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When I found myself surrounded by luxurious Class A RVs at the recent South Texas RV Super Sale, I couldn’t resist taking the opportunity to get in them and create some travel-friendly exercise routines to spice-up your next RV trip. I love how this bed workout turned out…it’s unique, it’s inspired, and it’ll keep you in tip-top shape while on the road.  Exercise should be a fun part of RVing, not a chore to be dreaded! These challenging moves will get you pumped up and set the tone for the rest of your day; keeping you energized and happy to tackle whatever travel adventures await.

 
Big thanks to Ancira RV for graciously allowing me to crawl all over the bed of this beautiful 2014 Newmar Mountain Aire. It’s a lucky person who gets to own this beauty…

The Bed Workout:

And here we go! Five exercises, and the only equipment you need is, well, a bed!
 

Exercise #1:  The Longevity Booster:

If you do none of the other exercises in this workout, do this one. Here’s why. Studies show that your ability to get up is a very accurate predictor of your mortality risk. So, if you can get up from the floor with ease, you’re going to live longer than someone who struggles to get up. That’s because being able to get up from the floor requires lots of flexibility, muscle strength, power-to-body weight ratio and coordination, which are fitness components necessary for performing daily activities. If you want to stay on the road longer, practice this exercise regularly.

• Start lying on the bed with your knees up, your feet flat, and one arm up towards the ceiling.
• Roll to your side on your elbow.
• Push up to your hand (always keeping your free hand up to ceiling).
• Push into a single kneel.
• Repeat the steps backwards to get back down. This is one repetition.
• Repeat this move 5 times on your right side and then 5 on your left.

Exercise #2:  Sushi Crunch Rolls:

Who doesn’t want a tight & toned tummy PLUS better coordination & balance? This exercise does all that and more. But be warned, it might make you crave some wasabi and your chopsticks…

• Lie on your back and pull your knees up. Lift your head and shoulders to round your spine. Draw your abdominal muscles down into your spine so they are tight and zipped up. You’ll feel like you’re in a little ball (sort of).
• Slowly and with control, roll to your side and extend your body out long. Your core stays tight and zipped through the entire transition (keep it squeezed!). Hold yourself on your side for a second before rolling back to start.
• Alternate rolling from side to side, making sure you crunch into the ball position in the middle. Do 10 rolls.

 Exercise #3:  Twisters:

So named, because, yeah, you feel like you’re playing the game Twister…minus the part where you fall all over and feel like a total clutz, embarrassing yourself in front of all the cute boys at the party. Oh wait nevermind, that was me. Take heart, the Twister exercise is much better than the game. Instead of kicking your bootie it will WORK your bootie. And we all love a toned and firm bootie…who’s with me?!

• Get on all fours to start.
• Reach your opposite hand to the back to touch the toe of the opposite leg that comes up and around to meet the hand. That’s REAL important folks…the OPPOSITE, I said. Even when I demonstrate this one in person, people get confused on this part.
• Without setting down the leg, drive the knee to the outside and again use that opposite hand; this time reach it around the front of your body and try to touch the knee that’s out to the side.
• Keep alternating between reaching back to touch your toe, then reaching around the front to touch your knee, and do that 10 times before you switch to the other hand and leg.

Exercise #4:  Sideways Reaches:

These babies are great for core and back strength & stability. But that’s not all that goes on with the Sideways Reach. Let’s break it down, shall we? You’re holding yourself up between your elbow and your knee, which is a big strength challenge in and of itself. Plus there’s the stretchy bit happening with the “reach” part, so we’re working flexibility. And! It’s sort of a balancing act keeping yourself aligned like that, so we’re working our coordination. Nice!

• Lie on your side propped up on your elbow.
• Crunch your top elbow and your top knee towards each other, allowing your head and shoulders to come along for the ride.
• Lift your hips so that your weight is on your elbow and lower knee, and reach your top arm up above your head, and extend your top leg straight and a little to the back (so you can open up your hip flexor and get a great stretch).
• Continue alternating between crunching in with your hip down and extending out long with your hip up for 10 repetitions and then repeat on your other side.

Exercise #5:  The Leanback Leg Challenger:

I love this one because it REALLY challenges the quads, and I like when I can feel an exercise working. Be warned, there are a lot of moves to this exercise, so practice along with the picture to make sure you get the pattern… it’ll be good mental exercise to boost your brainpower and build more neurons! Bonus!

• Kneel on the bed and lean back. Arms are straight out to the front. Yeah, you’re already feeling it. Hello, quads.
• Twist to the right keeping your core tight and your spine in good alignment, and then slowly twist to the left. You remain leaned back this whole time, arms remain extended.
• Next, lean back a little farther and reach your right hand to touch your right foot. Repeat on the left side.
• That entire sequence is one repetition. Do that 10 times.

And there you go! Now that you’ve done all 5 moves, repeat them as a circuit twice more. It should take you about 20 minutes to get through this routine 3 times.

Yet another travel-friendly workout plan that goes to show workouts on the road are not only possible, they also can be rather fun!

See you on the road, gang!