Check in, 5 am, Mövenpick Hotel, Frankfurt. We have 95 minutes before our next round of meetings. The room’s less for sleep than for freshening up after an eight-hour flight. My CEO and CFO slipped off to sleep once airborne, but I, the IRO, fitfully tossed and turned. Now it’s either catch some shuteye, feed my jet-lagged metal-mouth or work out.
Yes, my own internal fitness coach is wide awake, and if you travel a lot, I highly recommend you develop this formidable drillmaster. Exercise helps fight jet lag and stress. And besides, you need muscles to snap luggage into the overhead bin and endurance to make your way through those long airport terminals without getting winded. Roadshows are like marathons. And exercise provides the juice to make the distance.
Finding the hotel health club closed, I default to my in-room work-out: 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, jogging in place, a bout of jumping jacks and some aerobics from the 1980s that I don’t dare perform outside of the confines of a fully secure room.
Making the right choices will help ensure your success.
Choose a hotel with a good gym
Many hotels advertise gyms, but few deliver. How often have you gotten geared up and made your way down to a closet-sized room with nothing but a bedraggled Universal station and a clunky cardio machine? Some European and Asian hotels will call anything a health club just to gain an additional star on their rating. Search web sites for photos or call the hotel and ask about the equipment. If you’re stuck at a hotel with less than adequate facilities, complain to the concierge and demand a free day pass to a nearby gym.
Get 24-hour access
Jet lag can mean working – and working out – at odd times. If your body is still on home time, sometimes it’s better to get moving on a treadmill than to do troubled tumbles in the sheets.
Nix the car and walk
If the weather’s decent, build a schedule by neighborhood. In New York you can do midtown east in the morning, midtown west for lunch and downtown in the afternoon. Most meetings in Boston, Toronto and San Francisco are within walking distance of each other. And London’s City is usually manageable on foot, too.
Bring the right equipment
I pack trail running shoes so I can hike or run – or run on a hiking trail. They’re not your mom’s white tennis shoes either, so I can wear them as a casual alternative with jeans. Bring drip-dry workout clothes which you can wash in the sink and dry overnight. A swimsuit and goggles are easy to pack. A friend of mine packs a jump rope and says skipping in his room is a great workout.
Watch your intake
Moderation should be your byword on the road. Eat more at the beginning of the day – big breakfast, low-carb lunch and a soup and greens dinner. Avoid bread baskets, nut bowls, the mini bar and late night desserts. Juice and smoothy yourself whenever possible. And absolutely no tea or coffee after 3 pm – unless you’re going to exercise afterward and need a nip to motivate you.
Get out
One of my favorite runs is from my usual hotel in Paris near the Champs Élysées to the Louvre. In London, stay near Hyde Park, and in New York near Central Park, which is inviting from April through December. Hong Kong boasts miles of hiking trails, and less than two hours from Sydney is some great bushwalking in the Blue Mountains.
Be creative
You’re stuck in the boondocks, snowed in or too tightly scheduled, and no gym in sight. No worries. Find the stairwell and climb it. Do push-ups and sit-ups. And remember, behind that do not disturb sign, you can jump around to your heart’s content.
Morgan Molthrop is vice president of investor relations for Infonet Services Corp. [email protected]
Lagniappe*
– The Hilton at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, the Hilton at London’s Heathrow Airport and the Regal at Hong Kong’s airport have fitness facilities to transform your layover into a great escape.
– In London, check out the Third Space near Piccadilly Circus, the capital’s most modern and chic new health club.
– In Paris, avoid the Hotel Inter-Continental on Rue de Castiglione. Its so-called spa is a deserted dungeon.
*Lagniappe: A French Creole word that means ‘a little extra’
