Videocy and business travel

[GymRatt]

I know this has been discussed before, but I think I'm going to have to invest in a portable DVD player. My job has gone into tilt with all this travel! (Not really a complaint...just a vent...)

I haven't even left yet for my trip tomorrow, and I find out I have 3 more trips between now and the first week in Nov...sigh...

OK...can we start an OFFICIAL list of workouts that 'travel' well. (ie MINIMAL equipment).

I'll start:
Contender's Club FastLane to Fitness
TaeBo (Cardio Circuit, Bootcamp, Get ripped)
BeachBody's soon-to-be released Fast 10 sounds like it might work

Also, what videos will convert well to audio only for use in the hotel gym?

Here's my pick:
Cathe: Pyramids Upper/Lower (sub one legged squats for tall box climbs)
Callanetics

What else?

[Pratima]

Funny you posted this, I'm doing some major traveling next month and was trying to figure out what I'll do! Unfortunately, I don't have a laptop or portable DVD player, and the hotels don't either. I was thinking I'd buy some resistance bands and try to do something that way.

How are you planning to convert those workouts to audio? Guess I could do the same for some cardio (workouts I know REALLY well, obviously!)

[cmiyachi]

Hi-

I have to travel about every six weeks and I find the slim series works really well in a hotel room -no bouncing to wake up people under you which I have had a lot problems with.

I have a set of waterfilled weights, bands, and a load of yoga CDs. I also have portable DVD player. The water filled weights are great if you don't have to change the weight size a lot.

I also bring some low impact like Sharon Mann The Works and Karen Voights Burn and Firm. The cheap business hotels I stay at don't even have gyms which are usually really bad anyway. (small - bad equipment - in a small dirty corner of the hotel).

I like the suggestions here as well.

[KickDancer]

What a great idea! One of my video-collection goals is to have an entire two-weeks' worth of videos that I can take with me. Some of the additions I'm suggesting below include short portions that use dumbbells or a stability ball, but those are easy to skip. I've also listed some that I'm not sure about since I haven't done them, but I'm hoping that someone else who knows better will correct me so I can edit this post if necessary.

Kickboxing:
Powerstrike Millennium #3
Cathe: Kick, Punch, & Crunch (skipping the stability-ball section); CTX Kickbox (skipping the bicep section); Cardio Kicks
Contenders Club: Bunches of Punches (w/o weighted gloves)
Janis Saffell: Hardcore Kickbox Circuit (skipping the weight sections; also w/o weighted gloves)
Quick Fix: Cardio Kick w/ Janis Saffell
CIA 2203: Cardio Strike Plus Boot Camp w/ Terrie Reeves
CIA 2205: Knock-Out Hi/Lo w/ Debbie Burns
Kathy Smith: Kickboxing, Aerobox
Silk Manning: Khi Bae, Aero-Kick
Eversley Forte: Cardio Athletic Kickbox 1 & 2, No Holds Barred
Method: Jab, Kick, & Burn; Cardio Kick
P90X: Kenpo X
Elite Forces: Cardio, Shadowboxing? (w/o heavy bag)
Latin Kick?
Kimberly Spreen: Triple Threat?

Hi-lo:
P90X: Plyo X, Cardio X
Kathy Smith: Rules of Fat Burning, Peak Fat Burner, Cardio Fat Burner
Karen Voight: Power Packed Workout, Strong & Smooth Moves (skipping the weight section)
CIA 2202: All-Out Hi/Lo w/ Franny Benedetto (just the hi-lo section)
probably Christi Taylor; haven't done many

Resistance tubing:
P90X: Chest & Back; Chest, Shoulders, & Triceps; Shoulders & Arms; Back & Biceps (can't remember if all the dumbbell moves can be substituted with resistance tubing)

Body-weight-only strength training:
Tamilee Webb: I Want That Body! (except arms)
Quick Fix: Total Body Mix (again, except arms)

Dance, fusion, other:
Cardio Barre
Yoga Booty Ballet?
Quick Fix: Cardio Hip-Hop w/ Juliane Arney
Method: Dance to Fitness, Core Cardio, Standing Pilates Blend
New York City Ballet Workouts 1 & 2
Kari Anderson: Angles, Lines, & Curves
Grace Lazenby: All the Right Moves?
Paula Abdul: ?
Lotte Berk Method
Bar Method
pilates
yoga
stretching

If you're willing to lug some VHS tapes along, here are some more:

Kickboxing:
Powerstrike Millennium #1, 2
Aaron Lankford: Power Kicks, Total Energy
Sherri Jacquelyn: Fit to Kick, Kickbox Jam
CIA 9809: Kickbox Express w/ Janis Saffell
Franny Benedetto: Kick-Itt 2000
GI Jabb: Kickboxercise, Turbo Training, Cadet Training?, Warrior Workout? w/ Katalin Zamiar
Larry Lam: XKO Kickboxing
Karate Integrated Aerobics
Dawei Kickboxing

Hi-lo:
Ginette Deslauriers: Urban Tai Chi, UTC - The Explorer, Kamikaze
CIA 9905: Non-Stop Workouts w/ Franny Benedetto (just the hi-lo section)
Gin Miller: Intense Moves (still intense without a step!)
NAC Interval Challenge
Crunch: Fat Blaster Goes Latin

Using resistance bands/tubing:
CIA 9902: Kickbutt Combat w/ Keli Roberts
GI Jabb: Kickboxing & Strengthening w/ Katalin Zamiar
Kari Anderson: Tone It Up!
Tamilee Webb: Pumping Rubber
Karen Andes: Dyna-Gym

I don't know much about hi-lo and resistance-band workouts, so I'm hoping someone else can help fill in those categories.

Thanks for starting this thread!

[Colleen]

The Slim in 6 workouts and Keep it Up are ideal for travel because they use a reistance band for all weighted exercises. The Slim Series would work if you can bring light dumbbells.

Of course, there are tons of Pilates and yoga DVDs that would be great for travel. You can get a good strength workout from power yoga! No equipment required, except for a mat. I always travel with a yoga mat.

If you have a chair that you could use in place of a barre, the Bar Method and Lotte Berk workouts would be ideal.

Other "fusion" workouts: Crunch Fat-Burning Pilates, Crunch Burn and Firm Pilates (if you can bring light dumbbells), Kari Anderson's ALC2, NYC Ballet.

[bzar]

GR,

when i stayed at the disneyland hotel, i taped Tough Tape (w/Tracy Long) on an audio cassette tape beforehand and brought my walkman. i used that as a basis for a strength workout in their hotel fitness center.

i was able to do the entire tape listening to Tracy's voice, going from one set to the next non-stop. plus, i was 6 months pregnant!

it's funny watching people go in there and not know how to do a gym-style workout. i could do one without the tape because i have had a gym membership before, but having tracy keep me on track was really good.

on cardio days, i did the bike, recumbant bike, and some fast walking around the property.

at the hotel you are staying at - ask if they have DVD players to rent, or play them on a lap top (if you have one).

eta: SS Firm It Up basically requires no equipment at all and might be a good candidate for an audio workout.

[Lyzza350]

How bought karen voight power packed workout...and tighter assets with tamilee webb?

[wagardsmith]

I travel all the time (I'm sitting at the Minneapolis airport right now). My laptop has a DVD player. I use resistance bands in place of weights (I only had one band, but just ordered the whole set from Beachbody). Also, I ask to be on the ground floor so I can do kickboxing or whatever aerobics I want (well, step doesn't work well, since I don't have a step with me . The only time that backfires is when there is someone noisy above me :rolleyes: . I'm doing P90X, and so far I haven't missed a workout day because of travel (today was a rest day, which was good).

Even though most of the hotels I stay in have a gym, I don't like to use them. They rarely have free weights. Usually it's just a treadmill or two, a stationary bike, and a stepper. Once in a while they will have some kind of weight machine.

[KarenP]

One of my favorite "workouts" when traveling is walking. OK, not much intensity there. But still, as long as I'm being paid to go to a new city, I take full advantage (before or after work, of course) and try to play the tourist. On foot is the best way, IMO. Before I go, I check out citysearch.com and find some interesting sites to go see. I also ask the folks I'm working with, and they're usually more than happy to point out some things I should check out.

[ducky]

Great thread! I have to travel pretty often and I'm always looking for workout options. I don't have a laptop or DVD player, so my actual video options are limited.

Lately I have been packing a beach blanket thing I bought last summer. It's a big blue synthetic blanket for the beach but I bring it on travel because its very light and folds up small. The thought of laying on motel room carpet grosses me out so I workout on my beach sheet. I bring several resistance bands, tubing, loops and such, they're small and light. I load my mp3 player with workout music. I usually try and get a place with at least a treadmill or stepper for cardio and use my bands for resistance. One thing I do is walking squats across the room, back and forth, back and forth. You can get a couple hundred pretty easy by just counting trips. I also do sets of unweighted lunges,squats, plies, etc (a la "freestyle training") 3 to 5 sets, 15 each leg per set of: forward lunge, back lunge, crossover lunge, squat, plie.Then I'm ready for bed DOM the next day!