Should You Workout on Vacation? Finding the Balance in Fitness over 50

Have you ever found yourself torn between maintaining your fitness routine and surrendering to the allure of total relaxation while on vacation? Well, this episode of Optimal Aging will simultaneously challenge you and offer solutions to this age-old dilemma. We'll share the fascinating journeys of Rachel and Oliver, two 50+ travelers who have managed to strike an impressive balance between their health goals and their love for travel. We also delve into their secrets of staying motivated and energetic, even while savoring the joys of a Caribbean cruise. 

Shifting our attention to the importance of staying physically fit while globetrotting, we unfold an inspiring narrative of Joanne, an 80-year-old adventurer who fulfilled her dream of exploring the Galapagos Islands. Her tale is testament to the transformative power of regular exercise and its role in making travel plans more achievable and enjoyable. We also offer practical advice on maintaining healthy habits during trips, the challenges of transitioning back to routine post-travel, and the imperative of staying physically prepared for the demands of both leisure and business travel. So, if you're wrestling with the exercise-on-holiday conundrum or simply want to glean insights on managing travel, fitness, and the crucial balance between the two, this episode is a must-listen.

Resources and Information

My new course to motivate men over 50 to get off the couch and into fitness

Life Priority Supplements -- Affiliate Discount  here
Functional Aging Institute -- Use FAIMM50 discount code
Prime Fit Content – Engage the over-50 market

Transcript

Jay Croft: 0:00

Everybody loves vacation, right? Just relaxing, doing nothing, getting away from it all, lying by the pool and eating and drinking too much right? Or does that sound like an awful way to spend vacation? Maybe your idea of time off involves adventure. Activity, or at least keeping up your normal, healthy habits of regular exercise and eating properly. Brings up the question should people exercise while on vacation? Is it better to maintain activity levels so you don't lose any gains while you're away from home, or is it okay, maybe even wiser, to just totally unplug from your daily routines and relax? Well, that's what I'll be discussing on this week's episode of Optimal Aging the show about living a fit, healthy lifestyle after age 50 and marketing fitness services to people in that demographic. So stick around for my final answer on the topic and some handy tips to help manage your next excursion. I'm thinking about this right now because of some people I met recently while I was on a Caribbean cruise and many more I just saw on the cruise. This is a great chance to talk about topics like exercising as we age, maintaining a high quality of life and enjoying ourselves. For the fitness professionals out there who are trying to grow their businesses with more people over 50. This episode is a reminder that you need to be sharing the positive lifestyle benefits of fitness, like travel, and not assume that everyone already knows. I'm going to tell you about the folks I met recently and then I'm going to share some information and perspective from other travelers over 50, some of them way over 50, plus fitness and travel experts.

Jay Croft: 1:59

Okay, so this cruise was my first ever seven days, eight nights in the Caribbean. The ship had about 2000 passengers, all over 18. And among them were a great many people who were extremely overweight. I'm not judging anyone or making cheap insults here. I just want to set the scene and frankly, it was like nothing I've ever seen before. We all know we have a crisis of obesity, but this trip really brought it home for me in ways that nothing really had before. I'm choosing to focus on two other people I met. They both told me about how they turned their lives around, going from lifestyle of overeating and never exercising to adopting a proper diet and working out regularly, and the joy that they were experiencing in this vacation was priceless to be hold.

Jay Croft: 3:01

First was Rachel, whom we met at dinner one night at the Korean barbecue restaurant on board. My partner and I were seated at the table with Rachel and her husband and another couple in their forties, both of them devoted crossfitters, and, as we all got to know each other over the meal, rachel shared that she had lost 100 pounds over the previous two years, after her two kids had grown and moved out. She proudly showed us before and after photos on her phone, and the transformation was stunning. This vibrant toned woman before us was giddy about her upcoming adventures and port like going zip lining for the first time. These are things she'd never been able to imagine doing before. She told us about her well rounded eating plan and her exercise routine. Nothing fancy, nothing fringe or trendy, just consistent effort to make smart choices day in and day out. That night she enjoyed dinner as much as the rest of us shows and fussing or fretting about it at all, and I didn't ask, but I'm guessing that she's learned that you can enjoy a nice dinner out without worrying that you'll wreck all your gains Right. She and her husband were having a blast that night and all week on vacation.

Jay Croft: 4:22

Now the second person I met that I want to tell you about was Oliver, who is 58 and has also lost a tremendous amount of weight after he turned 50, learning to eat a healthy diet and building a home gym. Oliver was trim and fit and he kept up with our group in a hit class led by a 20-something trainer. Oliver told me that he decided to change his life Because he finally got sick and tired of watching older people in his life wilt away in front of him through inactivity His father, his father-in-law, his grandparents he watched them all become weak and frail and increasingly feeble before their time Turning 50 lit a fire in him, and since this was eight years ago, I'd say the fire still burns because he keeps stoking it, as, as you know. As I said, oliver and I were in a couple of hit classes together, and these were good, serious workouts, and one of this beautiful, brand new ships studios. Oliver had decided to stay active with his workouts during his vacation, and so had I, so had my partner, who's a 58 year old fitness coach. So I'm wondering what the fitness professionals listening to this Advised their clients about working out on vacation, had it Enjoyed themselves while away, but also staying on track, and how those two ideas of enjoying yourself and being healthy are not at odds with each other. So I'm wondering what the fitness consumers out there, think about this Do you exercise normally while on vacation? Do you adapt to something less intense but still meaningful, or Do you choose to abandon all normal habits During your off-time? Again, I'm not judging. I'm just genuinely curious and I think there's probably a mix of all of that.

Jay Croft: 6:21

Some people travel to relax and just get away. Some want adventure. Sometimes we travel to visit places We've always dreamed about, and other times it's just to see loved ones. Now I couldn't find any statistics that addressed specifically how many people over 50 like to exercise while on vacation. There are a lot of opinions out there, of course. The AARP published a travel survey earlier this year that showed that its members love to travel and are increasingly past their COVID fears about it, but not entirely. The AARP says that cost is a higher factor this year and that spending is down from About $8,000 per American adult in 2022 to less than $7,000 in 2023. But still, 62% of adults over 50 plan to take at least one leisure trip in 2023 and most people over 50 will take three or four. We'll take three or four. International travel and cruises are down a bit. Europe, latin America, caribbean remain popular and a lot of people over 50 are increasingly favor adventuring and a lot of people over 50 are increasingly favoring adventure travel like kayaking, cycling, skiing, things like that. Bucket trips are still very popular, with 63% of Americans over 50 hoping to take one, which brings me to Joanne.

Jay Croft: 8:03

Joanne grew up dreaming about visiting the Galapagos Islands and seeing the unique creatures that live there. When she was 80, after she had gone through a bypass surgery, two knee replacements and treatment for Parkinson's disease, she decided that she wanted to finally take this trip. The organizers warned that it would be a strenuous experience, that you'd have to climb in and out of little boats and walk a mile or more just to see the wildlife. So Joanne decided to get ready by getting in shape. She worked with a trainer who started her slowly and then gradually built up Joanne's strength and endurance with balance exercises, stairwork and more. Long story short, joanne made that bucket list trip and enjoyed every bit of it.

Jay Croft: 8:54

And traveling is supposed to be fun, right? We all know it can be hard work. Sometimes you have to walk through big airports and stand in line, carry luggage, maybe even lift that luggage to put it in the plane's overhead compartment. These are challenges for some people. Then, when you reach your destination, you might be enjoying a sport or hobby, shepherding the kids around an amusement park or hiking up ancient stairs at some historical site. When we reach retirement age, we finally have the time and money to travel more than perhaps we did when we were working and raising kids. But too many people reach this stage of life and then find that they're worried about frailty or their functional abilities to enjoy a trip like that.

Jay Croft: 9:37

Now, a few years ago, I did a story for Prime Fit Content, which is my business selling content marketing materials to gyms and studios, trying to grow with more people over 50. This story that I'm talking about was about business travel and, as many of you probably know, business travel can be really hard on your diet and exercise routines. You're in airports a lot, you're eating in hotel meeting rooms a lot and you're stuck in places that maybe don't have good facilities. So I talked with a man here in Atlanta named Tim who learned about travel for business and maintaining some healthy habits the hard way. He quickly packed on 40 pounds after he took a job that required him to travel three days a week. He told me that the clients wanted to go to the best restaurants that they didn't want to think of him as the salad guy, right. So he had to go out to eat at nice expensive restaurants with heavy meals three times a week.

Jay Croft: 10:32

Tim also says you have to learn which hotels have. Good gyms, advertise exercise facilities that end up being a closet with an old treadmill. We've all been there right. But a lot of business hotels know that corporate travelers demand a place to work out while they're away from home. You can find those gyms pretty easily, tim says. When you're stuck somewhere without much to offer, ask the front desk if the hotel has an agreement with a local gym or if there's just one nearby. If the weather permits, ask about a local walking trail. Even if you're in a downtown environment, it's a great way to get your steps in but also explore the city. You don't have to necessarily go to the gym. You don't have to necessarily do the same things that you normally do at home. You can work out and just body weight exercises in your hotel room.

Jay Croft: 11:21

Tim is in his late 50s. He stays a trim, 185 pounds on his six foot one frame, and that physical vitality is key to his exercise as a happy road warrior. Here's some of Tim's tips. Some apply mostly for business travel, but some just a really good sense for everybody. He says use a trainer, at least when you're starting, and ask for workouts to take with you. He also says to watch YouTube videos that have dumbbell workouts, since barbells are rare in hotel gyms.

Jay Croft: 11:55

Schedule the day and time of your exercise while you're traveling so it doesn't get away from you On the cruise. I found that I liked to do get in the workout earlier in the morning than that way I had the whole day to relax and enjoy myself. Tim also suggests keeping workouts short and focused, remembering that you can get into those really epic full body sessions at home. Pack water and healthy snacks in your carry-on bag and, wherever you go, explore the things that make that location special, whether they're museums or landmarks or beaches or anything like that. Tim says it's important that I don't look like an old man. I need to be energetic, motivated, motivational and excited about my projects. Fitness helps him do all of that.

Jay Croft: 12:38

The other side of that is sometimes you go on a vacation or a business trip and there's so much to do in so little time that your exercise routine falls through the cracks between the sightseeing and the visiting and maybe client meetings, you just don't have the time to exercise. Then you return home and you find it difficult to get back on track. You feel like you've lost a lot of gains, whether you have or not, and you just lack that spark that you had before you left. The simple solution is keep up some exercise or deliberate movement while you're traveling. I'm not talking about 100% maintenance. It doesn't have to be the priority. You can dial it back, but you need to move that body every day. If you're on a hiking tour, you've probably got it covered. If you're roaming the streets of Rome all afternoon, you're going to get those steps in. But if your trip involves lying by the pool and catching up on all the latest John Grisham books, then you need to plan some time in a gym or a yoga class or some sort of exercise, movement activity so you can stay flexible, feel better, sleep better, have all those benefits that you've been accumulating back at home.

Jay Croft: 13:53

I also want to share some tips from Rick Mayo of Alloy Personal Training. He gave me this a few years ago when I wrote about this again for my Prime Fit content subscribers and I asked Rick a few questions. Rick says it's important to stay consistent with your exercise as you age. Each opportunity that you miss to maintain your fitness means double the work to return to your same level of fitness. The good news it doesn't take much to simply maintain your baseline of fitness. Just 15 minutes a day of some light strength training and movement can keep you fit and healthy away from home. Getting fit is much harder than maintaining your fitness. Investing just a little exercise time each day while traveling will keep you on track.

Jay Croft: 14:38

Now I also have a list of oh, let's see a baker's dozen items that I recommend you travel with. I won't give you all 13 of them, but I want to just highlight a few things that you can take that will allow you to exercise, or at least be active, while you're away from home. Be sure to pack some versatile workout clothes, like gym shorts that double as swimming trunks, yoga pants that you can also wear on tours, and workout shoes that double for those days when you're walking a lot. Throw some resistance bands into your bag or a jump rope. These are lightweight, they're easy to track, they're easy to pack and they provide a lot of versatility for in-room workouts. Bring your fitness tracker. I have an Apple watch that keeps track of mine, but it's fun and amazing, really to see how many steps you can get in while on vacation without even trying. Bring some swim goggles, sunscreen, lip balm basic stuff like that. Bring a sleep mask and some earplugs so you have a better chance of sleeping well at night, and bring a reusable water bottle and your prescription medications.

Jay Croft: 15:45

Okay, so back to the question should people exercise while on vacation? My answer absolutely. It's important to move intentionally every day, no matter where you are or what's on your daily agenda. We're all different. The thing that's consistent is this being fit lets you enjoy travel more. It's a simple fact that we need strength, endurance and flexibility to go anywhere or do anything. Regular workouts will keep you in shape to go where you want to go and do what you want to do. If you're already exercising regularly, keep it up at least somewhat while on vacation. You'll be glad you did when you got home.

Jay Croft: 16:25

And if you're a fitness professional listening to this, I challenge you to share this kind of good news about fitness and traveling in your marketing materials. Most people over 50 or 60 or so don't make the connection between the time they spend in your gym or studio, with the quality of life they enjoy on vacation or every day. You know, playing sports, babysitting the grandkids, participating in the hobbies they've always loved. They might not understand that maintaining muscle is important to letting them continue to do these kinds of things. So promote an interest and travel among your prospects and clients. Point out that functional fitness helps them get around and do normal stuff like putting that bag in the overhead compartment on a plane.

Jay Croft: 17:09

Tell them about Kay, a woman I know who keeps working out at 80, specifically so she can keep traveling the world. Kay tells people her age that they should be walking, lifting weights, working on balance regularly, because that will keep them confident and strong to travel. Kay says I like to travel. I've always been that way. If I didn't exercise regularly, I wouldn't be able to do everything you have to do when you're traveling Just climbing stairs, running through the airport, carrying bags and all that stuff. That's why I keep this up. She says about exercising because I want to keep going or I want to go doing what I want to do. That is a profound message that you need to be taking to your prospects and your clients and if you're a fitness participant, that's powerful motivation to take better care of yourself and get moving.

Jay Croft: 18:00

So if you need help with any of this, check out my website, primefitcom. It's contentcom, where I provide tons of marketing material and information about the lifestyle benefits of being in good shape after age 50 and how gyms and studios can market themselves to grow their business with this powerful demographic. Thanks very much for listening. Tune in next week. Until then, have a great week. Bye. Thanks for listening.

Jay Croft: 18:26

I hope you enjoyed the show and I hope you'll subscribe, tell a friend and write a review. All of that helps us grow our audience. I also hope you'll check out the powerful fitness business, training and certifications offered by my friends at the Functional Aging Institute. Fai is the leading authority on how to build a business that's focused on helping people over 50 live their best lives through fitness. Their educational services, networking opportunities and coaching are invaluable and the pricing is unbeatable.

Jay Croft: 18:59

Just use this special code so they know you're coming to them through me. You can find it on the show notes page and follow the link to learn more. Also, fai president and co founder, dan Ritchie, was our very first guest on optimal aging, so reach back to episode one for more about the Functional Aging Institute. I'm now thankful for FAI support as another affiliate sponsor of this show, so you'll be supporting me as well as yourself and this great organization, so thank you. You can learn more about me and my content business. Send me an email at JJay at com. I'm also on Facebook, linkedin, instagram and just about anywhere else, so check me out. Love to hear from you. Again, thanks for listening. Join us next time.