How Can You Take Your Workout on the Road?

Welcome to Part II of sticking to your Eat Clean Lifestyle while on the road!

In my previous article, How to Eat Clean When Traveling, I shared how to manage accessing clean food on the road. It’s easy to do with the right information.

Naturally what follows is the question of how to train while traveling, especially when there is no guarantee of a gym at your destination. Often it’s hard to know what kind of equipment is available even if there is a gym.

It’s wise to have your own Plan B when it comes to taking your workout on the road.

Missing a workout, no matter where I am, is not an option for me, no matter where in the world I am. I feel better when I incorporate at least 30 minutes of exercise at a MHR (Maximum Heart Rate) of 65% or greater, five to six times a week.

[Calculate MHR = 220 – your age]

Plan B to Workout on the Road

My backup plan is highly portable and easy to follow.

Fortunately there are a number of ingenious, ultralight pieces of fitness equipment that can easily be packed into your suitcase. While small, they help you produce a surprisingly challenging workout on the road–or at home when you can’t go to a gym.

I discovered this when I hosted a wellness retreat in Costa Rica. While the villa was gorgeous there was no gym in which to train my clients. This was an essential part of the retreat experience I was offering. That also meant there was no gym equipment. How would I deliver five days worth of challenging workouts for my clients?

Necessity being the mother of invention, this is where my Suitcase Workout was born.

The Equipment for the Suitcase Workout

Taking your workout on the road is as easy as packing the simplest exercise tools in your suitcase. While seemingly insignificant, these light weight bands and balls deliver a serious workout.

Suitcase Workout Equipment:

1. Bender ball
2. Mini Bands
3. Resistance loop
4. Weighted skipping rope

The Bender Ball

The Bender ball, also known as a Pilates ball, increases your workout options and increases the intensity of an exercise.

Smaller than a stability ball, about 7-9 inches in diameter when inflated, it is used in different ways, particularly as a kinesthetic cue. You can hold it between your thighs, knees or ankles, place it behind your knees or at the base of your spine, as a few examples.

The Bender ball is most useful for training abs. A short 10 minute ab workout, quickly leaves you shaking like few other ab workouts can. This tiny squishy ball forces you to recruit little used muscles, particularly the lower abs and stabilizer muscles, to engage as you work.

At an average cost of USD $10, it’s a small investment in your fitness.

Mini Bands

Mini Bands are always in my suitcase, as the preferred way of providing resistance training while on the road. I particularly like fabric mini bands with an anti-slip barrier because these don’t ride up or tear and are more comfortable against the skin.

Mini bands are small resistance loops that go around hips, ankles or arms and come in varying strengths from light (14-15 pounds), to Medium (25-35 pounds) to Heavy (35-50 pounds).

These mini bands can integrate easily into any resistance training program, including kettlebell and weight training, yoga, Pilates and other fitness practices. Fabulous for developing strength, stability, flexibility, range of motion and balance, mini bands are perfect for all skill levels and fit nicely in your suitcase taking up little space and weight.

A set of 3 bands can cost as little as USD $24.

Resistance Loops

Resistance Loops are basically the same as mini bands but are full size loops. These longer loops allow for greater range of motion exercises like standing cable kickbacks, assisted pull-ups, bicycle crunches, and much more.

Like mini bands, full resistance loops come in varying levels of resistance from 15 pounds up to 175 pounds. You can get your beast mode on with that last heaviest resistance!

Pack a few resistance loops of varying resistance strengths into your suitcase when you’re on the go and you’ll be able to work out anywhere, giving your body a solid weight lifting experience.

Weighted Skip Ropes

Weighted Skip Ropes are the king of cardio equipment, giving you the kind of exercise intensity you’re looking for, and then some!! Skipping is among the most aerobically challenging exercises, but doing it with a weighted rope intensifies it even more.

However challenging it may be, skipping is for all levels of fitness enthusiasts. Skipping, like swimming, is a whole body exercise challenging multiple muscle groups, brain coordination as well as your heart/lung engine. Exercise testing shows that just 10 minutes of jumping with a weighted skip rope is equivalent to 30 minutes of running.

Tuck one of these into your bag and you’ll be able to get your cardio fix no matter where you are.

Putting it all Together

Moving your body is medicine, and with more and more science supporting the need for exercise as part of a healthy lifestyle, it’s necessary to find ways to include it in your calendar, whether in your own hometown or on the road.

Here is a workout for you to try in whatever corner of the world you’re in. Do it all the way through for a thorough full body challenge. Or break it up to suit your time frame.

The Workout on the Road

Equipment:

• Bender ball
• Mini band
• Full loop resistance band
• Skip rope

Warm up

Skip for 5 minutes

The Moves

Skaters with Bender ball
10 left, 10 right x 2

Travelling Skaters with Bender ball
10 left, 10 right x 2

Triceps overhead with full resistance band
Elbows tight to side of the head
10-12 reps x 3 sets

Biceps 21’s with full resistance loop
7 curls from hanging down to waist
7 curls from waist to chest
7 full range curls
3 sets all the way through

Reverse lunges with mini band around thighs, with 4 little pulses in lunge position
10 left, 10 right x 2 sets

V-sit Russian twist, feet off the ground, 1 Bender ball behind back, 1 Bender ball in your hands
10 left, 10 right touching Bender ball to the ground as you twist x 2

Catapult situp to press, with Bender ball
12 situps
Rest
12 situps
Rest
12 situps

V-sit Hold with Bender ball in small of back
Feet off the ground
Hold for a count of 12
Rest
Hold for a count of 12
Rest
Hold for a count of 12

Supine Bridges with band on thighs, feet wide
15 full range pulses
15 little pulses at the top
15 fast paced pulses
15 single leg L, cross left leg over right
15 single leg L, little pulses for 15
15 single leg R, cross right over left
15 single leg R, little pulses for 15
Supine Bridges with feet on Bender ball
Ankles squeezed together, knees and thighs too
15 full range pulses
15 little pulses
15 fast full range pulses

Reverse Crunch
Hands under butt
Lift butt off the ground
15 crunches

Bicycles with band on feet
15 L and R

Physio ball windshield wipers with Bender ball between ankles
15 reps L and R

Physio ball pass
On back, pass ball between feet and hands, extending body long and lean
12 reps

Physio ball hamstring curl
Place feet on physio ball
Draw the ball towards the butt, then straighten
10 reps

Supine adductors with physio ball
Little pulses for 20 reps
Then hold for a count of 5
Little pulses for 12

Yoga Rows holding Bender ball straight out in front of you
Hold the ball out in front of you
Dig heels into the ground and keep your feet on the ground all the time
Very slow lower down, extend the ball all the way over your head.
Then come back up.
8 reps

Deadbugs, passing Bender ball from left to right
10 per side

Plank with Bender ball between thighs
2 X hold as long as you can

Plank jax with band around ankles
20 resp

Cobra curls
Draw bender ball to you and arch upwards, on tummy
Hold
5 reps

Supermans
8 reps per side

Stretch

Tosca Reno

Tosca Reno is a New York Times Bestselling Author and the Founder of Eat Clean Diet® Revolution and Strike Sugar. https://toscareno.com/

The post Take Your Workout on the Road appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Staying Healthy Wherever You Are: You Can Eat Clean While Traveling

Travel is on everyone’s mind again as the world slowly begins to open up.  In a hot minute, the land border between Canada, where I live, and the United States, will be open again, something no one has been able to say for eighteen months at the time of this writing.

Grand vistas of glamorous locations appeal to our imaginations but not so much what to eat while on the road or in flight. The question of what to eat while traveling can be sweat inducing for many.

How do you Eat Clean while still enjoying your travel experience?

What happens when you get into your hotel room late at night and there’s nothing to eat?

Since I, at one time, travelled out of the country two thirds of the year, promoting my books and retreats, and competing in fitness, I have developed multiple strategies to help you Eat Clean no matter what the circumstances.  Not having clean food on hand was just not an option for me. I had to get solutions fast.

Start with your Carry On.

Today traveling allows you to take a carry-on, on most flights.  That piece of luggage is your secret weapon. A well-planned, well-packed carry-on can spare you lots of frustration when you need nourishment now.  Not for you in flight service!

Wet Wipes

These are life savers. If you use a version that contains Tea Tree Oil, you’ll keep your hands disinfected as well. Tea Tree Oil is extremely toxic for dogs.  If you are traveling with pets, don’t choose this type of wipe.

Carry On Snacks for Clean Eating While Traveling!

Fruits: Fresh and Dried

Pack two small containers of sliced, in season fresh fruit about 3/4 cup each, stones or seeds removed.  Note where you are going, since fruits and vegetables with pits and seeds are not allowed across borders. If you are traveling between countries, even using using a Nexus card, forget any seeded fruits or vegetables. They don’t pass.

But when you’re at the airport, find apples, a fruit cup, or a couple of hard boiled eggs and tuck them into your bag. Pack two to three containers of organic, sulfur-free, dried fruits like dates, figs, prunes or apricots, packed in reusable silicone bags. These are now available  in convenient individual servings, from companies like Sunny Fruit.

Nut Butter

Try packing individual pouches of natural nut butter. These are to be eaten with your dried and fresh fruits.  Good clean options include: Teddie’s, Once Again, Justin’s, Santa Cruz, Wild Friends, Stonewall and Crazy Richard’s. Individual packers of nut butter contain 8 grams of protein. Ideally you’ll want 2 of these to achieve as close to 20 grams of protein as possible.  Be sure to check the label ingredients.  You are looking for a label with only nuts and maybe a little sea salt.  Remember that sea salt is clean food for your adrenals.  Adrenals get taxed heavily while traveling.

Crackers

Another great snack option are Mary’s Crackers packed in a reusable bag or bags (depending on how long you are away).  A single serving of Mary’s is 13 crackers.  You may even take the whole box, just remove the inner package from the box.

Tea for Good Health

They don’t take up much space and can be a lifesaver. Pack a small selection of tea bags to add to a cup of hot water on the plane or anywhere. Pack green, fennel or peppermint tea to support digestion. Try Nighty Night Tea with Passionflower and Hops from Traditional Medicinals, to promote sleep, and Throat Coat for soothing dry throats while traveling.  If your bowels are unhappy during travel, Smooth Move tea is a godsend for achieving relief.

Hot Oats for a Satisfying Snack

Pre-measure servings of hot oats as follows: 1/2 cup dry oats + 1 tablespoon flax and chia seeds each + 1 tablespoon slivered almonds, pumpkin or sunflower seeds + 4 tablespoons hemp seeds for protein. Add an individual serving of nut butter (see above for clean brands) to your oats and ask the flight attendant for 2 cups of hot water.  If you have a Yeti thermos you can ask to have that filled up too.  Toss in some dried fruit and your meal is perfect and ready to go. I add a half scoop of AgeLOC TR90 Greenshake for additional protein and greens.  Pre-measure a mixture of nuts, seeds and dried fruits in reusable silicone bags. Organic, raw, whole and unsalted versions are best. Each serving should measure ? cup. Include a date or two.

Hydration Tips

Traveling dehydrates your body very fast.  You’ll want your own water supply with you at all times.

Pack an empty water bottle with a few drops of colloidal silver and gold already in your bottle.  This supports your kidneys and your immune system during the day of flight or travel.  Ask the flight attendant fill your water bottle or fill it at the airport once you’ve passed through security. A large bottle of water – 500ml – to 1 liter is best to stay hydrated.

Look for fresh green juices at the airport. Some airports have these and some Starbucks in the airport have these too. Check the label for added sugar.  You don’t want ANY sugar of any kind added to these beverages.

On The Go Soup

For late afternoon/ evening flights: Pack a wide mouth Yeti or other thermos with chopped raw greens, shredded carrots, Forbidden Rice Ramen noodles and a heaping tablespoon of miso paste.  Once you’ve arrived at the airport or your destination, fill with hot water and enjoy. Bamboo cutlery is essential so you can eat your meal anytime and anywhere.

More Snack Ideas for Your Carry-On for Eating Clean

• Meat, preferably clean versions.
• Cheese slices or cubes.
• Vegetables: carrots, celery, peppers, fennel (no seeds).
• Muffins – clean versions only.
• Sandwiches

If you are checking a bag.

• One box of Mary’s Crackers.
• 4 pieces of packable fruit: apples and pears travel well. Verify that you can take fruit with you to your destination.
• 4 hard boiled eggs. You can get these in the airport if you’re traveling internationally.
• Tuna in single-serve packets.

Tips to Eat Clean In Your Hotel Room

Try to find a Whole Foods or similar natural food store like Trader Joe’s or Plum Markets. Look for some of the following items.

Fresh Pressed Green Juices

Pick up one for each morning. Keep in mind that even local grocers often have fresh pressed juices. But the key is to only purchase those with a balance of greens and fruit.  Keep your sugar intake to a minimum, and less than 2-4 grams is best.

Fruits, Veggies, and Protein

• Fresh, pre-cut, raw veggies from the salad bar or produce section.
• Look for organic berries, apples and pears.
• Another fave is locally made, organic hummus – look for clean versions.
• Organic fresh ground almond butter – just nuts and salt, nothing else.
• A meal sized portion of fresh salad with apple cider vinegar and oil on the side.
• Pre-cooked/grilled chicken breasts.
• Single Serve plain Greek yogurt like Fage.
• Small containers of plant-based milk to mix with AgeLOC TR90 Greenshake and a Beauty Focus Collagen packet. This can also be acquired at an in-hotel coffee bar.
• Pack your supplements in individual silicone bags for each day.

Tips for Food Safety

Obviously all of this will need refrigeration and here are some solutions.

1. The easiest option, of course, is booking a room with a mini-fridge.
2. Request a mini-fridge upon making your reservation due to the special diet/medication you are on – nearly all hotels will honor this. Food is medicine.
3. Bring along a soft-sided insulated cooler bag that you can fill with ice while in your room.
4. The Cooler Plans from The Eat Clean Diet Stripped will serve you well. Make use of these and your cooler to stay on top of your game.

How to Eat Clean While Dining Out

The most important part of dining out while traveling is to remember that YOU are paying for your food with your hard earned dollars.  You have a right to insist that your money is buying food that enhances your wellness. You can make special requests.  People do it all the time, and it is no longer something to be embarrassed about. In fact, it’s often expected and welcomed.

Look at the menu online in advance.  If there is a way to order online, make a practice run ordering that way.  You don’t have to complete the order and pay.  Just practice placing it.  You might be shocked at the options to substitute your protein, leave off sauces, butters, or even modify the cooking methods.  This will help you feel more empowered to request the food you want, and less like a burden at the table.

Don’t be afraid to ask servers not to bring the bread basket. Not getting that basket isn’t going to decrease the price of your meal, but it will greatly increase your wellness and support your wellness goals.

Don’t be afraid to ask for double something when you have the option to choose more than one side.  You can ask for a double of steamed broccoli prepared without butter to enjoy with your meal.  You do not have to choose two different things.

Beware of Peer Pressure While on a Trip

Other people don’t live in your body.  Often on work trips, we are not surrounded by like-minded people in the area of health and well-being.  You don’t owe anyone an explanation as to why you’re ordering a healthy option.  Stay strong and lead by example.  People are watching you and their teasing is often happening because they really want to be as strong as you are in your convictions regarding your wellness.

Things you can order in a pinch when you end up at a restaurant that does not have a lot of options.

• Grilled Fish (with no butter or sauces) with a double side of veggies or a green salad with oil and vinegar on the side.
• Steak (grilled with no butter or sauces) with a double side of veggies or a green salad with oil and vinegar on the side.
• Scrambled eggs (no butter) and fruit or a green salad with oil and vinegar on the side, just like the French do it.
• Oatmeal with fruit. Oatmeal is even available at drive thru coffee shops. You can add your own toppings from your travel stash
• Hard boiled eggs and fruit or raw veggies.
• Grilled chicken salad with olive oil and vinegar.

Do not be afraid to ask a restaurant to leave off any topping you do not want. Don’t wait and pick it off yourself.  You will eat it.  Just order what you want to consume.

Hydration is Key to Eating Clean While Traveling

This is the most difficult part of travel for me.  It is very important to stay hydrated, but often we avoid it when we are traveling because we don’t want to make frequent stops at the bathroom.  The best way to prepare for this is to make sure you are regularly hydrated in advance, and that your body is well practiced at managing your hydration.

It is OK to carry your own water bottle into a restaurant.  You do not have to order a drink in the restaurant.  Restaurant owners no longer look down on water bottle toters.  Carry your water, and drink it so you can be sure that you have achieved the proper hydration.

Fitness/Leisure on the Road

Resistance bands are easy to fit in your suitcase. That way you can incorporate fitness into the time you have in your hotel room or even at your campsite.  Airpods and a motivational book related to your health or personal growth can help keep you focused on wellness even on your trip. Traveling and Eating Clean can pair nicely if you are well prepared. Bon voyage!

Message Tosca Reno with your questions: support@toscarenomedia.com

Go-To References on Traveling with Food

Reference website for Canadians: https://www.catsa-acsta.gc.ca/en/travelling-solid-food-items Reference website for Americans: https://help.cbp.gov/s/article/Article-3619?language=en_US

Tosca Reno

Tosca Reno is a New York Times Bestselling Author and the Founder of Eat Clean Diet® Revolution and Strike Sugar. https://toscareno.com/

The post How to Eat Clean When Traveling appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

What is High Value Exercise?

The secret to fast efficient body sculpting & how yoga plays a role

High Value Exercise is a term that’s been floating around fitness fanatics lately, but what is it?

High Value Exercise is physical movement that involves most, if not all, of your muscle groups in one single exercise, all at the same time, while simultaneously challenging your heart/lung engine. Most High Value Exercise is fast efficient body sculpting that primarily targets the large muscle groups including the glutes, quads, and abs.

This kind of exercise is so challenging that you can’t do it for a long time but when you do the afterburn and payoff is real.

What’s after-burn?

It’s the amount of oxygen your body sucks in above resting level after your workout. This is the desired effect you create in your body each time you train.

It’s the repaying of the oxygen deficit that you blew through when you pushed out those punishing reps.

It’s the Metabolic Sink in action.

It’s the vacuuming up of glucose out of the blood.

It’s the fat burning that’s happening when mixed with oxygen and exercise to carve trim muscles and sheer away fat. In short, the afterburn is you burning up calories for hours after the hard work of training is done.

Take note! High Value Exercise, or HVE, is the most efficient way to train. Not for you the daily treadmill grind while reading The Skimm on your phone. That only robs you of your time, something more valuable than gold.

High Value Exercise or HVE, is an all-out effort in a short amount of time to create maximum fat meltdown and muscle build up.

What exercises give the highest value?

There are three modes of training that incorporate this high value exercise concept.

• Kettlebells
• Rebounding
• Underwater exercise

Why these exercises?

No other kind of resistance workout challenges your entire muscular system at the same time as your heart and lungs, as much as these methods do. Training under water is not practical for most of you but you can easily learn and adopt a kettlebell or rebounding routine.

Read this blog for a more thorough explanation about how your body responds to kettlebell training and rebounding.

Try this routine to challenge yourself in a brand new way. As a side note, you might not be able to walk afterwards. You’re welcome.

TOSCA’S HIGH VALUE EXERCISE PROGRAM

Equipment:

• Cellercise® Rebounder or mini trampoline*
• Kettlebells: 6, 8 and 10 kg bells

*If you don’t have a Cellercise unit or a mini trampoline, use a skipping rope. It’s not the same but is the next best thing.

The Warm-Up

• 5 minutes
• Halos – 8 clockwise, 8 counterclockwise
• Figure 8’s – 8 clockwise, 8 counterclockwise

The HVE Circuit Workout Round #1

The HVE Circuit Workout Round #2 (this one is harder)

Changing Body and Brain through Fast Efficient Body Sculpting

Congratulations!! You’re done. You’ve launched a fat-burning inferno inside you that will continue for several hours after this workout. And you’ve completely changed the physiology of your body and your brain.

Follow this up with a beautiful yoga session to lengthen and stretch your beautiful muscles and you will feel better than any Oreo cookie you ever ate.

According to Dr. John Ratey who wrote the amazing book, Spark-The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain,

Exercise four days a week, varying from thirty minutes to an hour, at 60 to 65 percent of your maximum heart rate. At this level, you’ll be burning fat in the body and generating the ingredients necessary for all the structural changes in the brain…

It’s the magic formula for fast efficient body scuplting! Now you know.

Now you can get on with your day in “Supercharged, I’ve got this!” mode.

You’re welcome.

My passion is your wellness!

Tosca Reno

Tosca Reno is a New York Times Bestselling Author and the Founder of Eat Clean Diet® Revolution and Strike Sugar. https://toscareno.com/

The post High Value Exercise: The secret to fast efficient body sculpting appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.