Living Smart: Road work ahead: Exercising in your RV

Last winter, before gas prices skyrocketed, my husband and I bought a small motorhome.

We are about to embark on our first real road trip and packing is a challenge. However, along with the food, barbecue, clothes, books, inflatable raft and bikes, we have managed to find space for a few well-chosen pieces of exercise equipment.

One of the advantages of traveling in a motorhome is that we aren’t limited to eating in restaurants. This allows us to maintain our usually healthy eating habits.

The challenge is how to exercise when there is no fully equipped fitness center just down the street.

An exercise program should include aerobic exercise for cardiovascular fitness, resistance training for muscle strength and endurance, and stretching for flexibility. Walking or riding our bikes briskly for at least 30 minutes most days of the week takes care of our aerobic needs. While stretching requires only a little floor space, strength or resistance training is more of a challenge.

Although strength training does not require special equipment, there are a few basic fitness tools that can significantly improve your mobile workout.

For an upper-body workout I am packing adjustable dumbbells, with 2.5- and 5-pound hard rubber plates. These will allow me to configure five- to 30-pound dumbbells, depending on what I need for a particular exercise and how much total weight I want to pack.

There are a variety of travel dumbbells available, including the AquaBelle that is made of plastic and can be filled with water.

Any of these work well for upper body exercises, including chest press, shoulder press, bent-over row, triceps kickback, biceps curls and lateral raise.

For the lower body, a five- or 10-pound pair of ankle weights would work well for leg extensions, leg curls and side-leg raises.

However, I usually rely on squats and lunges. I can also add dumbbells to my lunges or squats to make them more challenging. Even the entry step on an RV can be used for step ups or lunges if the height is right.

For the core, crunches are effective and do not require any equipment. A ball is a great tool, providing a lot of variety if you can find a place to store it when you are traveling — or if you don’t mind blowing it up each time.

I especially like using the ball as a bench when I do the chest press, as it allows me to work my core at the same time.

Elastic bands are a lightweight option for resistance training. They are available at most sporting-goods store and usually come with detailed instructions to work all major muscle groups.

I recommend the brands that have foam-covered handles. There is also an optional strap that allows you to secure the band in a door frame for certain exercises.

If you need some ideas for exercises, check out www.nihseniorhealth.gov or www.cdc.gov and look for exercise or strength training for older adults.

For younger exercisers, www.shape.com (workout finder) has a wide variety of exercises, videos and nutrition information. Always remember to consult your physician before beginning any new exercise program.

I am planning on exercising outside, but with a slide out, I should have just enough space to work inside if the weather is uncooperative.

No excuses now for not working out!

Green Valley resident Ann Sirianni is a certified fitness trainer. Contact her at 465-1221 or gvfitness@cox.net.