Fitness Tips

It doesn’t take a pro-level fitness ability to have the time of your life on a Backroads trip! We design our trips with a variety of route options each day so you can meet or even challenge your own expectations of how far you think can go. A Backroads leader shares his tips on how to prepare for maximum power & fun on your next active adventure!

A Backroads trip is unlike any other vacation. As an athlete all my life, and an avid CrossFitter, I want to remain active when I travel: hiking mountains, biking along the coast, kayaking hidden coves and exploring the scenic back roads of the world.

What if you could increase your chances of living a long and healthy life just by changing the way you get to work? A new study has now revealed that if you trade in your car or bus commute for your bicycle, you could add years to your life! And unlike squeezing in a visit to the gym, commuting is something you have to do so why not make the most of it?

DROP AND GIVE ME TWENTY! That's right, I'm talking about calisthenics: simple body-weight exercises that utilize the force of gravity. Push-ups. Pull-ups. Dips. Squats. Lunges. It's an age-old method used by militaries, athletic teams and high school gym teachers alike.

Is spinning a good training for a biking trip? Will it make you strong enough to face the demanding hills of the Canary Islands? I was curious about this topic and I tried to investigate a little bit. I eventually found all the answers I was looking for when I met an extraordinary sporty couple: Andrea and Caterina.

Long flights, trains rides and layovers. These extended stints of sitting and inactivity as you're preparing for--or recovering from--your Backroads trip are the perfect opportunity for tight muscles (and possible injury) in the hips, legs and back. But your travels needn't stifle your muscular health! All you need to keep your body healthy and ready for riding, hiking and adventuring is a little bit of space, forethought and this quick stretching routine that you can do in your hotel room, in the airport or even on the plane.

The sun's shining, there's a white carpet of snow covering the ground, and the trees are heavy from the latest snowfall. Working up a sweat, I ascend a small hill and drink in the view. As far as I can see, forest covers the landscape...

I used to be pretty serious about the whole competitive running thing. I've run my whole life. And I've run myself into the ground—quite literally. I've had plenty of injuries. Too many, in fact. And those injuries prompted me to develop Tom Hale Total Health.

When I started working at Backroads this past June, I had never been on a road bike in my life. But this October, I joined 230 of my coworkers at our annual Staff Ride, which this year was held in Spain, and cycled 25-60 miles a day. Here’s what I learned, going from 0 miles a day to 60...