Exercise tips for the middle of your vacation

Published 12:00 am Friday, February 16, 2018

Think you won’t have time to exercise on your next vacation? Not according to Annette Lang, a certified personal trainer based in New York. “You can actually maintain and even improve your fitness level when you’re on the road,” she said. Here are some travel tips she offers her clients.

Think about how you can include some activity on each day of your getaway, Lang said. When visiting sites with scenic views like a building’s observation deck of a building or cathedral roof, climb the stairs to the top, if that’s an option.

Discovering your destination on foot is the ideal way to get an authentic sense of place and be active at the same time. Lang loves to design her own walking tours whenever she’s on vacation. On her recent trip to San Francisco, Lang started her day at a popular breakfast joint, hit two museums, visited Fisherman’s Wharf and ended the day at several bars. All told, Lang logged more than 10 miles through the city and took in plenty of sights at the same time.

Whether it’s to buy tickets for a popular attraction or cue up to board a tour bus, waiting in line can be inevitable. Instead of passively standing and waiting, however, Lang suggested using your time to do three exercises that your fellow bystanders won’t notice: calf raises, glute squeezes, and belly breathing, where you exhale as you pull your stomach in and keep inhaling and exhaling while pulling it in more, to boost core strength. You might garner some odd looks, but the result will be worth it.

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