The Foreign Service Journal, March 2019

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2019 33 A s members of the Foreign Service community, we travel constantly. While living abroad and traveling as much as we do require us to make sac- rifices (cultural familiarity, time with family, watching the latest season of “Game of Thrones”), exercise does not have to be one of the things we sac- rifice. Stop thinking of time spent in airports as wasted hours; instead, think of those long layovers as fitness opportunities. What exactly am I talking about when I tell you to exercise in airports?The options are endless. From stretching to speed walk- ing, there are many obvious ways to burn calories. But there is a world of possibility that goes beyond the basics, and inmy 20 years as a traveler and fitness trainer, I have developed some techniques for an intense fitness program you can commit to on the road. Here are a few examples. Ken Seifert has worked for USAID for 14 years, 10 of which have been spent as a Foreign Service officer in Central America, the Caribbean, Africa and Asia. He is a fitness guru who exercises nearly four hours a day, even when he travels. In 2017, he wrote The Complete Guide to Airport Exercise , which has been featured on NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox and NPR national and local affiliates, among others. His previous publications include The Rising Storm (AuthorHouse, 2007) and hundreds of letters to the editor and op-ed pieces in such newspapers as The Washington Post, USA Today, Miami Herald, Austin American-Statesman , the St. Louis Post Dispatch and the Denver Post . He is married and has two dogs. Travel is a constant in Foreign Service life. Here’s how to make it serve your personal fitness goals. BY KEN SE I F ERT FOOD AND FITNESS IN THE FOREIGN SERVICE FOCUS ITNES F S HowtoExercise inAirports Cardio First, consider your cardio options—those high-intensity exercises that get your heart going. Many airports—Miami Inter- national Airport is one example—offer staircases leading up to airport trams or down to other gates. Using those stairs to run up and down is a great way to burn cal- ories. If you add your bags to this cardio exercise, you’ll really give your muscles a workout. Just remember to pick up your knees and don’t overextend your back. Go up and down a few dozen times or more—you’ll burn calories and canmost definitely scratch off the “squat” workout for the day, as stair climbing will hit the same muscles as squats. My favorite form of airport exercising is running. I have been running in and around airports in hundreds of domestic and international locations. Those long, vast terminals in places like Frankfurt and JFK offer seemingly endless real estate to run. It’s an especially great way to use those wasted hours during long layovers and justify that extra donut.