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If you work a 12-hour or night shift, this guide is going to be a game-changer.

Working weird hours provides a challenge for those looking to get in shape, so I’ll provide a step-by-plan to help you reach your fitness goals.

Because I’m nice like that. And I like you.

This is 100% doable.

After all, Batman is super ripped and he works nights too.

Today we’ll cover:

• How to lose weight working a 12-hour or night shift? Diet is still the most important thing.
• How to not gain weight while working 12-hour and night shifts: Avoid these things!
• What liquid calories will help your 12-hour or night shift.
• What foods to avoid on a 12-hour or night shift.
• Workout routines for a 12-hour or night shift.
• Prioritizing fitness 24/7.

Weird hours be damned, I’m gonna help you build up momentum.

These are the exact strategies we work with our night-shift clients in our 1-on-1 Coaching Program! Although each situation is unique, we have certain principles that are universal and can help you start living healthier even when your work life is crazy.

Want to see if we are a good fit for each other? Click on the button below to schedule a free call. We’d love to talk to you, no matter what!

Our coaches design plans for all sorts of challenging scenarios. Learn more here.

How to Lose Weight Working a 12-Hour or Night Shift?

Now, whether you work weird hours or normal hours, diet is still responsible for 80-90% of your success or failure when it comes to getting in shape.

80-90 PERCENT.

This is both a blessing and a curse. It means you don’t need to freak out if you miss a workout after a long night shift, but it also means you gotta take care of yourself while you are working.

Simply put, if you’re not losing weight, it’s because you’re eating too many calories. So if you’re trying to lose weight while working a night shift or working 12-hour shifts, you need to find ways to eat fewer calories without driving yourself crazy.

I’m a fan of any diet that gets you to accomplish this goal, but you know yourself better than others. So any “diet” may help you, as long as you have access to food for that particular way of eating. 

This isn’t a problem, as we have a plan for that!

This just means you need to become the master of meal preparation.

“But Steve I don’t have time to prepare food!” you say.

Yeah, I heard you.

What you’re REALLY saying is, “But Steve, preparing food ahead of time isn’t a priority for me.”

If you are working overnight shifts, you’re gonna need to bring in your own food. Want to know how easy it is?

Here are 3 easy steps to feed yourself on a graveyard shift:

1. Purchase a bunch of chicken breast on Sunday Night (or whatever night you actually have off). Cook them on a tray in the oven, ALL of them. Put them in separate containers or bags in your fridge.
2. Purchase a bunch of $1 steam fresh bags of frozen veggies. Stick them in the fridge at your workplace.
3. Need more calories/carbs in your diet? Buy some sweet potatoes. Microwave one and put it on your plate.

This is my personal strategy for meal prep.

You can watch me make this recipe of Super Simple Chicken for Lazy People right here:

In about 3 minutes and minimal effort, you know have a well-balanced meal.

“But that’s boring!” Sheesh, I have to do EVERYTHING, huh? Welp, get creative, sucka!

1. Chop up the chicken and put it in a big salad with whatever you prefer (and keep it in your fridge).
2. Make stir fry, put some in containers in your fridge, and then heat it up on your break.
3. Google “chicken paleo marinade” and mix up how you prepare chicken. Or steak. Or pork. Or salmon.

YES, this does require effort. YES, this does require preparation. YES, it does work. YES, you will find your rhythm with it.

Again, it comes down to two things: priorities and excuses:

Do you REALLY not have time? Or are you using “I don’t have time” as an excuse to feel sorry for yourself?

Is your job REALLY stopping you from getting in shape? Or is it a convenient excuse to use when you go to Taco Bell or the vending machine?

Remember: nobody believes your excuses except for you. It may seem harsh, but overcoming the “this won’t work for me” mindset will be the first battle we need to win.

You can do this. Just don’t let “perfect’ be the enemy of the “good.”

How to not gain weight while working 12-hour and night shifts: Avoid these things!

Let’s talk about things to eat and avoid while on shift work: the good, the bad, the ugly.

Whether you’re at a desk or up stocking shelves or making your rounds, you probably deal with one of four points:

1. Exhaustion: Let’s be honest, when you work a night shift or early shift, you never get as much sleep as if you were sleeping during the night with normal hours.
2. Lack of “time.” If you’re working long days/nights and trying to raise a family/have a social life, food preparation probably doesn’t figure into your schedule. You need convenience, even if you have to pay a bit more for it.
3. Hunger: If you forgot to pack your “meal” or “meals,” your only option is to eat what you can find, which is unlikely to be nutritious at that time of day.
4. Boredom: If you are making rounds or stuck at a desk during the middle of the night, there may be more periods of downtime than if you were working during the day.

So you’re tired, hungry, bored, and struggle with time management.

Where do you turn? Caffeine!

Now, I have no problem with Caffeine. I wake up every morning and drink a few cups of green tea while sitting at my desk to write. We’ve even covered caffeine extensively on this site already. The short version? Don’t get caught in bad liquid calorie trap:

• Empty liquid calories are the devil. If you are drinking soda, energy drinks, or lattes for the caffeine, understand that you are also probably consuming hundreds of calories and 50+ grams of sugar. And these extra calories are contributing to your waistline. So read the labels or do the research before you drink six Monster drinks, a case of coke, or a Coffee Coolata. 
• If you’re going to get caffeine, get it from a healthy source: Black coffee, green tea, and a no-calorie or low-calorie energy drink (Monster Zero Carb, for example). Try to wean yourself off the gallons of caffeine and work your way over to black coffee/green tea as time goes on (they have some helpful nutrients). Hopefully, once you start exercising, you’ll have more energy and need less caffeine to survive your shifts.
  

Avoid the drinks that don’t give you any nutritional value and are full of sugar and calories. See if you can get your caffeine from better sources. Speaking of better sources of calories…

What Liquid Calories Will Help Your 12 Hour or Night Shift

Low on time? Need a meal? Make yourself a smoothie!  

Depending on what you put into it or where it comes from, a smoothie can be an incredibly healthy option for meals during the night or as you’re running out the door to your shift.

A few tips on making smoothies: Buy yourself a cheap blender (or, a ridiculously nice one). Have one at home, or in the break room at work.

Give this recipe a shot for a smoothie that will get you through your shift:

1. Frozen fruit (I usually go with the strawberries or berry medley from Trader Joe’s).  
2. A cup of unsweetened almond milk, unsweetened coconut milk, or cold water.
3. A scoop of protein (I use Optimum Nutrition Vanilla, but I hear the Chocolate is delicious).
4. A few ice cubes if you want to ‘thicken it up’ a bit
5. (Optional) Organic frozen spinach. Doesn’t change the taste, but gets you a serving of veggies.

I drink a smoothie similar to the one above for a meal almost on a daily basis (though I add in extra carbs and calories because I’m attempting to pack on extra weight). It looks like so:

Can’t bring a blender to work? Stick a scoop of protein in a shaker bottle, and BAM – there’s 25 g of protein prepared in 60 seconds. Add a bag of mixed veggies from the microwave and you’ve got yourself a really weird meal that is pretty damn easy to prepare and pretty damn good for you.

A word of caution: Smoothies from Smoothie King don’t count, as they have more sugar than two cans of Coke and HUNDREDS of calories. Naked Juices are also full of sugar, as we point out here:

They might look healthy, but they’re not. LOOK AT THE LABEL AND PAY ATTENTION TO THE CALORIE SUGAR CONTENT!  

Foods to Avoid on a 12-Hour or Night Shift

Now, along with empty liquid calories, let’s talk about empty food calories.

When you are at your desk, are you eating snacks while answering the phone or while on your rounds through the hospital?  

Personally, I’m a big fan of No Snacking, as I find I tend to eat more calories than I need during the day, simply because I’m not paying attention (check out the research in that snacking article for more).

Bring some healthy snacks with you if you’re going to be snacking. My personal favorite would be apple slices with almond butter, but don’t forget almond butter can be very high in calories and easily over-consumed too

If you struggle with overeating, look at your snacking at your night job. Are you eating because you are bored? Are you eating because you’re not paying attention? Are you eating because you’ve trained your body to expect food every 5 seconds?

If it’s any of these things, try the “No eating AND _________” strategy:

• No eating and surfing the internet.
• No eating and watching TV shows.
• No eating AND _____.

If you’re going to eat, that’s the only thing you’re going to do. This can help you not accidentally, absentmindedly over calories.

It’s something we bring up in our Guide for Portion Control. 

Workout Routines for a 12-Hour or Night Shift

Let’s move on to the other 10-20% of the equation: exercise!

It’s no surprise around these parts that I’m a HUGE proponent of strength training. Guys like Joe (above) travel two weeks a month and yet still manage to have tremendous transformation because they are smart with their time.

From an efficiency standpoint, no other type of exercise gives you as much bang for your buck (aka: the most results with the least amount of time spent exercising).

You can get an incredible workout that exhausts all of your muscles and burns a crazy number of calories (not just during the workout, but in the hours afterward as your body tries to rebuild all of the muscle). Just reference any Nerd Fitness success story, all built with strength training and healthy eating.

So, if your time is limited, and your focus is staying healthy/losing weight, you need to be strength training and walking.

When’s the best time to work out? When you will actually do it! If you find yourself too exhausted after your 12-hour shift (and I don’t blame you), then get your workout done before you go to work, even if you only have twenty minutes! Heck, even if you only have 10 minutes!

As far as the workout itself...

You don’t need to be going to a gym (though if you do, big lifts like squats, deadlifts, overhead presses, and pull-ups are going to get you the best results – ask Staci), you can work out at home before your shift starts with a simple workout like the Beginner Bodyweight Circuit.  

I know you don’t need a gym to grow strong because we see it daily here in the Rebellion. We work with coaching clients and design custom programs that take into account each person’s work environment, home environment, and equipment they have available. It works.

We also have the Nerd Fitness Journey which gives you more bodyweight routines and gym routines if you’re looking for specific instruction and exercise demonstrations.

You can try it out right here: 

If you are somebody that works a few days on (for long shifts) and a few days off, try this: a really intense strength building routine on your first day off from work and again on your last day. Two strength training days combined with walks and proper eating (on your work days) is more than enough to get you quality results.

Spreading out the Workout Throughout Your Long Shift

Don’t be afraid of simply exercising here and there, when you can.

Check out the Angry Birds Workout and split up your workout throughout your shift:

• Do squats in the supply closet. Weirdo? YUP. Who cares?
• Push-ups and planks in your cubicle.
• Pull-ups on the bus stop overhang waiting to go to work? I’ve been there.
• Dumbbell rows with your desk and briefcase/backpack.
• Walking up the stairs on your break. Why not?

It all adds up, and every little bit is better than nothing. The strength training benefits are key, but there’s one other key benefit to exercising throughout the day.

Coach Matt provides more tips on how to sneak in your training throughout the day right here: 

And trust me, as a father of five who works from home, Matt knows how to sneak in his training.

Staying Active During Your 12-Hour or Night Shift

Along with strength training, just staying active will help.  

I actually have a timer (FocusBooster) on my laptop that goes off every 15 minutes to remind me to get up, walk around, stretch, do some push-ups, etc. Your phone can do the same thing! Technology, amazing.

Stand up at your desk if you can – mix up standing and sitting.

Go for a walk around the office. If you are a nurse or doctor you are probably already doing a considerable amount of walking to make your rounds, so keep it up.

The reason for staying active is so important is three-fold:

1. Every little bit counts. That push-up, those squats, that extra mile walked…they all add up!
2. Your brain keeps thinking “I am active.” Because it has to work more when you move! Remember, diet is 80% of your success or failure. When you exercise and constantly stay active, you are consistently reminding yourself that you are making healthier decisions, and these should carry over to your eating decisions too. Exercising and eating poorly is kind of like paddling a row-boat with one oar – you’re just spinning in circles. Work both together and dominate!
3. Exercising can make you smarter and more alert at work. Detailed incredibly well in the book Spark, studies have shown that exercising can increase brain activity and performance. Healthier on the outside, smarter on the inside = NERD FITNESS WIN.

Here are 40 ways to help you stay active during the day (without actually working out).

Prioritizing FITNESS 24/7

Remember, it comes down to one thing: taking an active role in your health.

1) Don’t use the job as an excuse, and instead remind yourself that you are in control. You don’t need anybody’s permission to get healthy.

2) It adds up. Every little change. Every meal you switch up. Every minute of exercise.

3) Plan out your day. Spending 5 minutes identifying what you’ll eat and when you’ll work out makes you WAY more likely to actually follow through with it.

Leave a comment and share your story and struggles with the Rebellion. I’d love to hear from you:

Do you work a night shift or have funny hours?

Have you had success and want to share your tips and tricks?

Have a REALLY funky job and need more help (Deathstar operator, daytime student/nighttime superhero)? Post below and I’ll see what I can do.

Let’s get weird with it.

-Steve

PS: Still reading? Want more help?

I’ll again remind you of our 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program.

Here’s how it works: we get to learn your goals, lifestyle, challenges, and situation: Kids? An old injury? Graveyard shift?

No problem!

We’ll then pair you with a coach from Team Nerd Fitness that fits your personality and situation. Click below to find out if we are a good fit for each other.

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Photo source: cross-eyed owl, Torch lighting experiment, red bull, smoothies, chips, catdog

The post How to Get in Shape at Night (Workouts & Meal Plans) first appeared on Nerd Fitness.

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Ever said, “I’d love to get in shape, but I travel too much”?

If so, this guide is for you!

Today we’re gonna teach you exactly how to get fit no matter what type of business trip you’re on.

We’ll cover:

• 5 Quick Travel Workouts (no equipment required).
• How to eat healthy while traveling.
• What are some of the healthiest fast food options?
• How do I eat a healthy continental breakfast?
• How to make exercise on the road a priority.
• How to overcome jet lag (and other tips)

It’s time to get you a specific action plan that you can take with you on your next trip.

This is the philosophy we teach to all of our 1-on-1 Online Coaching Clients. Many travel quite a bit, so having “worldwide accountability” and a specific plan for travel has been a game-changer for these Rebels.

Are you trying to learn a new exercise, lose weight, or build muscle, but find doing it on the road a challenge? Let us help you – click below to learn more.

Our Coches build plans for getting in shape while on the road!

5 Travel Workouts You Can Do Anywhere

Without access to your favorite gym, it can seem like you are doomed to remain sedentary until you get back home.

Have no fear! These 5 workouts you can do anywhere and at anytime!

#1) THE 20-MINUTE HOTEL ROOM WORKOUT

Set the alarm clock to 15 minutes from now and see how many circuits you can do!

1. Bodyweight squats: 20 reps
2. Incline push-ups: 15 reps (feet on floor, hands on edge of bed or desk)
3. One-arm luggage rows: 10 reps (each arm, use your suitcase as your weight)
   
4. Reverse crunches: 10 reps

Click right here for more advanced hotel workouts you can try.

#2) BEGINNER BODYWEIGHT WORKOUT

No gym required for this workout!

If you have a body, you can do this circuit! If you’re a brain floating in a jar, email me. I’ll think of a workaround for you.

1. Bodyweight squats: 20 reps.
2. Push-ups: 10 reps.
3. Walking lunges: 10 reps each leg.
4. Dumbbell rows (using your luggage/laptop bag as a weight): 10 reps each arm.
5. Plank: 15 seconds.
6. Jumping jacks: 30 reps

Run through this circuit three times. If you don’t have milk in the hotel room for the rows, find something of roughly the same weight with a good handle. Your luggage might work perfectly.

3) THE PLAYGROUND WORKOUT

Throughout the world, you’re often never that far away from a playground or a park.

Get a workout in there!

1. Alternating step-ups: 20 reps (10 each leg).
2. Elevated push-ups: 10 reps.
3. Swing rows: 10 reps.
4. Assisted lunges: 8 reps each leg.
5. Bent leg reverse crunches: 10 reps.

4) ADVANCED BODYWEIGHT EXERCISES CIRCUIT

Was that Beginner Bodyweight Workout too easy for you?

Then try out this more advanced circuit!

1. One-legged squats: 10 each side [warning super-difficult, only attempt if you’re in good enough shape].
2. Bodyweight Squats: 20 reps.
3. Walking Lunges: 20 reps (10 each leg).
4. Jump step-ups: 20 reps (10 each leg).
5. Pull-Ups: 10 reps [or inverted bodyweight rows].
6. Dips (between two chairs): 10 reps.
7. Chin-ups: 10 reps [this might be tough in a hotel room, so try an inverted bodyweight rows with underhand grip].
8. Push-Ups: 10 reps.
9. Plank: 30 seconds.

5) THE ANGRY BIRDS WORKOUT

This is Nerd Fitness. There’s no way I’m going to miss including a nerdy-themed workout.

1. Bodyweight Squats: 30 reps.
2. Push-Ups: 20 reps (or 40 knee push-ups).
3. One arm rows: 30 reps (each arm).
4. Planks: – 60 seconds.

6) SPEED RUN WORKOUT

If you’re busy on the road, it might seem like you have no time to train.

Enter the Speedrun Workout.

In the video above, Coach Matt walks through exactly how to sneak in a workout, even with “no time.”

How to Eat Healthy While Traveling

Here’s what I do specifically while traveling:

#1) Skip meals strategically. I know that if I skip breakfast, it means I can eat a slightly larger lunch and have an extra drink with dinner and STILL come in under my daily calorie expenditure.

#2) Prepare for bad meals. I love me a good steak dinner with a side of mac and cheese and sweet potato fries and dessert and a few beers. When I’m on vacation or celebrating, that sounds like heaven to me.

However, I know if I always eat like that, I’m going to pack on lots of weight.

So I plan ahead for a big meal, that way I can enjoy it guilt-free and not see the scale budge. I eat protein and veggies for lunch, strategically undereating so that I can overeat for dinner – and not gain weight in the long run.

#3) Never eat 2 bad meals in a row. We have a big “never two in a row” rule at Nerd Fitness, as I explain here:

Believe it or not, even sticking with your goals 50% of the time carries with it the tremendous potential for improvement. So, if you eat a so-so lunch, follow it up with a nutritious dinner. Eat too much pizza for dinner? Cool! Make your breakfast part of your plan.

This is NOT “100% or nothing.” Every decision counts, every meal counts, so any decision where you are SLIIIIIGHTLY better than you would have been otherwise is a win in my book.

If you’re interested in the Nerd Fitness philosophy on proper diet, make sure you read our article “How to Start Eating Healthy,” which will teach you how to build a plate like this:

Curious about my default diet these days? You can read all about it right here. And here is the specific diet I followed – while traveling frequently – to lose 22 pounds sustainably.

Here are some other strategies for healthy eating on the road:

#1) Ask your hotel for a mini-fridge

Fill the fridge with your own nutritious snacks – just make sure they don’t charge you for taking out the other foods! Fruit, sliced veggies, and some deli meat will provide you with some sustenance until you can order a proper meal.

Here is a post with some ideas for healthy snacks you can buy and store in your room.

#2) Travel with a cooler

If you know the hotel can’t accommodate a mini-fridge, or you’re on a road trip, no problem!

Bring a mini-cooler or cooler bag. If you use a bag, it’ll fold up for easy packing.

Is it weird to travel with a cooler? Sure. But we embrace weird around these parts.

#3) Bring non-perishable snacks with you

I’ve eaten almonds forgotten in a backpack, months later, and lived to tell the tale.

Lots of dry food like nuts and jerky won’t spoil anytime soon, so store some in your travel bag. Munching some beef jerky is a much better idea than the pizza in the airport terminal. Here are some good almonds to purchase, and here’s some recommended beef jerky for you to try out.

#4) Focus on protein and fiber

When choosing meals or snacks, make sure the foods you pick are full of protein and fiber.^[1] This will help keep you full, so you’re not tempted to eat the donuts waiting for you at your work conference.

What are protein and fiber-rich foods? Hard-boiled eggs will store well, and can be bought at many convenience stores. That’s a good protein source. Deli meat, jerky, and nuts will also do the trick for your protein requirements.

Fiber-rich foods? Fruits and vegetables for the win. Always bring an apple with you.

#5) All is not lost if you order fast food

There’s a common belief amongst our coaching clients, that the moment you step foot in a fast food store, you lost. You made a terrible decision by even walking in. Might as well order whatever, because you already failed.

This is 100% NOT true. What you order while out will make all the difference. For example, I eat a chicken bowl from Chipotle almost every day. To the point that it’s weird.^[2]

Why? Because it’s more nutritious than anything I’m going to make at lunchtime, given my schedule.

Remember, what you order is more important than where you order from.

Let’s dive into that last point a little more.

What Are Some Healthy Fast Food Options?

Let’s outline an entire day’s worth of eating, provided by a drive-thru window (we cover this in our fast food article).

Most of these can also be found at your average airport terminal.

#1) BREAKFAST:

Location: Starbucks

• Sous Vide Egg Bites, Bacon & Gruyere: A great protein source. Go ahead and order some black coffee with it too.
  • Calories: 310
  • Protein: 19g
  • Net Carbs: 9g
  • Fat: 22g

Location: Dunkin’ Donuts

• Sausage Egg and Cheese Bagel (no bagel): Sausage and egg are a breakfast staple. Plus, cheese!
  • Calories: 370
  • Protein: 16g
  • Net Carbs: 3g
  • Fat: 33g

#2) LUNCH:

Location: McDonald’s

• Bacon Ranch Grilled Chicken Salad (Use the Balsamic Vinaigrette): It’s mostly greens, grilled chicken and a little bacon. No customization required. Your salad comes in under 400 calories.
  • Calories: 320
  • Protein: 42g
  • Net Carbs: 6g
  • Fat: 14g

Location: Subway

• Oven Roasted Chicken: Grab it with lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, onion, green peppers, cucumbers, and olives, with oil and vinegar as dressing. Also, feel free to add bacon and guacamole to increase your calories. Your nutrition info will look like this if ordered as above:
  • Calories: 490
  • Protein: 24g
  • Net Carbs: 11g
  • Fat: 35.5g

#3) DINNER:

Location: Boston Market

• Three-Piece Dark: Lot’s of protein, decent fat, and no carbs.
  • Calories: 300
  • Protein: 37g
  • Net Carbs: 1g
  • Fat: 16g
•  Green Beans: Keep it simple.
  • Calories: 90cals
  • Protein: 1g
  • Net Carbs: 4g
  • Fat: 5g
• Fresh Steamed Vegetables: Following our “simple” strategy.
  • Calories: 60
  • Protein: 2g
  • Net Carbs: 4g
  • Fat: 3.5g

Location: Chipotle

• Salad Bowl (with Carnitas): order it with Fajita Vegetables, Fresh Tomato Salsa, Sour Cream, Cheese, and YES for Guacamole.
  • Calories: 710
  • Protein: 34g
  • Net Carbs: 12
  • Fat: 51g

The above should help give you some ideas on what to order when you’re depending on fast food.

Want some more ideas? Check out our guide on healthy fast food.

How Do I Eat a Healthy Continental Breakfast?

So your room comes with a free complimentary breakfast.

Might as well take advantage of it!

Go ahead and load up on these:

1. Eggs. We mentioned earlier to prioritize protein with your meals. Just about every hotel continental breakfast will have some eggs. The quality might be so-so, however. If they have some hot sauce around, this can make just about any scramble tolerable.
2. Sausage. Continuing with our protein theme, if there is sausage at the buffet, grab some. Granted, it’ll often have some sugar in the form of maple syrup included. But we’re going with the best we can here.
3. Bacon. We love bacon around these parts so much, we wrote an entire post on it. The fat in bacon will help keep you full until you’re next meal. Plus, if the eggs are crappy (the eggs will probably be crappy), you can mix in some bacon to bring up the tasty factor.
4. Fruit. It can’t all be about meat. Go ahead and grab some fruit for your plate. Apples are relatively high in fiber, which is why they’re my go-to. Bananas also have decent fiber, as well as vitamin C, vitamin B6, and potassium. Are there berries available? Grab some for their antioxidant potential (we talk all about berries and antioxidants in this article).
5. Toast. I know, I know, we might be attracting the Carb Police on us for this one. But you can do a lot worse at a breakfast buffet than a little whole-wheat toast. If you put some eggs and bacon on it, you have yourself a pretty decent breakfast sandwich with some fiber to help keep you full.

Alright, prioritize the above on your plate. Plus, minimize:

1. Juice. If I could give you one single piece of diet advice, it would be this: try not to drink your calories. There’s a lot of arguments on diets, but this advice is widely accepted. An orange has plenty of vitamins in it, plus a lot of fiber to help balance out the sugar. OJ? Zero fiber, and it’s mostly just high-calorie sugar water at this point! Skip the juice and eat the whole fruit.
2. Pancakes/Waffles. Don’t eat these, unless you are good at portion control! The high-calorie batter itself will have sugar in it, plus it’s designed to have more sugar (maple syrup) poured on top. Stick to toast.
3. Cereal. This breakfast food is often packed full of carbs, calories, and sugar. For example, the third ingredient for Cheerios is “sugar.” And that’s Cheerios. Don’t even get me started on Fruit Loops or Frosted Flakes. Again, stick to toast.

The above advice should get you started on loading up properly at a breakfast buffet.

How To Make Staying Fit A Priority on the Road

If you are trying to get healthy but need to travel frequently, I want you to make exercise your constant.

I don’t know if you were a Lost fan, but my favorite episode, “The Constant,” involved a character named Desmond who had to find the one “constant” in his life in order to stay sane.

Something Desmond could focus on as his mind traveled through time.

You had to be there.

I’ve traveled quite a bit over the years: sightseeing countries, sleeping on buses, exploring temples, and visiting a new town seemingly every other day.

During all this chaos: exercise became my constant.

I knew that without a doubt, no matter where I was or what I was doing, every other day I would find a way to work out – no excuses. I might have had to add in an extra day between workouts maybe a handful of times.

What I’m trying to say is this: if you are serious about prioritizing your health, even while traveling, then start treating exercise like YOUR constant.

Make it a reliable, consistent thing in your schedule, no matter where you are in the world.

No matter what.

Sound difficult? Start by asking yourself the following:

“If I HAD to still get my workouts in, even if I am traveling or on vacation, how would I do it?”

Most answers will be something like this:

1. “If I had to work out, it would mean that I need to wake up SUPER early tomorrow morning to hit the gym before the conference starts.”
2. “If I had to get my run in, it would mean I could only go for a 20 minute run instead of my normal 60-minute run.”
3. “If I had to get my workout in, that would mean I need to actually PAY for a day pass at a real gym, because I know hotel gyms are crappy.”

This is the most important question you can ask yourself before your trip: “How do I make this work for me?” 

Then, structure your environment and schedule to make it happen:

1. Add it to your calendar.
2. Set up a text reminder.
3. Plan your schedule around it.
4. Have your coach or friend remind you.
5. Research the nearest gym or park.

Again, ask yourself – what if you HAD to work out, no matter what. How would you get it done? What would you need to change?

And then do whatever you can to make it your constant.

How to Overcome Jet Lag (and other tips)

We need to address a few final points: sleep, jet lag, and hydration.

All of these are going to impact your ability to follow the advice above. 

#1) SLEEP

When I’m sleep-deprived, I often don’t have the energy to exercise…when the reality is that exercise is often the thing that will give me energy (foreshadowing).

Also, if you’re lacking shuteye, you’ll get hungrier.^[3] When you’re sleep-deprived, your brain sends signals for more energy, which means more calories. This is troublesome if you’re trying to hold out until you can order a nutritious chicken salad.

Prioritize sleep.

Two good tools to help with this are earplugs and an eye mask. Some hotels have a way of being bright and noisy.

#2) HOW TO DEAL WITH JET LAG

Sleeping might be tough if you’re dealing with “jet lag.”

Jet lag is the phenomenon of traveling from one time zone to another, but still being stuck in the former time.

For example, you fly from New York to London.

It was night when you left New York. It is now morning in London. You may or may not have slept on the plane.

What time is it?

Your body can have some serious trouble getting back on track, because our circadian rhythms (our biological clock) are thrown off by the geographic change.

My solution: work out (click here for that section).

Studies have shown that a good sweat can help change your circadian rhythm, which might help you adjust to the local time.^[4]

If you’re able to, work out as soon as you get settled to help combat jet lag. I’ve personally found this to be super helpful in adjusting to the local time. 

#3) STAY PROPERLY HYDRATED

Air travel dehydrates you.^[5] The cabin’s air is environmentally controlled, with lower moisture than you find here on the ground.

• Humidity on the good old fashioned Earth: 30-60%
• Moisture in an average airplane: 10-20%

Yeah…that 10-20% is less than the Sahara desert.

That’s pretty dry…

On top of that, the pressurization of the cabin itself causes you to expel H2O.

Something something, physics. Something something, less water.

The low humidity and pressurized environment create a perfect scenario for you to lose lots of water. 

And if you’re dehydrated, it can make you tired, which can go back to that whole hunger and calories thing.

Drink water.

Above All Else, Preserve Momentum While Traveling!

Whatever you’re currently working on improving in your life, you can continue working on that while traveling.

You only fall off the wagon if you resign yourself to the fact that it’s impossible to stay fit while traveling!

Why not have the opposite mindset, and ask “How do I make this work for me?”

Millions of people manage to stay healthy despite a hectic travel schedule, and I want the same for you.

Here are some final tips to help you while traveling: 

1. Travel day? Pack some healthy snacks with you in your bag – apples and almonds are my go-to.
2. Going out to dinner with co-workers? Find the restaurant online, scour the menu, and “pre-order your dinner” in your mind so you know what to order when you get there. Order the “meat + veggie + potato” option on the menu, and ask for double veggies instead. Aim for something like steak tips, or grilled chicken, salmon, etc.
3. Traveling with your family? Let them know that you’re making a concerted effort to eat better and that you’d like their support.
4. Going out with friends? Let’s say you’re going out with buddies, and you have no choice but to eat fried food and drink tons of beer (I hate when that happens). Compensate by being extra diligent on the days before and after – no drive-thru meals, no late-night vending machine stops, no bad snacks while at the convention.

Pick your battles. Plan ahead. Make eating a priority.

If you want any help as you head out on the road, I got you boo.

Here’s how Nerd Fitness can help you get in shape while you travel:

#1) Our 1-on-1 Online Coaching Program: a coaching program for busy people to help them make better food choices, stay accountable, and get healthier, permanently.

Lots of our clients travel full-time, and their coach is one of the few constants they have every day.

You can schedule a free call with our team so we can get to know you and see if our coaching program is right for you. Just click on the image below for more details:

#2) If you want a roadmap for getting in shape on the road, check out NF Journey. Our fun habit-building app will help you exercise and eat better, all while you build your very own superhero…no matter where on Earth you are!

Interested?

Try your free trial right here:

#3) Join The Rebellion! We have a free email newsletter that we send out twice per week, full of tips and tricks to help you get healthy, get strong, and have fun doing so. 

I’ll also send you tons of free guides that you can use to start leveling up your life too:

Alright, that’s about it for this guide. Now, your turn:

Do you travel for work?

Do you upcoming vacation this summer?

What struggles do you have while on the road? What kind of questions do you have about staying in shape and traveling?

Leave a question in the comments and I’ll help in any way that I can.

-Steve

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All photo citations can be read right here: Backpacker, Decathlon, Good Party, Newtonmas, Apples, Model Train Display, Califonia Dreamin, Angry Hulk, Dirt Bike.

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So it’s time to exercise, but you’re confined to a small space?

No problem!

In our Online Coaching Program, where I’m a senior coach, we help folks work out in whatever nook and cranny they may have available. Today, we’ll share these tips with you too.

A Nerd Fitness Coach can build you a workout for ANY room. Learn more here.

And no, we won’t make you shrink like Ant-Man to do your workout.

Here’s what we’ll cover today:

• How much space do you need to work out?
• What’s the minimum equipment needed to train?
• Small Space Workout Level 1: Get Moving
• Small Space Workout Level 2: Bring the Intensity
• Small Space Workout Level 3: May the Force Be With You
• Lessons from Tony Stark for “No Space” Workouts

Let’s jump right in!

How Much Space Do You Need to Work Out?

“Baby, air and light and time and space
have nothing to do with it
and don’t create anything
except maybe a longer life to find
new excuses
for.”

– Charles Bukowski

 

“Space, the final frontier” 

– James Tiberius Kirk

 

When it comes to working out in a small space, the first obstacle you have to overcome is your mindset:

You may find yourself thinking, “I can’t work out in this space.”

We want to flip this to “I get to be more creative in this space.”

This may seem like a minor change of perspective, but oftentimes the most important part of overcoming a challenge is adjusting our mindset. I see this over and over again with our coaching clients. 

Step 1 for our Small Space Workout is becoming okay with whatever room we may have to exercise. 

Step 2 is determining WHERE our actual Small Space Workout will take place.

That might lead you to a question:

How much space do you need to exercise and work out?

Answer: not much.

I grew up working out in a room not much bigger than a closet:

Which now acts as a storeroom. 

If you have enough room to do a plank, you’re good:

However, even if you can’t spread out for a plank, that’s okay. We can always use the small space itself for “equipment,” like with wall push-ups:

Speaking of, I can already anticipate your next question: 

What’s the minimum equipment needed for a work out?

As we cover in the Ultimate Guide to Working Out from Home, we can think of three tiers of no-equipment workouts:

• The floor
• The floor and a wall
• The floor, a wall, and a towel

The trick here is using our own body’s weight as equipment, which is known as “bodyweight training.” 

However, today we’ll also cover a few items you may want to buy, in case you want to build a small home gym.

But first, let’s talk about getting by with the bare minimum.

Small Space Workout Level 1: Get Moving

For the first level of our Small Space Workout, we want to keep it simple.

We’re going to focus on three different areas:

• The lower body
• The “push” muscles
• The “pull” muscles

That’s it.

To train our lower body in a small space, we’ll focus on squats and lunges.

If you’re just starting out, you can do assisted squats against a wall or chair:

We’ll follow the same idea for our lunges:

Once these become no thang, we’ll level up to regular squats:

Or regular lunges:

For our “push” muscles, you guessed it, it’s all about push-up variations.

We can start will simple push-ups against a wall:

To knee push-ups:

To regular push-ups:

If you want to make these even more challenging, you can use the wall to brace your feet to do elevated push-ups.

A sturdy stool or chair could also be handy here: 

For our “pull” muscles, this becomes a little tricker in a small space with no equipment.

But we can get by with two things:

• A towel
• A doorway

We’ll use both of these to perform bodyweight rows.

To use a towel for rows:

• Fold your towel twice over, hotdog style.
• Step on the towel with your front foot.
• Grab each end of the towel and pull yourself downwards.
• After your back gets parallel-ish to ground, lift yourself back up – that’s one rep.

It’ll look something like this:

The other option for our pull muscles, is to do rows from a doorway.

To perform a doorway row:

• Stand in front of your doorway and grab both sides.
• Place your feet a little closer to the doorway, so you’re leaning back.
• Sit back so you put weight on your arms.
• Pull yourself forward.

You’ll end up looking like so:

If you want to next level it, you can use your towel AND doorway for your rows too:

The towel might help you lean back even further, creating a more challenging exercise.

I walk you through how to use a towel for various pull exercises right here: 

If either of these starts to feel easy, try doing them with only one hand, like so:

Here’s what to do for your Level 1 Small Space Workout:

• Pick a lower body, a push, and pull exercise.
• Run through a circuit, doing about 10 reps of each. 
• Repeat until you get tired.

That’s it. Don’t overthink your workout. Just get moving.

When this starts to feel easy, move on to Level 2. 

Small Space Workout Level 2: Bring the Intensity

Once you get comfortable doing our lower-body, push, and pull exercises, there are a few things we can do to up the intensity.

For example, did you know you can do deadlifts with nothing but a towel?

The trick is to get your setup right, by pushing your hips back and chest out. Then you perform the same upward motion as you would in a normal deadlift.

I walk you through how to do a towel deadlift right here: 

I apologize if you rip your towel in half doing this because you’re so strong (but like, worth it).

The other cool thing you can do with towels? Chin-ups!

If you have a sturdy door and a couple of towels, you can use them as a chin-up alternative. 

Naturally, I have a video on doing towel chin-ups right here:

But you don’t need towels to do a Level 2 Small Space Workout.

Here are two ways to level up your “no-space” training:

#1) Think One-Sided

We’re going to do some unilateral training by working one limb at a time.

Squats no problem? How about a one-legged squat?

We can do the same thing with our push muscles, by doing one-arm push-ups:

#2) Change the Tempo

We have a couple of options here.

A) Slow down

By slowing down your cadence, you’re going to increase the time under tension of your muscles. That equals a tougher workout, which equals a win.

Have you ever taken a full 60 seconds to do a push-up? It’s gnarly:

B) Hold the movement.

The other option would be to hold your position at the top or bottom of an exercise.

For example, holding a chin-up at the top position:

Or holding a squat at the bottom position:

If you add a 10-second pause during each rep, you’re going to wear yourself out MUCH quicker, small space or no small space.

Small Space Workout Level 3: May the Force Be With You

Do you have access to a hallway that you can commandeer for a bit?

Then you can do our Star Wars Workout!

It’s designed to be done in a small space, like a hallway, or an escape pod.

At this level, if you were going to buy some equipment for a small home gym, my number one recommendation would be to purchase some resistance or exercise bands:

They don’t take up much space and can offer you a lot of versatility for Small Space Workouts. 

For example, you can do deadlifts using a resistance band:

Or presses:

Or rows: 

Boom!

There are your lower-body, push, and pull exercises we talked about earlier. Plus, we’re barely scratching the surface of all the exercises you can do with a sturdy exercise band. 

If you want some more ideas on how to train with bands, or which ones you should buy, check out our Ultimate Guide to Training With Resistance Bands. 

Lessons from Tony Stark for “No Space” Workouts

We’d all love a tremendous amount of space to work out. 

However, we work with whatever we have, whenever we can, wherever we are.

So remember, if Tony Stark can build a robot in a cave with a pile of scraps, then we can scrape together a workout with next to nothing as well.

Or build our own suits out of cardboard.

Which I’ve done.

Just remember, you got this.

If you want any help in working out in a small space, we got your back.

Here’s how to continue your training with Nerd Fitness:

Next Step #1) Our Online Coaching Program: if you want someone to design you a workout (like me!) for any small space, we got you!

You can schedule a free call with our team so we can get to know you and see if our coaching program is right for you. Just click on the image below for more details:

Our coaching program changes lives. Learn how!

Next Step Number #2) If you want a daily prompt for doing workouts in any space, check out NF Journey. Our fun habit-building app helps you exercise more frequently, eat healthier, and level up your life (literally).

Try your free trial right here:

Next Step Number #3) Join the Rebellion! We need good people like you in our community, the Nerd Fitness Rebellion. You’ll meet individuals who train at the gym, in their cramped basement, or in outer space (that last one may or may not be true, but we do HAVE Rebels working out on boats in the middle of the ocean and even Antarctica!).

Sign up in the box below to enlist and get our Rebel Starter Kit, which includes all of our “work out at home” guides, the Nerd Fitness Diet Cheat Sheet, and much more!

Alright, I want to hear from you:

Do you train in a small space?

What’s your “no space” workout look like?

Any tips or tricks for training in a phonebooth we should know of?

Let me know in the comments!

-Jim

PS: If you want any more help training at home with little to no equipment, check out:

• The Bodyweight Workout for Beginners (Train Anywhere)
• The 7 Best At-Home Workouts (No Equipment Required)
• How to Build a Home Gym

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Photo source: iraevva © 123RF.com, Daniel Timothy Allison © 123RF.com, Petro Perutskyi © 123RF.com, lightfieldstudios  © 123RF.com, af8images © 123RF.com, Alexander Tolstykh © 123RF.com.

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