Staying overnight the healthy way
Even the best health intentions can dissolve on a business trip. And no wonder, with the stress of travel, jet lag, marathon meetings, the pressure to eat, drink and be merry with business colleagues, and little time for normal fitness routines.
Fitness at your leisure
With business travel on the rise, many hotels today offer fitness as a competitive advantage, while some of the world’s top spa hotels have in recent years adjusted their programmes to reflect the needs of business travellers. The glamorous Saxon Hotel in
Johannesburg, South Africa, for example, was a World Spa Award nominee in 2018. Its fitness centre is open 24 hours a day to allow business travellers to continue their fitness programmes at their leisure. Resident exercise practitioners offer treatments such as the “post-flight stretch”, and tired travellers can also rejuvenate in the spa to get their bodies and faces glowing again.
Going it alone
But what if a hotel has no fitness offers? Joggers can locate popular running routes using route-finder apps such as Runkeeper or Map my Run. They can also learn about group runs through apps such as Parkrun in the UK. People who favour bite-sized exercises that can be personalised can head to Trazee Travel, for example, which is a web publication listing top fitness apps for hotel rooms – they include the “12-minute Athlete”, the 5–10 minute “Daily Leg Workout” and “Down Dog. Great Yoga Anywhere”. And thanks to the growing industry around business travel health, there is now also a wide range of fitness gear that fits easily into baggage, such as fitness trackers, lightweight yoga mats, pedometers and resistance bands.
Be good to yourself
Business travel health is not only about keeping mentally or physically fit. The right nutrition is also essential to balance mood, attention span and energy levels.
“Often business travel means arriving at your destination suffering from too much drink, rich food and sleep deprivation,” says UK nutritionist Dr Rachel Allen. “This is often followed by meals out, consisting of more rich food, copious alcohol, no exercise and sitting in meetings all day. Never mind the fact that you might have travelled into a different time zone.”
This article was written by Vicki Sussens and was originally published in the Spring issue of Connect. It has been shortened for digital distribution.
