course, my oatmealwhen I travel as well as when
(14:23):
I'm in the office.
So I try to have someconsistency there.
Of course, if I'm staying in ahotel or a place that has good
breakfast, of course I'll eatthe breakfast as well, but you
know, at a minimum, I'm going tohave my oatmeal and my protein,
just to make sure that I canget that, and then when I do my
workouts, I'll have my proteinand my amino and my creatine as
(14:45):
well.
So that's kind of what I dowhen I travel.
But whatever it is that you door you need to think about when
you travel, you know, just makesure that you pack those things
with you, um, so you can beprepared for each day, cause you
again, just kind of like youdon't know what you're going to
get in a hotel gym, you don'tknow what you're going to have
in terms of nutrition when youtravel, so it's really best to
(15:06):
bring what works for you.
The next quick health andfitness tip is related, but this
is related to hydration, right?
So just this mantra of hydrate,hydrate, hydrate.
And it's funny because you knowyou always hear like when you
travel, you end up being moredehydrated and honestly, I don't
know.
(15:26):
I never knew why.
So I actually had to look thisup.
I'm like, well, why is that?
And I learned that the airinside airplanes is very dry due
to the low humidity at highaltitudes.
So I probably could haveguessed that Maybe.
I don't know, but I didn't know, so I had to look it up, and
this just emphasizes why it's soimportant for you to be mindful
(15:50):
and to hydrate, especially whenyou're traveling.
So what I do is, you know, Iwill get water bottles wherever
I am, wherever I travel to,whether I just get it from the
airport after I go throughsecurity or when I get to my
final destination.
Then I'll bring with me Arbonne, so I have different Arbonne
packets that I'll bring with me.
So, again, you know, if you'rewatching the video, arbonne, so
I have different Arbonne packetsthat I'll bring with me.
(16:11):
So, again, if you're watchingthe video, you'll see that I
have Arbonne electrolytes, so Itake electrolytes every day.
And then I have the ArbonneMind and Health, so I'll take
that.
And then I have the ArbonneGreen Energy Elixir, so I'll
take that every day, and then,of course, probably the most
popular from Arbonne is the fizz.
(16:33):
So these are just differentthings that I take every day,
you know, throughout the day,and it's really, you know,
really helps me, because I'lltake one with every bottle of
water that I have, and then thathelps me kind of get to.
You know what I need to do forhydration.
The other thing is I try toavoid alcohol, especially when I
travel, or I just limit it to,you know, just a couple of
(16:56):
drinks which, unfortunately,it's probably easier to to drink
or have more alcohol when youknow, especially when you're
traveling, especially if it's,you know, social occasions.
So I'm just super, supermindful of it.
If I am going to do it, then Ijust try to limit what I have
(17:17):
but really focus on having asmuch water as I can, along with
my electrolytes and my fizz andthe other things that I take
from Arbonne.
So, with that, what I'm goingto do is I'm going to bring in
Christine Pavelchuk.
So Christine has been my racepartner over this past year for
DECA and she is a hybrid athlete, just an incredible athlete,
and she's going to share threemovement exercise that you could
(17:40):
do in a hotel room withoutequipment in less than 15
minutes.
Speaker 4 (17:45):
My name is Christine Pavelchak and I live in
Connecticut.
I compete with Underdog Fitnessout of Wallingford, connecticut
, so I term myself as a hybridathlete.
I like to do strength and I doa lot of running.
I compete in DECA and I competein HIROX and I have some things
that I kind of do when I am onthe road traveling, because I do
(18:07):
have a job, corporate life.
I work in retirement strategiesfor Prudential, and so there
are many times that I amtraveling for work and I'm have
a job, corporate life.
I work in retirement strategiesfor Prudential and so there are
many times that I am travelingfor work and I'm in a hotel room
and I have a lot of meetingsthey could be early morning, or
I've got to run to a businessdinner and I need to just get
something in, and I don't evenhave time to go to the gym
within the building of the hotelI'm in.
(18:28):
So I'm going to give some tipsfor a really quick run through
that'll make you feel positiveabout yourself.
It will engage the muscles thatyou, you know, are going to hit
primarily in a full bodystrength workout or even a
running workout.
Engaging and just cuing thosemuscles that are just going to
make us feel like we've donesomething for the day.
(18:49):
So in under 10 minutes is kindof what I'm talking about here,
and I will typically utilize thearea in between both of the
beds in my hotel room or rightin front of the bed in the hotel
room and I'll put a towel downfrom the bathroom and I will do
three rounds of these threemovement patterns.
I'll do 20 reps of glute bridges, these three movement patterns.
(19:13):
I'll do 20 reps of glutebridges and then I'll also do 20
strict push-ups or hand releasepush-ups and I'll follow up
with an abdominal engagementexercise, which sometimes will
look like a 60 second low plankon my forearms with knee taps,
or I will switch that out to 20suitcase crunches In order to
make this a little extra spicy.
In between these rounds I willadd in high knees for 60 seconds
(19:36):
or 60 seconds of jumping jacks.
This all takes under 10 minutesto do and obviously you can
extend it to be longer, but Ireally feel like three really
strategic movement patterns toengage the glute, a little bit
of the hamstring, upper bodywork with the push-ups and the
abdominal work with the core onthe plank or, should you choose,
(19:56):
to do suitcase crunches reallygets your body feeling super
cute and you get a little bit ofa sweaty feel with those high
knees or jumping jacks.
You can extend this to be alittle longer 12 or 15 minutes
but the idea behind this issomething is always better than
nothing and daily depositsreally do go far.
So I hope you enjoy this quicklittle run through this three
(20:19):
movement segment and go throughthat three times through and you
should feel really accomplishedand go about your meetings and
your busy day that you have,whether you're at home and you
really only have 10 minutesbefore a family event that
you're planning for.
All of these things happen tous.
We're very busy at work or evenat home if we're planning a
family holiday or event and wejust need 10, 12 minutes just to
(20:41):
feel a little better aboutourselves.
Huge confidence booster.
Go get it.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
So I appreciate Christine sharing her tips, her
movement patterns or workoutsfor when you're in a hotel and
when you're traveling.
Really easy to do, that youcould do without any kind of
special equipment and less than15 minutes.
So thank you, christine, forsharing those tips with us.
So the next quick health andfitness tip is all about sleep,
(21:14):
is all about sleep.
So you know, when you're a busyprofessional, when you're
traveling, it's just really easyto stay up late and not get
enough sleep.
And if you listen to my how towake up early episode so that
was episode 129, I talked about,you know, waking up at 5am,
which, admittedly, this has beensuper hard for me to do this
past week of travel.
So I've gotten a little offtrack but I'm still on my 5 am
(21:37):
kind of plan here.
It's really important to getenough sleep.
So if you're not getting enoughsleep, it's going to be hard
for you to perform and show upin other areas of your life and
especially if you want to wakeup a little bit early in the day
and try to get up and get donesome things early in the morning
.
So sleep is something that'ssuper important.
(21:58):
So again, it's all inmoderation, especially if you're
traveling.
You'll have business meetings,you'll have dinners and just
things that will keep you up alittle bit later, but just be
mindful of that, especially whenyou're traveling, to get enough
sleep.
And then the last tip is aroundjust being active and just
moving, even if you're sittingat a desk all day.
(22:20):
So this applies to you know, ifyou're just in the office or if
you're traveling, the importantthing here is really to just
move.
So some of the things that I doand also share with you some of
the recommendations from theresearch, is so for me.
I try to use the stairs everyday when I go to the office, and
(22:41):
I talked about this in anearlier episode, where I worked
on the seventh floor and Ialways went down the stairs when
I was leaving for the day, andthen at one point in time, I
started to walk up the stairsall the way up to the day, and
then at one point in time, Istarted to walk up the stairs
all the way up to the seventhfloor.
So if you have stairs in youroffice and this is an option for
you, this is something thatwill help keep you moving, even
(23:02):
though you might be going fromone thing to the next and may
not have as much time to doworkouts or to get in some
movement.
So that's one thing that youcould do.
Another one is especially inthe office is you can convert
one of your meetings to awalking meeting.
So this is something that Iused to do in the past.
I haven't done it as much now,but now that I'm thinking about
(23:26):
it I really should, because it'sa great opportunity.
If you're having a one-on-oneconversation with someone and
the weather is nice, you can getoutside, you can do your
meeting and you can get in themovement that way.
Some other things that you coulddo that I don't have this
opportunity to do this, but Iknow some folks who do is to get
a walking treadmill that youcould put at your desk, which I
(23:47):
think is incredible to be ableto do that.
And I actually did an interviewwith a guest, brad Ritter, six
Pillars of Optimal Performanceand the Power of Grit, and we
did the entire interview and hewas walking on his treadmill,
which I thought was incredible,because if I was doing that, I
probably wouldn't have made it,but he was able to do it and I
(24:08):
was super inspired by that, andI know a number of folks are
able to do that.
So if you're able to do it andI was super inspired by that,
and I know a number of folks areable to do that so if you're
able to do little things likethat, that's all going to add up
throughout the week and it'sgoing to allow you to keep
moving instead of being juststationary.
So that's what you could do inthe office.
And then, when you're traveling, the opportunities to do this
are when you're at the airport.
(24:29):
So airports, have you.
Airports, have you know you mayhave to go from one terminal to
the next or whatever the casemay be.
So they'll have trams andthey'll have the walking
pathways that you could take.
You could just simply walk.
If you have the time to do so,you could walk and you can get
into that movement even whenyou're traveling.
(24:51):
So these are just some ideas ofhow to just keep moving.
Again, if you don't have enoughtime to do your workout that
day, or if you find yourselfreally sitting a lot, whether
it's in the office or whetheryou're on the road, these are
nice, quick ideas to help youkeep moving.
So these are the 10 quickhealth and fitness tips that I
wanted to share with you.
Again, as I'm thinking about,hey, I'm traveling.
(25:13):
How do I kind of keep moving,how do I maintain my routine?
These are the tips and tricksthat I use, and then others, as
you've heard from Stephen andfrom Christine, and I'd love to
hear from you.
So what are your tips to kindof stay healthy, stay moving,
again, whether you're sitting inan office or you are, you know,
traveling on the road a lot.
(25:34):
I'd love to hear from you.
So you can go into the shownotes there is an option there
to send me a message, send thatin, and I'd love to share that
with our community.
So I really appreciate youlistening in this week.
I hope you have a great weekand until next time, and with
that, thanks again for listeningand have a great day.
Hi, my friend.
Do you find yourself on theroad a lot or sitting at a desk
due to your busy schedule?
Does it make it challenging tostick to healthy habits?
Well, today I'm gonna talk toyou about what you can do to
maintain healthy habits evenwhen you have a busy schedule,
with 10 quick health and fitnesstips for you as a busy
(00:20):
professional.
Hope you enjoy.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Welcome to Inspire to Run podcast.
Here you will find inspiration,whether you are looking to take
control of your health andfitness or you are a seasoned
runner looking for community andsome extra motivation.
You will hear inspiring storiesfrom amazing runners, along
with helpful tips from fitnessexperts.
Now here's your host, richardConner.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Hi, my friends, Welcome to Inspire to Run
Podcast.
It's been another productiveweek of work, workouts and
podcasting for me, but myschedule has gotten a little off
track due to travel that I hadearlier in the week.
And I'm getting back on trackand I'm ready to take on what's
coming my way, including someupcoming races.
But just for some detail aroundthat, I was traveling for a few
(01:12):
days last week, so I was in thecar a lot and then I was
sitting in an office a lot.
And then this week, earlier inthe week, I had basically a one
night trip to Florida.
So I had a full day at work onMonday, then drove to the
airport, flew late at night toFlorida, had business meetings
all day the next day and thenflew back home that night.
(01:36):
So it was just really busy,really hectic and not a lot of
time for me to do what Inormally do and kind of stick to
my routine of time for me to dowhat I normally do and kind of
stick to my routine.
So while I was traveling Istarted to think about like,
well, how do I best maintain myroutine and some of the things
that I do, and I thought it'd beinteresting to share that with
all of you, and most of the timeit works.
(01:56):
But then when you have likereally compressed trips, it's
really hard to do it.
But being intentional canreally help you maintain those
healthy habits, even if you havea busy schedule, even if you
travel.
So I'm going to share thosetips with you and I'm also going
to try something a little new.
So I'm going to bring on voicesfrom our community into this
(02:18):
episode so you can heardifferent perspectives and
different tips as well.
So let's get into theconversation and I'll share with
you the 10 quick health andfitness tips to help you as a
busy professional.
So here is quick health andfitness.
Tip.
Number one is to create amorning routine, and I
(02:39):
personally love this one becauseI am more of a morning person
and if you get your workout donefirst thing in the morning, you
really can make sure that yourday doesn't interfere with your
plans.
So this works pretty well forme.
I personally don't do my morningworkout in the morning on
(02:59):
Monday through Friday, but Idefinitely do it on Saturday,
sunday.
It's practically the firstthing I do and then I can get on
with my day, and then duringthe week it's typically my
morning routine where I do somethings at home.
I get to the office, I have afull day at the office and then
I grab my gym bag and I go rightto the gym.
So I have a pretty good routinethere.
So I don't always go with themorning routine when I'm at the
(03:21):
office during the week, but thenI'll do it on the weekends and
then definitely when I travel.
I will do my workout in themorning more often than not,
because once I get into my day,especially when I'm traveling,
it's super hard to kind of fitit into my schedule there.
So create that morning routine.
And I was kind of looking backat some of my past episodes and
(03:44):
we had this conversation in anearly episode with Mike and
Marissa from Two Fit Travelers,so one of my first episodes or
first interviews and they talkedabout this kind of in the
conversation, about you know,getting it done first thing in
the morning, not letting the daykind of interfere with your
plans, and you know, if you getup and you do it early, you
could just ensure that you'renot going to be too tired later
(04:06):
on or you're not going to gofrom your business meetings to
right into dinner or otheractivities that you might have.
So it really just ensures thatyou get your workout in if you
do it first thing in the morning.
So the second quick health andfitness tip is plan your workout
schedule according to your workand travel schedule.
(04:28):
So for me, I know it's superhard to get in my workouts when
I'm traveling, especially if I'mgetting on a plane.
So going out to wherever I'mgoing that day is probably shot,
and then the day I'm comingback that day is probably no
good.
So it doesn't leave me with asmany days to get in my workout.
So what I typically do is numberone I will try to get in as
(04:51):
many workouts as I can before Itravel, and then I'll use my
travel days as my rest day.
So that's the first thing I tryto do.
The second thing is you neverknow what you're going to get
when you travel.
So like if the hotel gym mayonly have a treadmill and an
exercise bike, maybe it may nothave weights or just may not be
conducive to do the kind ofworkout that you need to do.
(05:13):
So I make sure that I get thosetypes of workouts in before I
travel, if I can.
And then when I travel, then Imay just do my run because more
likely than not I'll be able tofind a treadmill or I'll be able
to run outside.
So that's kind of easy.
But for everything else, Ireally try to do that before I
leave for my trip.
So really just kind of playingyour schedule around that in
(05:35):
terms of the types of workoutsthat you're doing, depending on
how flexible your workoutschedule is, but also the days
that you're doing them.
And again, I try to plan myrest days around the days when
I'm traveling and I know I'msimply just not going to have
the time to do my workout,whether I'm traveling on a
flight or whether I have all daymeetings, and it's just going
(05:55):
to be, you know, superchallenging for me to do that.
So those are the first two tips.
The next three tips are goingto come from a friend and
colleague of mine on theAmerican Marketing Association,
stephen Brent May.
So we both serve on the councilfor the AMA and Stephen has
such an amazing fitness story.
(06:16):
But today he's going to sharethree quick health and fitness
tips and I really hope to beable to share his story very
soon on the show.
So listen in to what Stephenhas to say.
Speaker 3 (06:29):
Hi, my name is Stephen Brentmay and I live in
Houston, texas.
I've owned a marketing agencyfor about the last seven years
and prior to that I led theglobal marketing team for a
software company, so travel hasbeen a part of my professional
life for a while.
I also was not someone thatprioritized fitness and working
(06:52):
out until a few years ago and Irealized as I got older that was
really something I needed toprioritize for my own health.
So I needed to really figureout a way to do that and make it
work for my life and mylifestyle.
So I have three tips that havereally helped me to prioritize
this and make it a part of mylife and be consistent with it.
(07:15):
So the first tip is reallyfinding something that works for
your lifestyle and thatincludes finding something you
enjoy.
Over the years, I've tried goingto the gym by myself just you
know, making up my own workouts.
I've worked with a trainer.
These things never reallyworked for me.
They didn't stick and Irealized what it was was.
(07:38):
I was making so many decisionsthroughout the day and having to
use my brain for, you know,making professional decisions
and management decisions andpeople decisions that I was just
really mentally exhausted andthe thought of figuring out what
to do, how to do it, how to doit right Even with a trainer,
(07:59):
you know, it's still thatcognitive load was really
wearing down on me, and so Ineeded something that allowed me
to just enjoy it without muchthought to it.
I never thought I was someonethat would be a group workout
person, but I tried an OrangeTheory class and I really found
myself enjoying it.
(08:20):
I realized that people aren'tthere to work out as a group.
They're really just there tocompete against themselves.
I didn't think high intensityinterval training was going to
be for me, but it's the onlything that stuck, and I've been
doing it for a little over twoyears now, and I do it pretty
consistently three to four daysa week and realize that you know
(08:42):
this is something that worksfor me, it's something I enjoy,
it's something that I've stuckwith.
So the first tip is really,once you find that thing, you
know you're good to go.
The second tip is if you'resomeone that travels a lot,
you've really got to plan foryour workouts.
You've got to make it a part ofyour schedule.
(09:03):
I'm someone that lives and diesby my calendar, so if it's not
on my calendar.
It's not real to me.
When I travel for work,especially when I have the
opportunity to choose my ownhotel, I research where is the
closest Orange Theory studio inthat area and try to book a
hotel close to it.
(09:24):
That way I know if I'm going tobe gone for five days.
I can plan two, three of thosedays to get up and work out.
If I know, my meetings start at8.30, 9,.
Let me book a 6.30 class.
I can be back to the hotel at 7, shower be ready for my
meetings.
So it's really about planningthe location and what days are
(09:48):
going to work around yourschedule.
I've even done this withleisure travel.
I've been on cruises where I'velooked at what's being offered
ahead of time and you know I'llsee a high intensity interval
training is offered two daysduring this seven day cruise.
So I've planned for that.
I know all right, two days Ican work out there, even if
(10:08):
there's not an Orange Theory ora similar class that I can sign
up for.
I'll make sure the hotel thatI'm staying at has a gym and
I'll use Reddit, the OrangeTheory.
Reddit usually has the workoutof the day, going back to that
concept of not having to thinkand not having to use my brain.
I can just pull up the template, go to the gym and then follow
(10:30):
that template, do the exact sameclass I would have done there
and just make that a part of myday.
I don't have to think aboutwhat to do.
It's written down in front ofme.
That's really helped me withstaying consistent when I travel
, especially with theseback-to-back trips.
I have where I'll be in Chicagofor, you know, four or five
(10:51):
days and fly directly to NewYork without going home in
between.
So the last tip that I have isvery similar to planning for it,
but it's a little different.
You've got to pack for it.
You have to think about howmany days am I going to work out
?
What days do I need to thinkabout having laundry done?
(11:11):
If I'm going to be gone anextended period of time, you've
really got to not just plan forhow you're going to work out,
but you've got to be gone anextended period of time.
You've really got to not justplan for how you're going to
work out, but you've got to packfor it.
And if you're somebody like mewho tries their best to only
take a carry-on bag.
That can get really challenging, especially if you're gone for
an extended period of time.
A lot of people, myselfincluded, you know we wear hokas
(11:34):
when we work out.
Those are not conducive tocarry-on bags.
So I try to plan to wear myworkout shoes to the airport and
then on the way home if I don'thave meetings that I've got to
be in as soon as I land.
So I try to make sure I don'thave to put those in my carry-on
bag where they take up so muchspace, have to put those in my
(11:56):
carry-on bag where they take upso much space.
I can wear those to and fromthe airport, leaving room for my
other you know, quote-unquoteprofessional clothes while I'm
on my trip.
So hopefully these tips helpyou guys.
Hopefully you know somethinghere will work to help you stay
consistent in your workouts.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
So I hope you enjoyed listening to Steve and Brent
May talk about what he does as abusy professional, especially
when he travels, in terms ofwhere he works out, in terms of
how he schedules things and howhe packs for when he travels.
So hope you enjoyed that.
And the next two are specificto kind of how we hydrate
(12:33):
ourselves and how we eat.
So these two things, you know,nutrition and hydration are
super, super important and I'llshare with you what I do and
this really works well for whatI bring to the office.
But also, you know, I do mybest to also bring these things
for when I travel.
So what I do is I try to starteach day with oatmeal and
(12:56):
protein.
So that's relatively easy to dowhen I'm in the office, but not
as easy to do when I travel.
So what I do is well, what Iused to do is I'll bring little
packets of oatmeal and then I'llalso bring, like, my bag of
protein, which you know can besometimes big and bulky, and
(13:17):
somehow I've got to get thatinto my bag and get that on the
trip with me.
So one thing that I'vediscovered from Raquel Farris,
who we've had on the show a fewepisodes ago.
So thank you, raquel is thisstackable, leak-proof protein
powder dispenser and if you'rewatching the video you can see
the dispenser, but I'll put theinformation in the show notes
(13:38):
and this is actually really cool.
So this has helped reduce theamount of things that I need to
you know, containers that I needto bring with me when I travel,
and it's been super, superconvenient for me to bring my
protein, my amino, my creatine,and then put it in this nice
container and then I can mixeverything.
So it also makes it easy foryou know, when I'm traveling.
(13:59):
I don't have to spend the timemixing it.
Everything is already pre-madebefore I leave the house and
then I could just pour it intowhatever I need to pour it into,
you know, before after myworkout.
So that's some of the thingsthat I typically do is I try to
bring at least my protein and atleast my amino, my creatine,
and then, of course, my oatmealwhen I travel as well as when
(14:23):
I'm in the office.
So I try to have someconsistency there.
Of course, if I'm staying in ahotel or a place that has good
breakfast, of course I'll eatthe breakfast as well, but you
know, at a minimum, I'm going tohave my oatmeal and my protein,
just to make sure that I canget that, and then when I do my
workouts, I'll have my proteinand my amino and my creatine as
(14:45):
well.
So that's kind of what I dowhen I travel.
But whatever it is that you door you need to think about when
you travel, you know, just makesure that you pack those things
with you, um, so you can beprepared for each day, cause you
again, just kind of like youdon't know what you're going to
get in a hotel gym, you don'tknow what you're going to have
in terms of nutrition when youtravel, so it's really best to
(15:06):
bring what works for you.
The next quick health andfitness tip is related, but this
is related to hydration, right?
So just this mantra of hydrate,hydrate, hydrate.
And it's funny because you knowyou always hear like when you
travel, you end up being moredehydrated and honestly, I don't
know.
(15:26):
I never knew why.
So I actually had to look thisup.
I'm like, well, why is that?
And I learned that the airinside airplanes is very dry due
to the low humidity at highaltitudes.
So I probably could haveguessed that Maybe.
I don't know, but I didn't know, so I had to look it up, and
this just emphasizes why it's soimportant for you to be mindful
(15:50):
and to hydrate, especially whenyou're traveling.
So what I do is, you know, Iwill get water bottles wherever
I am, wherever I travel to,whether I just get it from the
airport after I go throughsecurity or when I get to my
final destination.
Then I'll bring with me Arbonne, so I have different Arbonne
packets that I'll bring with me.
So, again, you know, if you'rewatching the video, arbonne, so
I have different Arbonne packetsthat I'll bring with me.
(16:11):
So, again, if you're watchingthe video, you'll see that I
have Arbonne electrolytes, so Itake electrolytes every day.
And then I have the ArbonneMind and Health, so I'll take
that.
And then I have the ArbonneGreen Energy Elixir, so I'll
take that every day, and then,of course, probably the most
popular from Arbonne is the fizz.
(16:33):
So these are just differentthings that I take every day,
you know, throughout the day,and it's really, you know,
really helps me, because I'lltake one with every bottle of
water that I have, and then thathelps me kind of get to.
You know what I need to do forhydration.
The other thing is I try toavoid alcohol, especially when I
travel, or I just limit it to,you know, just a couple of
(16:56):
drinks which, unfortunately,it's probably easier to to drink
or have more alcohol when youknow, especially when you're
traveling, especially if it's,you know, social occasions.
So I'm just super, supermindful of it.
If I am going to do it, then Ijust try to limit what I have
(17:17):
but really focus on having asmuch water as I can, along with
my electrolytes and my fizz andthe other things that I take
from Arbonne.
So, with that, what I'm goingto do is I'm going to bring in
Christine Pavelchuk.
So Christine has been my racepartner over this past year for
DECA and she is a hybrid athlete, just an incredible athlete,
and she's going to share threemovement exercise that you could
(17:40):
do in a hotel room withoutequipment in less than 15
minutes.
Speaker 4 (17:45):
My name is Christine Pavelchak and I live in
Connecticut.
I compete with Underdog Fitnessout of Wallingford, connecticut
, so I term myself as a hybridathlete.
I like to do strength and I doa lot of running.
I compete in DECA and I competein HIROX and I have some things
that I kind of do when I am onthe road traveling, because I do
(18:07):
have a job, corporate life.
I work in retirement strategiesfor Prudential, and so there
are many times that I amtraveling for work and I'm have
a job, corporate life.
I work in retirement strategiesfor Prudential and so there are
many times that I am travelingfor work and I'm in a hotel room
and I have a lot of meetingsthey could be early morning, or
I've got to run to a businessdinner and I need to just get
something in, and I don't evenhave time to go to the gym
within the building of the hotelI'm in.
(18:28):
So I'm going to give some tipsfor a really quick run through
that'll make you feel positiveabout yourself.
It will engage the muscles thatyou, you know, are going to hit
primarily in a full bodystrength workout or even a
running workout.
Engaging and just cuing thosemuscles that are just going to
make us feel like we've donesomething for the day.
(18:49):
So in under 10 minutes is kindof what I'm talking about here,
and I will typically utilize thearea in between both of the
beds in my hotel room or rightin front of the bed in the hotel
room and I'll put a towel downfrom the bathroom and I will do
three rounds of these threemovement patterns.
I'll do 20 reps of glute bridges, these three movement patterns.
(19:13):
I'll do 20 reps of glutebridges and then I'll also do 20
strict push-ups or hand releasepush-ups and I'll follow up
with an abdominal engagementexercise, which sometimes will
look like a 60 second low plankon my forearms with knee taps,
or I will switch that out to 20suitcase crunches In order to
make this a little extra spicy.
In between these rounds I willadd in high knees for 60 seconds
(19:36):
or 60 seconds of jumping jacks.
This all takes under 10 minutesto do and obviously you can
extend it to be longer, but Ireally feel like three really
strategic movement patterns toengage the glute, a little bit
of the hamstring, upper bodywork with the push-ups and the
abdominal work with the core onthe plank or, should you choose,
(19:56):
to do suitcase crunches reallygets your body feeling super
cute and you get a little bit ofa sweaty feel with those high
knees or jumping jacks.
You can extend this to be alittle longer 12 or 15 minutes
but the idea behind this issomething is always better than
nothing and daily depositsreally do go far.
So I hope you enjoy this quicklittle run through this three
(20:19):
movement segment and go throughthat three times through and you
should feel really accomplishedand go about your meetings and
your busy day that you have,whether you're at home and you
really only have 10 minutesbefore a family event that
you're planning for.
All of these things happen tous.
We're very busy at work or evenat home if we're planning a
family holiday or event and wejust need 10, 12 minutes just to
(20:41):
feel a little better aboutourselves.
Huge confidence booster.
Go get it.
Speaker 1 (20:46):
So I appreciate Christine sharing her tips, her
movement patterns or workoutsfor when you're in a hotel and
when you're traveling.
Really easy to do, that youcould do without any kind of
special equipment and less than15 minutes.
So thank you, christine, forsharing those tips with us.
So the next quick health andfitness tip is all about sleep,
(21:14):
is all about sleep.
So you know, when you're a busyprofessional, when you're
traveling, it's just really easyto stay up late and not get
enough sleep.
And if you listen to my how towake up early episode so that
was episode 129, I talked about,you know, waking up at 5am,
which, admittedly, this has beensuper hard for me to do this
past week of travel.
So I've gotten a little offtrack but I'm still on my 5 am
(21:37):
kind of plan here.
It's really important to getenough sleep.
So if you're not getting enoughsleep, it's going to be hard
for you to perform and show upin other areas of your life and
especially if you want to wakeup a little bit early in the day
and try to get up and get donesome things early in the morning
.
So sleep is something that'ssuper important.
(21:58):
So again, it's all inmoderation, especially if you're
traveling.
You'll have business meetings,you'll have dinners and just
things that will keep you up alittle bit later, but just be
mindful of that, especially whenyou're traveling, to get enough
sleep.
And then the last tip is aroundjust being active and just
moving, even if you're sittingat a desk all day.
(22:20):
So this applies to you know, ifyou're just in the office or if
you're traveling, the importantthing here is really to just
move.
So some of the things that I doand also share with you some of
the recommendations from theresearch, is so for me.
I try to use the stairs everyday when I go to the office, and
(22:41):
I talked about this in anearlier episode, where I worked
on the seventh floor and Ialways went down the stairs when
I was leaving for the day, andthen at one point in time, I
started to walk up the stairsall the way up to the day, and
then at one point in time, Istarted to walk up the stairs
all the way up to the seventhfloor.
So if you have stairs in youroffice and this is an option for
you, this is something thatwill help keep you moving, even
(23:02):
though you might be going fromone thing to the next and may
not have as much time to doworkouts or to get in some
movement.
So that's one thing that youcould do.
Another one is especially inthe office is you can convert
one of your meetings to awalking meeting.
So this is something that Iused to do in the past.
I haven't done it as much now,but now that I'm thinking about
(23:26):
it I really should, because it'sa great opportunity.
If you're having a one-on-oneconversation with someone and
the weather is nice, you can getoutside, you can do your
meeting and you can get in themovement that way.
Some other things that you coulddo that I don't have this
opportunity to do this, but Iknow some folks who do is to get
a walking treadmill that youcould put at your desk, which I
(23:47):
think is incredible to be ableto do that.
And I actually did an interviewwith a guest, brad Ritter, six
Pillars of Optimal Performanceand the Power of Grit, and we
did the entire interview and hewas walking on his treadmill,
which I thought was incredible,because if I was doing that, I
probably wouldn't have made it,but he was able to do it and I
(24:08):
was super inspired by that, andI know a number of folks are
able to do that.
So if you're able to do it andI was super inspired by that,
and I know a number of folks areable to do that so if you're
able to do little things likethat, that's all going to add up
throughout the week and it'sgoing to allow you to keep
moving instead of being juststationary.
So that's what you could do inthe office.
And then, when you're traveling, the opportunities to do this
are when you're at the airport.
(24:29):
So airports, have you.
Airports, have you know you mayhave to go from one terminal to
the next or whatever the casemay be.
So they'll have trams andthey'll have the walking
pathways that you could take.
You could just simply walk.
If you have the time to do so,you could walk and you can get
into that movement even whenyou're traveling.
(24:51):
So these are just some ideas ofhow to just keep moving.
Again, if you don't have enoughtime to do your workout that
day, or if you find yourselfreally sitting a lot, whether
it's in the office or whetheryou're on the road, these are
nice, quick ideas to help youkeep moving.
So these are the 10 quickhealth and fitness tips that I
wanted to share with you.
Again, as I'm thinking about,hey, I'm traveling.
(25:13):
How do I kind of keep moving,how do I maintain my routine?
These are the tips and tricksthat I use, and then others, as
you've heard from Stephen andfrom Christine, and I'd love to
hear from you.
So what are your tips to kindof stay healthy, stay moving,
again, whether you're sitting inan office or you are, you know,
traveling on the road a lot.
(25:34):
I'd love to hear from you.
So you can go into the shownotes there is an option there
to send me a message, send thatin, and I'd love to share that
with our community.
So I really appreciate youlistening in this week.
I hope you have a great weekand until next time, and with
that, thanks again for listeningand have a great day.
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