I'm on the go for work or personal travel quite often. Between airport fast food and crappy hotel gyms, travel can ruin an otherwise solid training regimen.
But, if you are serious about crushing your goals, you can make a few changes to stay on track.
Don’t go hungry— Airport food is mostly expensive crap. Eat before you go and pack some protein bars to hold you over.
Stay hydrated-- Flying dehydrates you, bring your own water bottle, fill it up after you go through security and slam water.
Ruck in the airport— There are probably going to be delays, get used to it. You can spend that time sucking down $15 shots of Jameson, or you can get some miles in. My travel ruck is probably somewhere in the 20 lb range. My personal best is 5 miles around Charlotte Douglas International during a 2-hour layover. The good news is that while the weight may not be as heavy as you would normally use, you can walk super fast, and everyone just thinks you are rushing to your gate.
Ruck recommendation— I travel with the GoRuck GR2 40 liter. It is sized to meet carry-on requirements wherever you go. I have a gray one that looks less like a military ruck so I don’t stand out. It also has numerous mesh organizational pockets that I like. I can easily carry my camera with a few lenses, a laptop, books, my EDC stuff, and enough clothes to last a few weeks. Plus when you get to your destination you have a great ruck for training.
I have started using packing cubes- I’m a fan of Eagle Creek. That way, once I get to my room I can pull everything out of my ruck and still keep it organized, then go to the gym and borrow a dumbbell or two, wrap them in a towel if necessary, and go for a ruck.
I usually bring a small packing cube with a lightweight jump rope, several sizes of resistance bands, a TRX if I have room, and a lacrosse ball for rolling out the kinks.
I have found that sticking as closely as possible to my normal routine helps fight jetlag and makes it easier to stay on track. When I travel, I try to stick with an early morning ruck session. It’s a great way to understand the layout of the town or city you are in, find some good restaurants for later, and see the sights. Plus it is usually less crowded.
The bottom line is that you don’t have to let travel knock you off your training program. Plan ahead, prep, and ruck the fuck up.
If you have any tips for training while traveling, I’d love to hear them:
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Thanks for reading, I’ll see you next week.
Great tips John! I once decided I would visit the #1 gate and the last gate in every concourse in Atlanta, A through F. That was a journey.