Well everyone it is beginning to get warm out. The rain is bringing taller grass as a result of all of us travelling more and more for work and conference season. With that, I like to work out at least 3 to 4 days a week. Between swimming and weights, I don’t like to stay a way from the gym to long. But, like many, the travel makes it harder and harder for any of us to even get to a gym much less go mall walking around the hotel parking lot. So to help you all get fit even when you are travelling is my friend and work place fitness guru Danielle Korb….

Danielle Korb

Exercise while travelling

You want to stay healthy while you travel with an exercise routine that is fun, simple, challenging, & effective…… you are a Fit Traveler! Here are 3 exercise routines to help you stay in shape and burn calories while you are on the road.

Exercise while traveling presents it’s challenges with new gyms & equipment, no gym, and limited time. With fitness on the road I have designed 3 exercise plans that help you burn a lot of calories, work in the gym/outside/in a hotel room, & are full of effective exercises that optimize your time.

Monitor your heart rate

Monitoring your heart rate while you workout can help you keep the workout more of a fun challenge while burning more calories at the same time. When you do each exercise your target heart rate should be 85% of your maximum heart rate. Your Maximum heart rate is 220 minus your age. If you are 30 years old: 220 - 30 = 190 beats per minute. Your Target heart rate of 85% of your 190 Maximum Heart Rate is 161 beats per minute. You can measure your heart rate after an exercise by taking your pulse for 10 seconds and multiplying by 6.

If you travel a lot you may want to consider investing in a heart rate monitor or a wrist heart rate monitor. These are great because they act like a little personal trainer. They remind you to keep your workout intense and they keep you reaching to your 85% target heart rate goal for the entire workout.

Exercise Program
Preform each exercise for 30 seconds & rest for 15 seconds between each exercise. Do the routine 5 times through for a 20 minute workout. For these workouts I’m your online personal trainer with links to videos of me demonstrating how to do some of the exercises. Have Fun with your Fitness….Go Fit Traveler!

Number 1: Healthy Travel Exercise Program
1. Squats
2. Push Ups
3. Jumping Jacks
4. Alternating Lunges
5. High Knees in Place

Number 2: Healthy Travel Exercise Program
1. Full Sit up
2. Glute Kick in Place (heels to booty)
3. Lunge Jumps
4. Tricep Dips
5. Squat Jumps

Number 3 with Equipment: Healthy Travel Exercise Program
1. Overhead Press
2. Alternating Step Ups
3. Bicep Curl
4. Jump Rope
5. Chest Press

About your contributor: Danielle Korb is the owner and founder of Sweat Training, Downtown Cincinnati’s Urban Loft Style Gym catering to the Urbanite that Works Hard, Trains Hard, & Enjoys the Social Scene. You may take part in the Indoor Urban Boot Camp & consultations for Personal Training. Train at Sweat! your Online Personal Trainer. Click For More Fitness & Healthy Food Ideas!

You may also Follow Or Like Sweat Training.

This week I begin some more travel for work which will take me to Atlanta. In the near future I will be in Dallas, Phoenix, Orlando, Philadelphia, etc. etc. While in Atlanta, after I am finished with work, I will take a break to join a number of others at HRevolution. You can follow the event via Twitter at #HRevolution.

On April 15 I was once again a guest on DriveThruHR, a show that takes place Monday through Friday from 1pm - 1:30 EST, discussing anything related to the Human Resources industry. Since I will be traveling so much in the next few months that is the subject we mainly discussed. Listen in and enjoy.

Another Trip: I will be attending the ASTD International Conference in Orlando, FL in May as a press blogger. While I am there I will be hosting, along with ASTD, the official #ASTDTweetup. Feel free to RSVP on Facebook or Linkedin. Follow the conversation #ASTD2011.

Changes in the economy

In the July 4th, 2010 issue of the Cincinnati Enquirer (@enquirer) by Jame Spilcher discussing the upturn in the economy and stating that as it improves, key workers will begin to leave companies and these companies need to start paying attention. Every month thousands of jobs are eliminated. As of April 2010, 15.3 million people are out of work (reports only based off unemployment claims). While I have seen more positions being posted and sent out through networks, more potential lay-offs by companies are still being reported due to lack in business, reorganization, etc. Companies are making short term cuts to deal with the short term issues. But what is really happening? Business is making these cuts to survive, however are they making right decisions in order to thrive?

I have always asked, what happens when the downturn starts going back up? Where will you as a business be? Are you surviving or trying to sustain and thrive when it gets better?

When you get laid off, it’s not a pink slip it’s a blank page - from Lemonade, the documentary

Lemons and Lemonade

The people that are hurt the most are those displaced, eliminated and laid off. However, the people that have the greatest power are those displaced, eliminated and laid off. It is when these situations give you lemons that you have a decision to make. This is one time where you have the rare chance to start over. Where the opportunity is to create, engage, and re-engage in the things you forgot about. The things you loved.

“You don’t have to change your job to change your life.
You can just incorporate more of what you love into your everyday…
and it makes the biggest difference in the world.”

The following is short snippet of a documentary about those who were dealt lemons and began to decide, not if they would make lemonade, but what KIND of lemonade they would make! You can see the entire documentary by following the link which is 41 minutes. I recommend that you watch at least the first few minutes.

(RSS feeds Click to view entire documentary)

(RSS Feeds click to view entire documentary)

You don’t have to stop working a job. You don’t have to quit looking for a salary. But what you need to do is start living a life that you can be proud of!”

Does this speak to you?

Feel free to Connect: ReThinkHR.org and @BenjaminMcCall

There have been so many times when I have been tempted to do some level of work on my vacations. Any vacation. From checking my personal email. To taking a quick glance at my blackberry. Even sneaking down to the hotel business center and spending about an hour on the computer. Believe me, I did some of this when I was on vacation last week!

We are so much in the routine of working that we do not often know how to shut that part of our life off. Your employer and your clients expect you to shut off your personal life when you sit in an office or meet face-to-face with them. So why so often do we have a hard time shutting off our professional life when we go away from the office?

Answer this poll?

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Here are some simple steps to be effective at your vacation while your on vacation.

1. Let your employer and clients know you are going on vacation. This information helps you and everyone else around you prepare for any potential backlog of work. It allows the people you report to and those who report to you prepare for your absence. They can ask and answer any questions that may be pertinent to the time you are away. Your vacation is a part of your benefit so don’t minimize your benefit by allowing work to dip into your time.
2. Don’t tell anyone but close friends and colleagues where you are going. This is sometimes difficult for any of us to keep a secret. You need to inform the important people that you are going on vacation. However, you are not obligated to let anyone at your workplace know where? I have known plenty of people that have been contacted by clients, vendors and work at their location when an emergency hits forcing them to stop what they’re doing. I have even heard of people having to come back from their vacations. Keeping your whereabouts silent is not always prime but sometimes needed!
3. Turn off your phone. With so much technology in the palm of our hands, an innocent check could possibly turn into a few hours of keying, calendar syncs and long calls. Don’t be a victim. You may leave the phone power on for emergencies but keep it off your hip when you shouldn’t be interrupted.
4. When you go out to relax make sure there are no outlets near you. Don’t go into a relapse just because you have the ability to reconnect or power up.
5. Turn off your computer. Repeat what I said for step 3, cross out phone and add in ‘computer.’
6. Better yet, don’t bring your computer or device. If the emergency is that big or you need to get on a connect to simply clear messages and quick spot checks once a day for 30 minutes then just head down to the business center. This will keep you from having easy access in your room. Better yet, the trip down to the business center could be annoying and keep you from being connected all together… YEAH!
7. Add your own… I am sure you have some approaches and best practices to unplug and relax. What are they (comment below)?

You can be connected but will you be so connected that your work begins to disconnect you from your vacation and relaxation?

Do you have anything to add? Please leave a comment and tell me your advice and stories of how your kept from being interrupted or were distracted from your vacation by work?