The Road Warrior Workout

Rating:
Summary: Basic Info is Great.... but too many unrealistic exercises
Review: Since I travel a lot and find myself eating the wrong foods while away from home (i.e. fast food), I thought this book would be perfect for a road warrior. It's almost perfect....

I found the first part to be very insightful about how travel affects your body and your health. If for no other reason, I would recommend this book due to Part I. It's amazing how much is taken for granted in regards to our health while we travel!

Part II was great on getting me started on a fitness program AT HOME. It got me started on the road warrior fitness plan and keeps me motivated when not at home.

Part III was totally useless (and why I gave 3 stars). With all the security issues on airplanes at the moment, it just isn't realistic to do many of this "airplane exercises." (that and you would look like a darn fool for even trying them!)

Part IV was great for me... I found many exercises that I could do in my hotel room.... in case I didn't want to wait for the one and only treadmill at the hotel gym. I also find that I was more motivated to workout in my hotel room.... then walking through the lobby in my exercise gear to get to the hotel workout room.

If you are just starting to become a road warrior - and/or - just starting an exercise plan, this is a good starter book for you.

Rating:
Summary: Basic Info is Great.... but too many unrealistic exercises
Review: Since I travel a lot and find myself eating the wrong foods while away from home (i.e. fast food), I thought this book would be perfect for a road warrior. It's almost perfect....

I found the first part to be very insightful about how travel affects your body and your health. If for no other reason, I would recommend this book due to Part I. It's amazing how much is taken for granted in regards to our health while we travel!

Part II was great on getting me started on a fitness program AT HOME. It got me started on the road warrior fitness plan and keeps me motivated when not at home.

Part III was totally useless (and why I gave 3 stars). With all the security issues on airplanes at the moment, it just isn't realistic to do many of this "airplane exercises." (that and you would look like a darn fool for even trying them!)

Part IV was great for me... I found many exercises that I could do in my hotel room.... in case I didn't want to wait for the one and only treadmill at the hotel gym. I also find that I was more motivated to workout in my hotel room.... then walking through the lobby in my exercise gear to get to the hotel workout room.

If you are just starting to become a road warrior - and/or - just starting an exercise plan, this is a good starter book for you.

Rating:
Summary: Compact and complete book for the frequent traveler
Review: The Crunch Fitness Guides "Road Warrior Workout" is a four-part guide to complete fitness for the frequent traveler. Overall, it's a compact and fairly comprensive book - not just for the "road warrior," but for anyone who does not want to invest in a lot of exercise equipment.

The book offers some unexpected benefits, like URLS for some web sites for frequent travelers, and a guest pass for use a CRUNCH gym (valued at $22.00 - more than paying for the book).

Part I contains no exercises, but discusses some of the dangers of frequent travel, including dehydration, back pain and insomnia.

Part II is a pre-travel workout - a combination of cardio, strength-training (including a lot of dumbell, barbell exercises and a couple of cable and other weight-machine exercises), and streching moves, with suggested reps and intervals. With the exception of the cardio plan (not very detailed - basically recommending jumping rope), there are enough different moves to provide you with some variety, and the stretches are pretty comprehensive.

Part III, titled "Tranquility In Transit" is a series of exercises and stretches for you do enroute (on a plane). Although the yogo-like postures and stretches do look beneficial, many of them would still realistically be tough to perform in the cramped quarters of an airline seat (if there were other passengers in your row), and several of them involve standing in the aisle, which is not a viable option. However, they are still good exercies, just not ones I would choose to do on an airplane.

Part IV is the hotel-room routine, which utilizes standard pieces of furniture and hotel-room props (i.e. telephone book, towels, luggage) and portable exercise bands to give some creative options to work on strength and flexibility in the comfort of your hotel room. Again, some of the exercises, especially those involving dresser drawers, are not super-realistic, but the majority are good.