Exercising on the go: back to basics

Even with the best intentions fitness can be hard to work into your life on a day to day basis.  And when you’re traveling, it doesn’t take much to throw you off your game.

I recently had to spend a few days in a mountain village at  Hemlock Valley on a business trip.  I was just getting over a cold and just back on my feet from a pulled hamstring but I wanted to make sure that I got a good workout while I was up there.

So I packed all of my hiking gear including a camel pack, emergency gear, shorts, shirt, etc.  The area has some fantastic hiking and I was going to make full use of it.

Or so I thought.

I arrived to find one meter of fresh snow.  Ugh. (Granted, it was beautiful, see the photo I snapped)

But I had nothing that would help me exercise in these conditions.  No snow gear and no inside gear – no weights, no bands, no yoga mat.  Nothing!

But desperation is the mother of invention.  With nothing other than a pair of runners, I still managed some great exercise where I was staying, including:

• Stretching (full body, head to toe…  30+ minutes…)
• Abs (crunches, plank, bicycle, etc)
• Pushups/Triceps Work
• Jumping Jacks**
• Bed Jumping
• Walking on quiet roads (once the plows had come out)

** Note:  Do not attempt jumping jacks if you’re not staying on the ground floor of an apartment style building.  Again, please accept my apologies Mr & Mrs. Blackman…  I don’t normally workout at 5am but I felt so inspired…oh, and okay, I didn’t do the bed jumping but I would have if I’d thought of it earlier.

Given this incident, I decided I wanted to tap the GirlGetStrong.com readership:  In a pinch, what exercise(s) have you done with no gear and no prior planning?