Fitness enthusiasts who travel a lot often find ways to continue fine-tuning their fitness while they’re away. Of course, you might not have access to a gym with weights and a treadmill, and sometimes, you might just want to work out in the privacy of your hotel room or in the beauty of the great outdoors. Either way, calisthenics is an excellent choice because you can use little to no equipment and your own body weight as resistance to develop your strength and sculpt those muscles.
I’m a fan of the good old-fashioned tricep dip and the humble plank. If you do it right with calisthenics, travel doesn’t have to hinder your fitness plans. Here are some of the best exercises to try when you’re on the go and the benefits of calisthenics.
The best calisthenics exercises for jet setters
Taking resistance bands with you can help you perform various exercises, but you don’t even need to bring those as your body weight is enough. If all you have time and energy for is 15 minutes, you’ll still get a solid workout in.
These moves can be done almost anywhere, even if you’re living out of your suitcase. Here are some of the best travel-friendly movements to try:
- Squats
- Lunges
- Planks
- Dips (work with a chair or bench)
- Push-ups
- Pull-ups (if you can find a pull-up bar, of course)
- The glute bridge
- Lying knee tucks
- Single-leg glute bridge
- Pike push-up
- V-sit
- Side plank
What are the benefits of calisthenics?
Calisthenics is a low-frills way of staying physically active while you’re away. Here are some of the many benefits and reasons to try it:
- Boost your overall functional fitness.
- Improve your balance, flexibility, stability, endurance, and coordination.
- Burn calories and promote weight loss.
- Improve your posture.
- Get stronger.
Research shows you can still develop muscle strength even without weights just by using calisthenics.
Beginner tips
If you’re a beginner, you can start off with moves like an incline push-up or perform a push-up against the wall. Try beginner-friendly calisthenics exercises like leg raises and dips with your feet on the ground.
If you can only do five push-ups in a row now or ten burpees, you can always set new targets as you work on your fitness. Once you master the traditional squat, you can move to more advanced variations like the Pistol squat. One of the best things about calisthenics is how you can modify the exercises to suit your fitness level. There’s no need for complicated setups or fancy machines.
