Shawn Lankton Online » Travel

Homemade muscles: quitting my gym for a better workout

Shawn Lankton — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 15:17:47 +0000

I made a new-years resolution this year: quit going to the gym.

Instead, I brought the gym into my apartment and re-vamped my workout so that I can take it anywhere. I’ll outline a workout strategy to get a kickass workout in 15 minutes with or without gear.

Basically: Use your whole body, work where you sleep, and do it hard.

The strategy

If you’re too busy or lazy (in my case both) do dedicate more than 15 minutes to a workout, then it had better be legit. This is what works for me.

Use your whole body. Exercies that engage your whole body improve coordination, build functional strength, and get your workout done faster. Many whole-body exercises can be done anywhere with no equipment – pushups, pullups, situps, and sprints to name a few. (more on exercises below)

Do it hard. The Tabata protocol (named after a Japanese scientist) says:

Work like crazy for 20 sec.
Take a 10 sec. break.
Do that 8 times.

One cycle takes 4 min. I was skeptical at first, but I’ve never been so sore from a 4 min. workout! Tabata is also nicely timed to do 3 or 4 workouts in 15 min., and most exercises work great with Tabata timing. The trick is to really push during those 20 sec. bursts!

I use an iPhone app to keep time. There are also websites and timers. Having something to keep time is important – if you do it yourself you’ll either mess up or cheat!

Do it where you sleep. I find it easiest to do a workout first-thing when I wake up. It keeps me from making excuses later in the day, and I’m always pretty alert after my first 20 pushups! Working out in my room also saves me the time of putting on shorts and treking to a gym. (…don’t think about me working out naked.)

The gear

I bought some gear when I decided work out exclusively in my apartment, and I’ve got a few tricks for improvising on the road. It’s surprising how little you need, and the whole thing cost me less than 1 months gym membership!

Pullup bar. The kind that hangs in a door-frame. It’s got 3 grips for 5 kinds of exercise. I use it all the time – even when I’m not “working out” I still bust out a couple of pullups whenever I pass the bar!

Kettle bells. These are old-school Russian body-building weights that are starting to make a comeback into the mainstream. They are big iron balls with a handle on top (they look a bit like tea kettles). They are good for several whole-body exercises (below) that will wear you the hell out! I started out with 30 and 45 pound bells and may buy a 60 pound-er soon.

That’s it for “real” equipment… but, what about travel?

Luggage/furniture. Suitcases, laptop bags, chairs, and ottomans make great workout equipment in a hotel room. I can be found hoisting a well-packed rollerboard, ThinkPad, or hotel ottoman at 7am in hotels across the world!

The exercises

I do a variety of exercises with no real rhyme or reason. (If someone has a scientific way to choose exercises, let me know… bonus if it rhymes!)

Many of these exercises are also staples of CrossFit or P90X… my approach is just a lot less structured. I try to keep lots of variety and make sure every muscle group gets worked at least once per week.

Exercises you know are a big part of my workout. They’re famous because they’re great!

Running (focus on sprints)
Pushups (try different hand-positions)
Rows (from a desk, chair or stool)
Pullups (again, hand positions)
Crunches (bicycle crunches kill)
Lunges/squats (hoist that luggage!)

Exercises you may not know but that I do all the time include:

Kettlebell swings
Kettlebell clean & jerk
(Normal and upright rows)
French press
Tuck jumps
Cat pukes and myotic crunches

Exercises that I don’t know… I’d like to know them. Please share your favorites!

Become a super-packer

Shawn Lankton — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 18:04:38 +0000

Being a consultant is not like being James Bond… but I pretend it is! When I find out I’ve got two hours to make the red-eye to Bucharest, I order another beer before I head out – I know packing will take 10 minutes, tops.

These are a few tips, tricks, and time-savers that I’ve learned that have made packing an afterthought instead of a project…

What to buy

If you’re going to do this, you may as well do it right. Pick up a few essentials and invest some time up-front.

Start with a sturdy rolling carry-on. Bags are like shoes – If you go all cheap, you’ll regret it later. Some features you want to look for: big wheels and a tall handle. The little bitty casters are handy, but they break fast. As for the tall handle, nothing is worse than catching your ankle while you run for a plane.

I recently bought a Victorinox NXT and I love it. Aparently, it’s also elephant proof.

Consider buying flat workout shoes. I talked about Vibram five fingers in an earlier post. I work out in these while I’m on the road. Running in them feels amazing, and not having to pack normal (gigantic) running shoes saves a ton of space.

Double up on stuff you always take. There is some stuff you take every time you travel (toiletries, workout gear, chargers). Leaving it in your suitcase ensures you don’t forget anything and saves the time normally spent hunting for all of it each time you pack.

Pick up these other essentials as well: earplugs and an eye mask (sleep is too valuable to risk), nail clippers (useful for nails and great as a multi-purpose tool), and a sewing kit (wardrobe malfunctions happen).

What to do

Make a packing list and stick to it. It’s a short time investment up-front but saves a lot of headache down the road. If I try to pack all hap-hazard, I bring too much AND forget something! Here’s my go-to list for a business trip.

Learn to fold properly. I could do a whole post on folding (and I might), but here’s the short version: Fold suit jackets like this. Lay t-shirts on top of dress-shirts and pants before you fold them to reduce creasing. When you get to your hotel, hang everything up in the bathroom and run a VERY hot shower. Done.

Ignore security precautions. Unless you have a LOT of liquids in your carry-on, they don’t stop you if you just leave it in your bag. One less thing to worry about.

Share your tips. I know lots of you reading this are pretty jet-set yourselves. Let’s hear your tips in the comments!

A Consultant in Denver

Shawn Lankton — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 23:14:06 +0000

Last weekend I traveled to Denver, Colorado for a “business consulting summer camp.” All in all, it was a nice way to spend a weekend. I learned a lot, met very quality people, wined and dined, and slept at the Ritz. I could get used to being a consultant!

I just have a couple pictures to share. I’ll tell you what, the rooms at the Ritz sure beat the hell out of the rooms I stay in when I travel to conferences! Gigantic beds, big bathtubs, marble counter tops, full closets, and what a view.

When we weren’t eating, drinking, hiking, and socializing I worked with a small group of five people to study, analyze, and solve a practice consulting scenario. David, Judy, Sauraub, Yi and Elizabeth were all bright, funny, and capable. If consulting means working with only top-notch people… I’m in. Here’s the group on a mountain during a hiking trip (minus Yi who decided to go white water rafting instead).

Hopefully this trip was a preview of what being a consultant is like because if it is… I like it!

Ice Climbing in Alaska

Shawn Lankton — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 02:00:16 +0000

In addition to work and science, last week I spent some time ascending ice in Alaska! Rome and I rented a car and drove north from Anchorage to the Matanuska Glacier [map]. There we met our guide, got geared up, and headed into the white. It is amazing to see a 26 mile glacier snaking into the huge snow-capped mountains looming all around.

The gear involved in ice climbing is fantastic. Serious mountaineering boots with a dozen three inch spikes attached to each foot make for a menacing pair of shoes. The crampons give terrific grip while trekking over the ice, and allow you to walk right up verticle faces when needed!

Then you have the “hammers:” long sharp picks that hack into the ice giving you a hand-hold wherever you need it. Combine this with a length of good rope and all the climbing harnesses common to rock-climbing and you’ve got an ice-cold vertical adventure.

We trekked about a half mile onto the glacier before we started making our way up sheer ice walls. Our guide would free-climb the faces and set up safety rigging before we made our way up. The first climb was a real challenge, but once I got an understanding of the technique, and the rhythm: pick, hook, toe-toe-toe. pick, hook, toe-toe-toe… climbing up verticle ice and slight overhangs became a smooth, and exhilarating process.

All said and done… I want more. However, the way things are going there won’t be any glaciers in Atlanta any time soon!

Fun Fact: If you converted all the ice in the Matanuska glacier into margaritas, it would be enough for everyone on the planet to drink a 32oz. margarita every day for the next 20 years!

West Coast Trip

Shawn Lankton — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 21:14:01 +0000

The beginning of February found me making my way up the West Coast on the coastal Highway 101. My friends Jimi and Rome and I flew out west to present some recent research at a conference. Jimi and I decided to take the long way home and drive up the coast all the way to Seattle. Along the way we met old and new friends, saw some amazing things, and had loads of fun. Check out some of the pictures we took:

Even though we spent a week on Pacific time, I realize that I need to spend a lot more to see even a fraction of what there is to do out there! I might try to spend a month out that way this summer. I left some of my heart in San Francisco, I was inspired and entranced by the beautiful landscape, and Seattle is nothing but great!

Whaddya Doin’ in New York?

Shawn Lankton — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 20:51:52 +0000

This afternoon found me ankle deep in New York City. I stopped by a friend’s office in Harlem to have some lunch, and since then I’ve been hanging out (reading, writing, and programming) at Colombia University in the quad across from the library.

First off, whenever I step out of an airport and start walking around a city I marvel at how quickly life moves. When I ate an apple for breakfast this morning I was nearly 900 miles away from where I sat down to eat lunch. The world is certainly very small.

Something that always strikes me about New York in particular, though, is how it is a wonder just to wander. Some other big cities (Paris comes to mind) have a similar quality. It dawned on me, though why its so fascinating just to look at things. New York is an organic thing. Just as you can look in awe at the bark on a tree (or at least I can), I can see nature’s beauty in the big apple. This is not a city that was planned in the way that a suburban neighborhood is. This city grew up on its own, adapted to its little island, to the throngs of people living here. It says something powerful about the human animal that we can build and thrive in hives like this!

Tallulah Transgressions

Shawn Lankton — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 14:57:09 +0000

This Saturday a troop of friends made our way out of the concrete and steel that holds Atlanta together and ventured North in search of rocks, trees, birds, and waterfalls. We came to rest in the Tallulah Gorge. This place could still remember when it was an untouched natural wonder. Today, it’s hiking trails have been replaced by paved sidewalks and metal staircases. These staircases and hand-railed trials took us to see some beautiful waterfalls and overlooks, but also led us into the arms of danger…

After following rules and trails for an entire day, we saw something that looked a little bit more exciting! We noticed that if we hopped the hand-rails we could scramble out onto a huge rock slab that looked straight over into the gorge… an 800 foot drop! Wow! what a thrill, we could fall to our death if we weren’t careful. We had to climb over rocks like real men! We had found some adventure! Little did we know, we found more than we wanted.

The climb back to the manufactured trail was without incident, and our little expedition was without injury or death (or even a close call!). However, as we were walking back down the paved trail we saw a ranger puffing hard as he ran towards us.

“Which one of y’all was out on that ledge?” He asked.

This may have been a good time to lie. But we told the truth, and he sat us down to wait for his manager. When the manager arrived, Ryan, Jimmi, and Me all got tickets for … $116! At least the rangers seemed like cool guys, they were fun to talk to and not disrespectful like some officer-types can be. They even suggested some places where it was “legal” to go do stupid stuff that might be fun.

In the end… did we learn our lesson? YES! Don’t go to over-regulated parks. There’s lots more fun to be had on other trails where the only rule is “leave only footprints, kill only time, take only pictures.”

Verticle Caving

Shawn Lankton — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 22:02:20 +0000

This Saturday I took my second expidition into the earth. I went with ORGT caving on a trip into Cagel’s Cavern. This cave has an awesome entrance; a 160′ pit that goes straight down. Looking over the edge with nothing but a rope tied to a little tree to keep you from accelerating too quickly towards the bottom can get your heart pumping!However, after a few rappels, you get the trick of it and you are flying down the ropes! What a rush. Inside, its a very nice view to the top. After enjoying that for a few minutes, we went exploring. I like the old quote from inside a hole in the cave somewhere, “Wow, its tight in here… hey… I don’t think there’s a way through… oh wait…. SWEET! Come on!”

We heard that a few times as we were making our way! This is a really cool way to spend a Saturday. Look out for more caving posts as the year goes on. If only there were cool caves that weren’t 200 miles away.

Phoenix for Fun and Science

Shawn Lankton — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 03:09:00 +0000

Earlier this week I returned from Phoenix, Arizona. I go there periodically to visit my father who lives there, but on this particular trip, I did something more. A friend of mine who works with the research group I was involved in during my undergrad (CATEA) published a paper to a conference in Phoenix.

The paper was the continuation (and improvement) of a project I started long, long, ago in 2005. In fact, you can check here for some info about it. This paper was so good that it was worth a free trip for both of us to present it at the RESNA conference.
Of course, I didn’t spend too much time inside, dressed up, talking about papers. I spent most of the trip visiting with my dad and his new wife. We relaxed in the back yard, checked out the pash shopping and dining of Phoenix, and hid from the 115 degree heat!
One day we drove North to a cool town called Sedona which has lots of great hiking and rock formations. Here’s me at the end of ‘Long Canyon.’ It was a nice little 10 mile hike, and where I’m standing in this picture is one of the several “Power Vortices” in Sedona. (I certainly felt more powerful than usual!)

Lessons From a Traveler

Shawn Lankton — Thu, 24 May 2007 13:13:00 +0000

As one travels, one will inevitably learn many things. You learn about yourself, about the world, and about traveling as a hobby. Here is a short list of things that struck me as important.

Pack Light

This is always a must in my opinion. Its no fun to walk around with big bags. Even if you’re going to put them down right when you arrive, who wants to deal with all that stuff!? Some tips if you’re packing *really* light (I think Jimi and I had packs that were about 30 pounds).

Get a super-absorbent shammy-style towel. In the words of Douglas Adams, “You’ve got to know where your towel is.” And that’s true, a personal towel will come in handy time and time again. But regular bath towels are far too big. Instead, get one of these (I found mine in the automotive section of WalMart).
Bring a multi-tool pocket knife. This allows you to mend, destroy, create, and do a lot of things with just one little tool. I actually forgot to bring one, but as destiny would have it, we *found* one after about 28 hours in Europe. It proved priceless for lots of little things. (CAREFUL, don’t try to bring this on a plane)
Pack T-Shirts. Sure, they’re not quite as trendy, but its better to have those little guys than lots of annoying shirts with collars and buttons. After a few days you don’t give a damn how you look.

Plan Some
Know generally what’s in the area. Try Wikitravel or just the regular internet. I also like Lonely Planet and Lets Go guides. (Although I would suggest taking select pages or photocopies rather than entire books because they’re huge and scream TOURIST!)

If you’ve got friends where you’re going, know people who have been before you, or are friendly with strangers… Ask other people what to do. It is a lot easier than reading those stupid tourist books, and you usually get quality suggestions. I’d suggest spending a lot of time on this. If it hadn’t been for a friend’s suggestion in Paris, we would have never visited Toulon!

I try to have a sketchy plan for the next 24 hours at all times. It’s good to have this to keep a little focused. However, be prepared to be flexible.
Don’t plan too much
Because I see life as a hilarious adventure, its hard for me to see anything that happens as misfortune. If you plan everything out to the second, it removes a lot of the adventure, and potentially eliminates the hilarity of things going very well or very badly.

If you allow chance to play a big role in your travels, you let in a lot of room for luck. Luck is what really makes the best stories. “We followed a tight schedule and saw all of the sites” is kinof boring. “We really had no idea what we were doing and next thing you know, we were eating crepes wearing a giant chicken suit” is a lot more entertaining. Also, if you are letting luck play a role in your travels, planning to far in advance can mean losing money on non-refundable reservations and things. Plus, if you have to sleep on the street one night… Hilarious adventure, right?

I’ll save the long soliloquy on how much you learn about your self, your soul, life in general, and the human condition for another post… But I think I learned about all that stuff too. Of course, its hard to nail down when exactly that happens.