I started a facebook group for pilots only to share our experiences and challenges of exercising on the road. I have 20 pilots from my airline but would like to include other airlines. We face unique challenges in hotels and usually have crappy diets. If anyone is interested message me and I can add you.
What does everyone do for execise besides the hotel gym which is usually crap anyway?

Can't message you until you have like 20 posts. But anyway....

Crossfit and crossfit travel workouts are what keeps me lean and mean. lol Diet is it's own science when it comes to our profession and I am getting closer to mastering it every year. Problem is that I have a great system to eat healthy and lose weight. The problem is trying to eat healthy and gain weight.

Click on search, then advanced search. Select the "Pilot Health" section, use terms like "P90X", "Insanity", "Crossfit", etc for the key words. It'll pull up a whole bunch of threads dealing with the questions you ask.

Workouts, diets, all that stuff.

I do P90X with the resistance bands on the road (dumbells don't travel too well) I was taking the discs with me but I went ahead and purchased the iphone app. I'll usually try to do a couple of runs or pool swims over the course of the week as long as the area is ok. Works out well for me. I think the biggest thing is forcing myself to do it...I can always come up with an excuse why I don't want to work out

I took up running 6 years ago and haven't stopped since. Almost everyplace has a treadmill, but I prefer running outside. So Investing in good running cold weather gear is a necessity for the winter time. I also took up p90x a couple years ago and that works fairly good in hotel rooms if you bring tension bands. "Insanity" is a better road workout routine as it doesn't require any weights.

The biggest thing though is food. Portion control for me was key. I stopped eating at the airport almost entirely. The calorie count on some things I ate was mind blowing when I looked at it. Qdoba burrito = 2500 cal. Subway 12 in italian sub =2000 and I would sometimes eat one for lunch and one for dinner. That doesn't include pop, chips, or any dessert.

Now, I bring instant oatmeal and yogurt for breakfast and I pack PB&J and turkey and cheese to make sandwiches. I usually pick up a salad or two at the airport on a trip and I go out with the crew if they want to go out for dinner or a drink, but try to keep drinking to a minimum on overnights.

I'm 5'7" and I went for 195ilbs down to 145-150...I got as low as 137 while training for a 1/2 marathon (Doctor was worried and asked me to get into the 140's)

I have something similar. We all do P90x or Insanity. We even have a few flight attendants doing Turbofire and Brazil Butt Lift (really funny). I have my own Facebook group. It is free and we all love it. I am on my second round of P90X.
If anyone is interested PM I will give you the details and you can friend me on Facebook and join our group. You too Pilot36.

I try and lift at the hotel gyms if they have weights, or find a local gym with a deal. In high rise hotels, I really like running stairs. You can really vary your pace and stride (number of steps at a time) and get a great workout with nothing but the stairway. I usually do 5-10 sets of 10-15 floors at varied step strides. Very intense and you get to use the elevator between sets so the stair climbs are similar to interval workouts.

I try and pack some snacks from home and hit grocery stores on the road for fresh stuff, but I do find it hard to eat healthy on the road. I quiver at the prices we have to pay on the road (for example - pint of milk - $3).

Not to mention the varied sleep cycles we contend with, and commuting on top of that...

Concur with everything I've read here...it's a real challenge to maintain healthy nutrition and fitness in this profession.

I used to have an "all or nothing" approach to diet and exercise. As I've gotten older (and hopefully a bit wiser) I've realized that in this job, it is simply not possible for me and that "some is better than none." Some healthy eating is better than no healthy eating, some working out is better than no working out.

As a middle aged old guy I've had to adopt a routine that is also more suitable for my age. Or as, I've heard a colleague state "Remember when you used to warm up before your workout, and now the warmup IS the workout!"

I carry the bands and a thin yoga mat. Target sells an all in one variable band set and the thin yoga mat. The thin yoga mat is actually meant to be a mat topper for bikram (hot yoga). It is so thin you can roll and fold it up to fit in your suitcase. It's got a nice non-skid side for yoga/stretching or anytime you need to be on the skanky hotel room floor during your workout. This is a huge advantage over a traditional yoga mat which is bulky and can't be easily carried.

Gotta stay in shape for when the retirement age gets moved to 70!

ha ha.