The Best Airports For A Workout

As the new year arrived, we saw plenty of projections about the top travel trends and biggest fitness and health trends for 2013. 2013, it seems, will also be the year when traveling and fitness stop being so mutually exclusive.

Sure we’ve seen yoga and fitness retreats for a while, as well as a surge in top-notch hotel gyms and exercise programs. But, as marketing communications firm JWT predicts in its “Travel Things to Watch in 2013,” “fitness on the go” is going to be big business this year.

“We’ve gone from an all-or-nothing lifestyle to a do-what-I-can-when-I-can lifestyle,” Marian Berelowitz, editor of JWTIntelligence told HuffPost Travel in an e-mail. “It used to be that if you couldn’t make it to the gym, a class, etc., for an hour, a workout would have to wait for another day. Whereas now we’re trying to fit whatever activity we can into our crazy busy lives, since we’re not likely to have any more time tomorrow or the next day.”

One place this will be especially apparent, the trend forecast points out, is in airports, where fitness resources are beginning to be integrated into the terminals.

Perhaps the simplest way to get some exercise in is by taking a walk. And, to encourage that habit, and to make tracking miles walked easy, the American Heart Association‘s Start! Walking program has teamed up with various U.S. airports to promote walking paths within terminals. Airports like Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport and Cleveland Hopkins International Airport have walking circuits. And, in Cleveland, travelers will also find a rotating array of health tips peppered throughout the airport.

On the Start! Walking program’s webpage, find a selection of airport maps on which measured walking paths are charted. There are also path maps for shopping malls, parks, neighborhoods, school campuses and amusement parks.

“Walking has fabulous health benefits,” Dr. Tracy Stevens, an AHA Spokesperson and Cardiologist at Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute, told HuffPost Travel. Not only does walking maintain physical strength, burn calories and lower blood pressure, it “kills time so we aren’t sitting at the bar or in line for fast food,” she adds.

While 30 minutes of daily exercise is encouraged, it doesn’t have to be done all at once. Dr. Stevens advises that anything is helpful, even if it’s only in three ten-minute spurts. Above all, she says, “don’t use the excuse that you travel too much as a reason not to exercise.” Wear a pedometer to track your 10,000 steps, pop an exercise DVD into a laptop, or pack lightweight and non-bulky resistance bands in a carry-on, there are countless possibilities.

Another easy, though maybe not so obvious, way to fit in a workout at the airport is to pop into the gym at the airport hotel. Most are connected to the terminal or are just a short shuttle ride away, and some open their doors to travelers passing through for a small fee.

Guests of the Absolute Spa at Fairmont Vancouver Airport, for instance, have full access to the Fairmont Vancouver Airport’s health club. Zurich Airport offers gym access through the Radisson Blu Hotel. And, Kempinski Hotel Airport Munich welcomes guests on two-hour and daily passes. Call ahead to your destination to check gym availability.

For more workout inspiration, check out these airports that have integrated fitness into their terminals:

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• Yoga Room; San Francisco International Airport

  a href=”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/26/sfo-yoga-room-terminal-two_n_1235363.html”SFO opened its “zen room” in January 2012/a. It is open free-of-charge to ticketed passengers past the security gate. The room is dimly lit and is a shoe, noise and mobile phone-free zone. Yoga mats are available.

• Bike, Inline Skate and Nordic Walking Stick Rentals; Zurich Airport, Switzerland

  Flyers with a layover at Zurich Airport can pass the time, and squeeze in some fitness, by a href=”http://www.zurich-airport.com/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-201/”renting bikes, inline skates or Nordic walking sticks from the Service and Information Desk/a in the multi-story car park 2, on the first floor.

  Bike rentals are 20 Swiss francs ($22) for a half day. Skates will run $15 francs ($16) and walking sticks are 10 francs ($11.)

• Walking Loop; Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport

  The a href=”http://www.mspairport.com/docs/passenger-services/Start_brochure_2009_web.aspx”Minneapolis-St.Paul airport is just one of the airports that has teamed up with the American Heart Association’s Start! Walking Program/a. At this airport, find a 1.4-mile walking path, approximately every 0.1 miles of which are noted on the terminal signs. The path begins at the intersection of the C and D concourses of Terminal 1-Lindbergh.

  a href=”http://www.startwalkingnow.org/”On the Start! Walking website/a, find walking maps for airports like Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, Indianapolis International Airport and Chicago Midway International Airport. You can even add your own route to the database.

• Ice Skating Rink; Incheon International Airport, Korea

  At the airport in Seoul, Korea, a href=”http://www.airport.kr/airport/facility/efalicityInfo.iia?carId=44facilityId=473lcatId=01shopGubun=01″stopovers can include a spin around the airport’s ice skating rink/a. Made of “special artificial plastic ice,” it’s meant to keep you dry and lessen the impact of a possible fall.

  Skate rentals are a bargain at 4,000 won ($4) for adults, 3,000 won ($3) for teenagers and 2,000 ($2) won for children.

  A a href=”https://www.airport.kr/airport/facility/efalicityInfo.iia?carId=33facilityId=97″golf club with driving range, putting green and fitness center is also open/a at the airport’s International Business Center.

• Yoga Studio; Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport

  a href=”http://www.dfwairport.com/shops/detail.php?coid=3209″DFW also offers a yoga studio/a, which is located between Terminal D and B. Overlooking the runway, the space it outfitted with a floor mat and individual yoga mats are available. Yogis will also find a DVD of beginner yoga already loaded in the DVD player.

  Like Minneapolis, Dallas also has a measured walking path program.

• Recharging Bikes; Schipol Airport, Amsterdam

  Back in 2011, a href=”http://www.iamsterdam.com/Schiphol%20opens%20world%20s%20first%20airport%20park”Schipol airport opened what was touted as the world’s first park in an airport/a (by local tourism authorities.) Centered around a rescued 130-year-old tree, the area can be likened to a typical city park with greenery, food kiosks and shops. The airport offers stationary bikes which produce energy when pedaled — so, it’s possible to recharge a cell phone emand/em get a workout in.

• Sports Simulators; Hong Kong International Airport, Hong Kong

  Duck into a href=”http://www.hongkongairport.com/eng/shopping/entertainment/t2/ispor/ispo.html”Hong Kong Airport’s i-Sports area/a between flights to limber up like a sports pro. The area boasts sports simulators that mimic soccer, basketball, golf, boxing, skiing, car racing and shooting and more. Near Terminal 2, the airport is also home to a a href=”http://www.hongkongairport.com/eng/shopping/entertainment/t2/ninee/nine.html”golf course inspired by the famous 17th hole at the Tournament Payers Club/a at Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra, Florida.

The Best Airports For A Workout