 Travel can expand your perception, your horizons, and your dreams. Unfortunately, it sometimes can expand your waistband, as well (unless you're traveling on a Ketanga Fitness Retreat, of course!). If one of your goals is to maintain an active lifestyle every day, not just when you’re at home, it’s important to keep up healthy habits even when you’re out of town. We know this can be tough. Not every hotel has a state-of-the-art fitness facility – let alone a treadmill – for you to get your fix in. Take your on-the-go fitness into your own hands – literally – and grab a set of mini resistance bands on your next trip.
Mini Band Workout: The MovesSight-Seeing Squats: Start standing with your legs together, and the band wrapped around your ankles. As you exhale, simultaneously open the legs and flex the knees sitting back into a nice deep squat. Inhale and close the legs together. Repeat 2x to the left, then 2x to the right. (10 Reps) *Note: Make sure that you lead with the heel keeping the toes parallel and hinging directly back from the sit bones keeping a nice even alignment of the hips and knees.
Jump Jacks Journey: Start in a nice long plank position with shoulders directly over your hands with the band wrapped around your ankles. Inhale and bend the elbows lowering your chest down forming a 90 degree angle at the elbow and as you exhale extend the arms returning to the plank position. Hold the plank and jump the legs out east to west keeping the hips in alignment with the spine. Inhale close the legs together and repeat the sequence push up to jump jack.
Seaside Clam Shells: Start lying on your side with your body in one long line and your knees flexed to a 90 degree angle. Place the band ABOVE your knees stacking your hips, knees, and ankles on top of one another. Your focus should be out directly in front of you maintaining a nice neutral spine throughout. As you exhale externally rotate the knee to open the legs. Inhale and rotate the knees to touch and repeat this sequence of knees to toes (15x). BONUS: add a kick out when you are ready to intensify the burn!
Pit Stop Fire Hydrant: Start in a nice long quadruped position, on all 4’s, aligning your shoulders over your hands and your knees directly underneath your hip joints. Wrap the band above your knees. Inhale and draw the navel into your spine focusing on keeping a nice strong center position. As you exhale slightly lift the knee (abduct) away from your center and controlling the return. The focus should be on maintaining a nice neutral spine, keeping the navel spine connection and isolating the abductors of the hip joint.
Kickback and Relax: Start in a nice long quadruped position, on all 4’s and align your shoulders over your hands and your knees directly underneath your hip joints. Wrap the band above your knees. Inhale and draw the navel into your spine focusing on keeping a nice strong center position. As you exhale extend the working leg back behind you and focus on firing the glute to lift the leg. Inhale to pull the knee into align with the hip. Repeat this sequence (15x on one side then transfer to the other side).
Big Strong Bridge: Start laying down flat on your back with a nice neutral spine. Flex your knees and place your feet in line with your sitz bones with your hands resting gently by your sides. Wrap the band around above your knees and open the legs so that they are in line with your hips. You should feel a slight resistance targeting the sides of the hips. As you inhale to prepare, exhale extend your hips up to the sky maintaining a nice even alignment from knee, hip, to shoulder squeezing those glutes. Inhale to hinge the hips and lower the hips to hover off the mat. Repeat the sequence lift to lower. The band will add extra resistance forcing you to really fire not only the major hip extensors, but the gluteus medius and minimus.
Narrow Bridge: Try this modification to intensify a basic bridge with the resistance band. Start laying down flat on your back with a nice neutral spine. Flex your knees and place your feet in line with your sitz bones with your hands resting gently by your sides. Wrap the band around above your knees and open the legs so that they are in line with your hips. Extend one leg up towards the sky keeping a nice evenness between the ribs and the hips. You should feel a slight resistance targeting the sides of the hips. Exhale to extend the hips maintaining this position and inhale to lower down. Repeat 10x on one leg and repeat the same sequence on the other side.
Easy Breezy Leg Lift: Start kneeling with the band wrapped around both knees. Place one hand down on the ground while extending the opposite leg out long. As you exhale lift the leg laterally out to the side and as you inhale lower the leg to tap the toe. The goal is to stay nice and even in the hip joints controlling the movement throughout. (Repeat 10x on the one side before transferring to the other)
Traveling Tube Walks: Start standing with the spine in a nice neutral position and the band wrapped around your ankles. As you exhale step out directly to one side and close the legs together. Sequence: 2 steps to the right, then 2 steps to the left. Repeat this sequence 10x. Before you add on to the next exercise below with the “squats.” Destination-Diagonal Tube Walks: Start standing with the band wrapped around the ankles and your legs together. As you exhale walk forward on a diagonal, right together, left together then lead back with the right leg, and return back to starting position with the left Repeat this sequence 5x then start the sequence leading with the left leg. Try this out on your next trip and let us know what you think below or on social media! Want more from Brooke? Check out her upcoming summer retreat with Ketanga for some serious booty burning! And try her classes in NYC - for her schedule, visit TayloredFitness.net. By Kristen Chuber
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