Weights for traveling?

[soccergal23]

Hi!

Does anyone have any suggestions for weights for traveling? I'm going to be gone for a while & really don't want to lug my weights along. I've done that in the past and it was not fun at all - ie not being able to carry the bag up the stairs, hurting my back when I could actually lug the bag up the stairs, bag breaking, etc.

I know Sky Mall had the kind that you fill with water - does anyone else sell them? Or are there any other alternatives I can try?

I'm going to take PeakFit Challenge with me, and I know some of the moves I can do with bands, but others I need hand weights for.

TIA

[Kathryn]

You can do exercises for the whole body with resistance bands or tubing. That would be my first choice. Also take a door attachment to be able to do pulldowns.

Do bodyweight exercises: push-ups, dips (seated on the floor or off a hotel chair), squats (sit up and down from the bed or a chair), lunges, planks...

Walk wherever you can, and use stairs when you have the choice between the stairs and an elevator.

Take gliding discs to do various types of lunges and push-ups.

Stay in a hotel with an exercise room and use the weights there. (That's I'd do for heavy weights).

For light weights, filled water bottles can work.

[neatski]

Awesome question! I've done quite a bit of traveling and at one point considered Aqua Bells, but I've read that they're bulky and hard to maneuver for people with smaller hands.

Here are the solutions I've come up with:

-Resistance bands (as you've mentioned)
-Sandbag- or even a small duffle bag or two. I take one along with me and put water bottles or something else heavy in it. Each 0.5 liter small water bottle weighs approximately 1.1 pounds. You can get cheap, small duffle bags with handles and even have two if you'd like.
-Suspension trainer- they're foldable and can be easily mounted on doors
-Subbing out weighted exercises for bodyweight ones like tricep dips, multiple types of pushups, etc.

[pedmom]

I third the bands! I have a seasonal camper and there is no way I'm dragging dumbbells back and forth every weekend. I got Cathe's Travel Fit and a good band and I'm good to go. If you haven't tried tried them, don't write them off until you do. I never thought I'd get that great of a workout with bands, but I actually get DOMS here and there because it's just working the muscles a little bit differently.

If you really try, I bet you can figure out how to use the bands for Peak Fit. It's worth a try since obviously they are easier to travel with. Good luck.

[Mopsy]

Tubing is the only thing I travel with. Are you going to be gone a while traveling? Or staying in one place? If you're traveling, you certainly don't want to carry weights around (but you know that). If you're going to be in one place, then maybe you can go buy some dumbbells at your destination (they're cheap enough) and leave them behind. Or make sure you stay someplace with a gym, or agreement with a gym.

[sciencelady]

I travel with my TRX, use the weights and cardio machines in the hotel exercise room, do body weight exercises or yoga in my hotel room, use the swimming pool, walk the area, etc. Lots of options while traveling - time to do it becomes an issue with work conferences with meetings and events going from sunup to sundown... . If I'm traveling by car, I'll throw a kettlebell in the back of the car, but not hauling that sucker through the airport .

[caligurl]

i have to agree with bands and trx/rip:60!

[soccergal23]

Thank you for all of the suggestions - I really appreciate them! I just picked up a set of resistance bands from Target that have three varying resistance levels. I'm going took look online and see how I can modify the weighted moves in PF with these. I'll also try the body weight exercises.

I'm going to be traveling around Europe for three weeks with students. We're in a different hotel or guest house every 2-3 nights. Only about half of the hotels have weights. I'm definitely bringing the PF cardio DVDs, but I'm worried about annoying anyone in the rooms below me. So, I may have to do alternatives for the cardio, too.

Several years ago I worked in Germany for a while. I decided to lug my Firm "death box" with me. When I got there, my duffle bag with the "death box" in it got stuck at the top of an escalator. I started to take a nasty tumble down, but luckily a guy stopped me No more taking any bulky or heavy exercise equipment with me ever again

[bee]

Sounds like you ought to get gliding discs for low impact / silent cardio!

Crazy story about the firm box!!

[superfit41]

I always travel with my SI6 Burn it Up, and Keep it Up workouts, along with my resistance band. That way I get it all in, resistance training, and cardio. I used to travel with a set of those adjustable weights, (target set) but it is just too much of a pain.

Sherry