Tune Up for Traveling

Are you making plans to travel during the winter holidays? Perhaps your best friend just called to say she wants you to join her in the spring as she walks the endless cobblestone streets of San Miguel de Allende. Come January, maybe you’re planning a visit to a Disney Park with your grandchildren.

And as someone who enjoys traveling and experiencing the world through other cultures, or spending vacation with your family, you’re eager to pack and go. You make sure your passport is up to date. You reserve flights and book cozy hotels.  But what about your physical body? Are you tuned-up and ready?

Now, months before you go, is the time to prepare. To enjoy the journey and all the sights along the path, you’ll need a reach throughout your shoulder, a certain length to your stride, and it may sound cliché, but you’ll want a spring in your step. When your grandson tugs on your hand, you’ll want to be ready to join in as he pulls you along to the next amusement ride.

To start, have you considered that there are three primary areas, or platforms, of movement? The shoulders, the hips, and the ankles. Movement at each of these three spots can be improved with attention and focus, creating more ease and freedom.

Thinking back on your last trip, did lifting your small bag into an overhead bin create more of a challenge than you expected, or worse, did it cause pain? Rounded shoulders and poor posture may contribute to shortness in the chest and over-length in the back muscles, making lifting a small suitcase burdensome. With a well-designed exercise program that consists of myofascial release, mobility, and strengthening to create a duo of extensibility and stability in the shoulder girdle, your muscles are better positioned for lifting a bag, pushing it about, and bringing it down.

The same can be said about the freedom needed of the hip and the ankle. The ability to step into a train clearing the gap, or to ascend multiple stair-steps to get a stunning view of the city, makes for a safer, more enjoyable trip. And for walking about many hours at a theme park or to experience on-foot the countryside, the muscles of the lower leg—the smaller muscles of the deep inner leg, not the larger calf—must be strong enough to flex the foot over and over. If you spend many hours sitting now, begin a practice of going out for walks, and notice too how these walks feel. Are you shuffling as you walk? If yes, this can be improved with specific exercises. Also, getting a solid routine of both regular and lateral squats and resistance work to follow enhances hip mobility and gluteal strength. Remember, the muscles of the legs and hips are indeed a large component of the core, and vitality in the hip platform will serve you all around.

Begin now. Dedicate several days each week to a well-designed exercise program, ensuring that your travels will flow with ease and grace. Make your vacation time less focused on how you feel in your body but instead on the experiences you can enjoy, the hikes you can take, the many modes of transportation you can easily conquer.