Monday, December 30, 2013

Finding Fitness Anywhere

If you're traveling for the holidays, sometimes we get sidetracked from our regular fitness routine. For me, when I travel, I think of it as a chance to explore more parks or meet new hiking groups or take a fitness class--it's an adventure! How do you find where to go?

There are lots of free resources on the internet from the parks systems or if you want to join a group, look at meetup or facebook. If you're in the LA area, join my Heart Health Hiking group on meetup. Whereever you are, you can go to www.meetup.com and look for the keywords "hikes" or "hiking" OR look up parks under yelp for reviews from other hikers. Yesterday, I found a terrific hike with a local chapter of the Sierra Club, and it was a wonderful group of friendly people. I want to also celebrate for Rachel from yesterday's hike, who recently had her 62nd birthday and qualified for the lifetime senior membership with the National Parks system!

If you are looking for fitness classes, an internet search for your local dance or pilates or yoga studio is easy when you put in your zip code. In general, it's human nature to prefer something convenient (it improves your chance of actually doing it!) and when it's in your neighborhood, you might even find the opportunity to walk to it and get some more footsteps in! And if it's cold or rainy weather, there is always a shopping mall or museum that is big enough for you to get in some walking towards your daily 10,000 steps. You can find fitness anywhere!