Finding a Gym While on the Go

When I book a hotel, I try to find one with a gym.  As we know, I need that to balance the delicious, delicious foods I eat while traveling.Gym

But sometimes you can’t always have a hotel with a health club.  It’s out of service, or it never had one to begin with!

I prefer not to exercise outdoors in areas I’m not familiar with, plus I almost passed out trying to get a workout outdoors in Tuscon, Arizona once.  So I stick to the gym.

There’s two ways I can find a health club where I’m going.

1. Ask the hotel if they have partnerships

Sometimes when the hotel gym is closed, they have a partnership with nearby gym.  I’ve never seen this advertised widely when a gym was closed, but I have had success in asking the front desk if they are sending people to another gym. Usually they have free gym passes.  If not, they probably know where the nearest gym is and how much a day pass is.

2. Use Gym Visit to find the prices and styles of gyms at your destination

A lot of corporate gyms will tell you where their locations are, but they aren’t necessarily the best option on the go.  But how do you find out about all the independent gym options?

And how do you know if it is a muscle building gym, a yoga studio, or a cardio power house?

Gym Visit will tell you what gyms are near your destination.  In addition to this, it will tell you what style the health club is, how much it costs for a day or week pass, and what amenities are available.

It’s crowd sourced, so it doesn’t have perfect knowledge of the areas, but I’ve been pretty impressed by the information I can find.

For example, for my trips to Tuscon:

Tuscon Gym

I found a Gold’s gym near where I tend to travel to and with lots of amenities.

And when I try to find more information:

Gold's Gym Tuscon

It’s $10 a day or $25 a week to stop by this gym.  I can compare this to rates at other health clubs in the area, and head over.  This combined with my fitbit, plus the lessons I’ve learned from my Fitbit, keep me going strong when on the road.

3. Find Workout Classes Near You

I found a site that lets you find a workout class while on the go.  I’ve been into Bikram Yoga lately, so this is a great way to find a studio as I travel from place to place.

GoRecess

GoRecess lets you search for the classes in the area you will be, sign up for one, and lock in your space in the class.

4.  Find a Personal Trainer / Independent Fitness Class at Your Destination

Ace Fitness has a directory you can search for personal trainers and independent fitness classes in the area.  It even lists the rates (when available) of the personal trainers.

If you like to meet up with a trainer every so often, you can reach out to one at a destination you are traveling to.  That way, you have something set up already and you know you’ll workout while gone.

5.  Workout in Your Room

Here’s a guide  to doing a workout within your own room.  I use exercise bands in the room while I’m traveling, and while I’ve been worried (with my luck) that one will snap and hit me in the face, it hasn’t happened yet!

Or you can search YouTube for fitness videos.

Here’s a cardio workout that doesn’t need any equipment.

The Jillian Michael’s Ab Workout

A Quick Sun Salutation

 

How do you stay fit on the road?

About Jeanne Marie Hoffman

Former bartender, still a geek. One equal part each cookies, liberty, football, music, travel, libations. Stir vigorously. +Jeanne Marie Hoffman Jeanne on Twitter

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4 comments

  1. I actually bring my p90x dvds with the exercises that dont require weights. Like yoga, ab ripper,, cardio. Etc.

  2. http://www.swimmersguide.com

    Above is a guide to swimmers worldwide. For those of us who are lap pool addicts this is the Bible!

  3. I bring my running gear so I can explore a new town when I am on the road.

  4. I’m not a gym rat but a runner instead. I find that many hotels have running or walking maps of the local area. Also you can go to the US Track and Field association website and they have maps of runs from many hotels. You can search by city and type of facility. Also if you don’t find a map you can add your own.

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