Derval O'Rourke: How to fit in working out while you are on the road

Plus the snack I pack when I'm travelling or having a busy day 

it can be nice to have something familiar with us when we are travelling.

I can work out pretty much anywhere. The most challenging space for me is one I don’t know. When I’m on the road and staying in a hotel, the surroundings are new, I sometimes don’t know the area and time is often tight. So, I’ve had to get a little creative when I’m away from home to make sure I can get a bit of training in. 

'Why don’t you just take a break when you’re away?'

Sure, I could decide not to do anything and there are times when I have. But if it’s a regular thing, that can start to impact my energy. I’ve also more-often-than-not had a long drive to my destination so 15 minutes of a workout can be a great way to shake off the journey.

Something worth noting is that when we are out of our usual space, it can be nice to have something familiar with us when we are travelling.

Here are 5 Things You Can Do When You’re Travelling

1. Map out a 30-minute walk near your hotel. Try to make sure it’s on a busy street and take in the atmosphere of the place while you’re out.

2. Using the chair in your room, do some sitting exercises. Standing up and squatting until you feel the chair, hold then stand back up — this is a great one.

3. Use the bed to do some standing push-ups — place your hands at the end of the bed push-up and repeat for 20. This is a nice one, not too strenuous and is a great exercise for first thing in the morning.

4. Stretchy Bands. I always have these in my suitcase, They are so small and you can bring them anywhere. Stretching is key when you’re travelling as you are usually sitting a lot more than you would at home. Use the band to stretch out the shoulders, calves and back.

5. Shake it off. Do 10 jumping jacks to shake off the journey. These are good to do about 20 minutes before bed to shake off any built-up adrenaline and tire the body for sleep.

Travelling is old hat for me now and I do a lot of these things without even thinking. But friends have often remarked that they had to travel for work and couldn’t sleep and had too much energy to burn off. Being out of our comfort zones puts our body on high alert, our senses are overloaded with new sounds, sights and smells. Giving our body something familiar and using up that extra energy will definitely help with the difficulty sleeping. I also sleep on the same side of the bed that I would at home, to help me adjust to the new environment.

Wellness Tip: One of the things that always happens when I’m away, is I start to remember all the things I want to get done when I get home! To avoid overthinking, or worse, forgetting them again! I use the pen and paper in the room. Write down all the things that have popped into your head. Then put it in your suitcase and forget about them!

Exercise: Standing Push-Ups — Standing at the end of your bed place your hands on your bed - Push up for a repetition of 10. Count to 10 and repeat. You can do this until you feel the burn in your arms. (Note: If the bed is too low, use a table).

Orange energy bites

These are great because you can bring them with you on the road!

Servings

8

Preparation Time

 20 mins

Total Time

 20 mins

Course

 Baking

Cuisine

 8

Ingredients

• 80g desiccated coconut

• 190g dates, pitted and chopped

• 100g raisins

• Juice of 1 large orange

• 100g porridge oats

• 60g sunflower seeds

• 2tbsp. good quality cocoa powder

•  

Method

1. Spread the coconut on a big plate and set aside. Soak the raisins and dates in the orange juice for 15 minutes.

2. Place the dates, raisins, orange juice, oats, seeds and cocoa powder in a food processor and blitz until you have a paste.

3. Using your hands roll the paste into balls, then roll each ball in the desiccated coconut until coated. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.