Keep Your Body Moving and Aligned During Long Trips
If traveling leaves your body feeling stiff and achy, or if you really need to work on your posture, this video is for you. We’re going to talk about some simple Pilates for travel tips you can use whether you’re traveling by train, plane, or automobile.
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Understanding the Impact of Travel
Hi, I’m Lesley Logan, co-founder of Online Pilates Classes, and I’ve been doing Pilates since 2005 and traveling the world since I started teaching. And one of the things I understand is just how hard travel can be on our bodies, and if we’re not equipped to make sure that we have ways of moving our bodies during these travel days, it can make the first day of your adventure feel awful or stuck, and I don’t want that for you. In fact, I’m gonna give you some of the best tips I use, whether I’m in an airport or on a train, during our road trips for our winter and summer tours for OPC. These tips are for you.
So, why does traveling affect our posture? Well, first of all, let’s just talk about how long you’re waiting for whatever adventure that you’re doing. If you’re going to the airport, you have to stand in line, and you have to sit in those awful chairs. Then you get on the plane, and there’s the pressure of being on a plane that does have an effect on your body. If you’re on a train or in a car, you’re sitting for long periods, and sometimes we forget to get up. This is going to cause our shoulders and lower back to round forward, and we slowly start to go into a bad posture state, especially when you add all the luggage you’re bringing. Recently, Brad and I were in Europe, carrying lots of luggage, and oftentimes you throw one bag over your shoulder, usually the same shoulder every time, and by the end of a long travel day, you can just feel out of alignment. But the good news is that simple movements throughout the day, including adding some of your Pilates practice, will help relieve those aches and pains and help you feel great wherever you’re going.
The Pilates Approach to Travel Awareness
When you have a Pilates practice, you have all this time and awareness of what it’s like to be in your body, what it’s like to feel the movements day in and day out. It’s one of the reasons why I love our approach at OPC. You actually are comparing yourself to yourself, and so what that allows you to do is take that awareness into your travel days. Pilates is about strengthening your center out, that’s why the posture improves when you’re doing pilates, not because we sat tense and tall and held everything together, but that we engage all of these muscles in a way that we can actually move throughout the day, we can react to what’s going on, and so one of the best things that you can do to help your posture when you’re traveling is have an awareness of how you are sitting, have awareness of how you are standing when you’re looking at your phone, how long you’re doing that, and how you’re feeling, because if you are taking the time to be aware of how you’re feeling your body throughout the travel day, you’ll be able to realign yourself, not because you made things tense, but because you brought into that awareness, and you took little movements throughout the day that help keep the blood flowing. One of the things that’s really great about Pilates is that it’s not actually ever about doing more, right? It’s about doing quality movement when you can, so we are not doing lots of reps of anything, which goes for bringing your Pilates approach to how you travel. It’s not about doing more on a travel day. What was the time? It’s about doing quality movements little by little, when you can. And if you aren’t doing Pilates yet and haven’t found this approach, I’d love for you to check out our video about how Pilates affects your body, how it can help the body you have, and the benefits it offers.
5 Pilates Moves for Any Travel Stop
Alright, let’s get into the five best Pilates moves you can really do anywhere while you’re traveling. Look, there are usually walls in lots of places, because let’s be honest, who wants to get on the floor of the airport? You think you’ll do it, but then you look at it, you’re not doing that.
So these five exercises are exercises you can do as long as there’s a wall, and there’s a wall at travel stops, there’s a wall at train stations, there’s a wall at airports, and so the first one is the wall Pilates workout hundred. I love this one, because it really does help get the blood flowing and allows you to pay attention to your breath. You’re going to feel what’s going on, coming on and off the wall when you do the hundred, and that’s going to give you some awareness of where in your body, where in your posture you might be sinking a little bit.
The next one is going to be the roll up. This is just like the roll up on the floor, but done on a wall. It allows you to help articulate your spine, so it’s going to give you a kind of a nice little stretch, while also allowing you to find as much length as possible.
The wall single leg circle. This one I love, because it really does keep the hips moving, like it’s almost like you keep the hips oiled up, because if you’ve been sitting a long time, you know it’s like, oh, these feel so tight, these hips. So the single leg circles are going to be great. They also challenge your balance, which you will need, because when you travel, no matter how you travel, there are weird size steps, there are stairs over here. The escalators aren’t always working, and so the single leg circles of the wall are going to help improve your balance, coordination, and your posture. The single leg stretch – this one’s great because it also does stretch the hip while challenging your balance, and so you’re going to be able to work through your core, find your posture against this wall. The wall is so great for helping you really see where you’re trying to sink down, and it’ll also strengthen your hips.
Had you this exercise, and finally, the wall squats. I know you thought you would skip those since high school, but Pilates wall workouts are really wonderful, because they do help you not only strengthen the hamstrings and the glutes, but work your core and work your shoulders and your head against the wall, so you can align the whole spine. If you do these anywhere on a travel day, one, it’ll take less than five minutes, and two, you’re going to feel so much better for getting some movement in. If you want more tips on how to do Pilates anywhere, we actually have a great video about Pilates outdoors. It gives you tips on what you might need to bring, think about, so you can do Pilates wherever you’re going.
Moving While Seated on Planes, Trains, or Cars
Alright, so let’s talk about some moves you can do when you’re sitting on a plane, a car, or a train. I remember one day I was flying, it’s like a 14-hour flight, and they’re like, in 10 minutes, we’re starting our seated tai chi, and I was like, What are we doing? How is anyone doing tai chi? We are in coach; I can barely move my arms without hitting the person next to me, and I don’t know them. So I thought that was very cool, but it’s not always ideal. You don’t always know who your seatmates are. There’s not always a lot of space, and so you can feel frustrated when you’re actually just trying to do something nice for yourself.
So, here are my favorite tips: get up, get out of your seat, as long as it’s safe, right? As long as the turbulence is not happening, the seat belt sign is off, and you can’t get up and walk around, do laps as long as you can in a train or on a plane, because it does keep the blood flowing, and it will help make sure that your lower back does not feel like it’s sinking in, or that your shoulders are rounding forward. When you can get up, open up your chest, right, do some stretches, standing up to like just pull the shoulders back, but be mindful of how much you’re spending time just stretching, especially if you don’t have a strength-based Pilates practice at home, because the way that you actually get better posture is not from stretching everything, it’s from having a balance of strength and mobility, right? And that’s why Pilates is so important. Pilates provides the muscular strength you need to keep your shoulders where they need to be and your spine as tall as possible, and the flexibility to keep them there, right? So you don’t want to just only stretch, and it’s not always an option.
So take the time you can to keep yourself moving as much as possible. Then, when you get to your destination, then you can do the wall exercises I just gave you, or you can actually do our full body in 15 program. It’s about 20 exercises that all you need is space on the floor. If your hotel towel can take up the space, you can do this workout. It’s very simple, and it actually has details on how to do each and every exercise. If there’s not space in your hotel room, check to see if there’s a hotel gym or a beautiful park outside. Any place that you can lay down these moves will help, and I hope that just gives you some permission that, like, when you’re traveling, be aware of how you’re sitting, make sure you’re moving, but you don’t have to have extra pressure on yourself to remember to do exercises while you’re trying to stay out of someone else’s seat on that on that train.
Creative “Movement Snacks” on the Go
Alright, so if you’re like Lesley, no, I need to move, I have to do some things. Okay, here is the deal. Here are some of the things I do when we are on tour on the road that allow me to get some little movement snacks in, because I do hear you, some of these travel days can be long, so actually love to do some wall push-ups. You can do on the side of your car, you can do them at an airport, as long as there’s a wall, you put your hands on it, and you step your feet back, and you can do some wall push-ups. Really nice rope in the chest, strengthening the back, makes you feel really good in a short period of time. Also, if there are picnic tables or benches, you can do some step-ups. Right, it’s not technically a Pilates move; it’s something you would do on a Wunda chair. So, I like to think about, like, how I step up onto my wounded chair and how I can take that wall, single-leg stretch, and lift as tall as I can. Again, just getting the blood flowing, because the second heart is in your calves. You want to get those steps going to pump that blood all the way back up. Another thing that you can do is bring some of those bands when you travel, whether it’s a long band that you can do some shoulder flossing or a circular band like a booty band that you can put around your knees and push out while you’re doing those wall squats. I find those to be super helpful, because whenever I get stuck or there’s a delay, there’s usually something you can do with a band, and also I really love to put my hands behind my head and just push my head into my hands, helps strengthen the neck, opens the shoulders, because again, all that travel pulls our head down, and that is going to feel like our head weighs so much, and then it pulls our posture out of place, so doing those moves, you can do them anywhere, wherever you are, and get creative yourself. And if you want to bring one pound weights with you, because usually there’s space in a suitcase for that, or at least your carry-on. We have a wonderful 15 minute workout that’s all standing using one pound weights or water bottles that you can do wherever you are. It’s free. Check it out here.
How to Reset Upon Arrival
Alright. When you arrive to your destination, it’s really important you reset your body, so, of course, focus on making sure you get sleep at the right time. But do take a look at your surroundings. What is possible in your space? Can you put a mat down on the floor of your hotel room, or is there a hotel gym you can go to and do one of our short workouts? Our wall Pilates workout, or even the full body in 15, that you are already doing. Finding ways to just get something in is going to make you feel so much better. Remember, your posture doesn’t come from just thinking about it and squeezing your shoulders back. I know our moms try to tell us to pull our shoulders back, and they weren’t wrong, but it’s not exactly how it goes. Posture is going to come from consistent Pilates work over time, and it doesn’t have to be an hour, it does need to be a few minutes of really focused effort, and you’re going to get those benefits, and so resetting yourself, either at the hotel gym or in your hotel room, or outside. Other things you can think about is just giving the stretch that your body is asking for. If you feel tight somewhere, you should definitely take a look at it and listen to your body. That is what Pilates is all about. But remember, if we’re only stretching, we’re not also supporting our muscles with the strength behind it. It’s not going to give you the results you are looking for. So, make sure you’re taking time to adopt a balanced approach to your reset.
Final Thoughts on Consistency
Whether or not you have time to take some movement snacks on a travel day, one of the best things you can do is just check in to be aware of what’s going on. How long are you looking at that phone? How long are you holding the book down here? Can you prop your computer up a little more? Can you put a pillow behind your lower back? Doing these simple supportive tools or check-ins can make for less pain and exhaustion than of a travel day, and also improve posture over time. I know it’s not easy to stand evenly on both feet. I know it’s hard to make sure the backpack is on both shoulders. It is annoying to have to be really thoughtful about these things. However, posture doesn’t come from just one day of thinking about it, comes from many, many days of being consistent about how you are in your body and what you’re listening to, and what you’re doing in your practice, and so on those travel days, while you are listening for what gate to be at, also make sure that you’re listening to your body, and do a check-in. Should I go against a wall? Maybe a wall support could be great, because then I could put my head back, and my shoulders back, and my lower back onto that wall, and really have some support for the posture that I am looking for, even on I’m tired of traveling, and if you’re looking for some road travel wellness, we have got you covered. We have a video, because again, we do a lot of travel around here, so check it out.
Thank you so much for watching this video. I really hope it was helpful, made you think of some things. I think too often we have pressure of how we should be doing more of things when we have a lot going on in our lives, so if we can just take the things that we get from our Pilates practice, which is listening to our body, doing the best we can with what we have, and not adding more and more and more to our routines, I find that you’re gonna have a lot easier time working on the posture that you’re wanting to have and having a good day while you travel, well, at least the best time you can, and when you get there, if you’re looking for a Pilates for travel workout, guess what, OPC has you covered. So, if you go toonlinepilatesclasses.com/youtube you can check us out. We have mat classes that you can literally take with you wherever you go, whenever you want. So, thank you so much, and have an amazing day.
