Road Trip Exercises and Stretches

Our AAA Trip Tik predicts that we will spend about 95 hours on the road when we make our Middle States trip, and while we are limiting the time and distance in the car each day, that's still a lot of time to be driving.  I get restless in the car, and my body gets stiff and achy if I don't move about and stretch, so I thought I would look for recommendations for exercises to do either in the car or at a rest stop.

Several of the search results returned similar exercises one can do from the passenger seat that are geared toward ankles, knees, glutes, spine/back, abdomen, and arms. The Sharp HealthCare (San Diego, CA) has an article, 6 Simple Car Exercises to Avoid a Painful Road Trip that provides instructions for how to perform these exercises.

Performance Health Academy has an article that includes additional exercise recommendations for outside of the vehicle when at a rest stop such as lunges and push-ups using the car as a base.  As a bonus, their website has a library of 900 exercises that you can search to create your own exercise program!

And of course the folks at Cruise America have suggested exercises for road trips, too, that can be performed while riding or on a break.  The Hospital for Special Surgery offers some stretches that are ideal for travelers.

From my own experience, taking the extra few minutes at a rest stop to stretch and walk around is key to improving both physical and mental alertness, both necessary for driving safety.  One thing DH and I like to do, and are looking forward to with this trip, is playing Pokemon GO.  By searching for new creatures, trying to hatch an egg, or battling for gyms, this is a fun way to incorporate exercise into rest stops. (And if you want to be Pokemon GO friends, my trainer code is in the comments.)

After reading through the exercises and stretches, these are also good for anyone who spends a lot of time seated, such as in an office.  I tried them out while drafting this blog entry and think they will be good to incorporate into my work day.  So if you see me doing these at my desk, you'll know that I'm training for our road trip!

What are some of your favorite ways to combat car ride fatigue?  Leave us a comment!

~ Cindy D.