Ever wonder what to do or how to get in your exercise routine when you’re traveling for work or want to get a quick training session in while on vacation?
For a lot of us, the practice of exercising is about maintaining the consistent habit and continuing our momentum.
We last sent out this information August of 2019 so it’s due as a resource and reminder as we closed again last week, 5 years later (August 2024). We also closed the week of April school vacation as we enjoy more time with our families.
Here is what we usually send to members who are traveling, which is simple, effective and adaptable. If you have access to a gym, you can use dumbbells or kettlebells. If you do not have access to a gym, body weight and resistance bands work great.
You could do the following strength circuit for 3-5 rounds. Take enough rest in between each exercise and round to recover and perform all repetitions properly and with intent.
Never fail at any rep. This is supposed to be fun, going lighter is ok. Plus, you’re traveling and you likely have more important activities planned for work or with your family.
- Explosive 3-5 sets x 3-5 reps
- Hip Hinge 3-5 set x 5-10 reps
- Push 3-5 sets x 5-10 reps
- Squat / Split Squat / Lunge 3-5 sets x 5-10 reps (each)
- Pull 3-5 sets x 5-10 reps
- Core/Trunk/Rotary Stability 3-5 sets x time or reps
For the Explosive / Power exercises, you can select any of the following:
- Jump Squat
- Kettlebell Swing
- Single or Double Kettlebell Clean
- Explosive Push Up
For the Hinge exercises, you can select any of the following:
- Supine Hip Bridge (body weight)
- Deadlift with a sandbag, kettlebell, trap bar or barbell (loaded bilaterally)
- Kickstand Deadlift, Single Leg Deadlift with body weight or a kettlebell, dumbbell or barbell with a landmine attachment (loaded unilaterally)
For the Squat, Split Squat or Lunge exercises, you can select any of the following:
- Body weight Squat or Loaded Goblet Squat
- Body weight or Loaded Split Squat or Front / Rear Foot Elevated Split Squat
- Body weight or Loaded Walking, Reverse or Lateral Lunge
For the Pulling exercises, you can select any of the following:
- Pull Ups or Chin Ups (band assisted or body weight)
- Inverted Row (TRX or Jungle Gym suspension trainer)
- 3-Point Row or Split Stance Bent Over Row with a dumbbell or kettlebell (unilateral)
For the Pushing exercises, you can select any of the following:
- Push Up – body weight, band resisted or sandbag loaded
- Floor Press, Bench Press, Military Press (bilateral) using a barbell, dumbbells or kettlebells
- 1-Arm or Alternating Floor Press, Bench Press, Military Press (unilateral) using a barbell landmine, dumbbells or kettlebells, and you can go from tall kneeling, half kneeling, and standing in a bilateral stance or split stance
For the Core / Stability exercises, you can select any of the following:
- Table Plank, Tall Push Up Plank, Forearm Plank, Side Plank, Suitcase Iso (static)
- Dead Bug, Mountain Climber or Crawling (dynamic)
- Partial or full kettlebell Get Up, or kettlebell or dumbbell Farmer or Suitcase March or Carry (loaded)
There are many ways you can run this. Below are a very of our go to options.
Option #1: Perform 3-5 repetitions of the Explosive exercise and 5-10 reps of everything else. Once you complete a round, rest 2-5 minutes and repeat two more times for three to five rounds total. Low reps will allow you to use heavier weight, higher reps could be accompanied by light to medium weight.
Option #2: Run a stopwatch and perform 5-10 repetitions every minute on the minute (EMOM). At the top of the next minute start the next exercise. If you have six exercises and worked three rounds, you’d be done in 18 minutes. If you’re running unilateral exercises and you have to perform the left and then your right side, keep those reps lower so you have at least 30 seconds to recover before the next exercise.
Option #3: Using a stop watch again, work for 15-30 minutes and see how much you can get done with proper technique completing as many rounds as possible (AMRAP). Don’t get carried away here, work smart and rest enough to make sure your technique is at your personal standard.
Option #4: Run a ladder complex. For the first round, perform 8 repetitions for each exercise in order. For the second round, perform 6 reps of each exercise. For the third round, perform 4 reps of each exercise. For the final round, perform 2 reps of each exercise. On paper, this looks easy but it comes out to 120 repetitions which is a lot of volume. You can run a 5,3,2 ladder for less total work (60 total reps) and a shorter session or If you want to do more work, run a 10,8,6,4,2 ladder (180 total repetitions).
Here’s a sample of a training session we might run if we had access to one medium size kettlebell:
- KB 1-Arm Clean (power)
- KB 2-Arm Swing or 1-Arm Kickstand Deadlift (hinge)
- Push Up or KB 1-Arm Overhead Press (push)
- KB Goblet Squat or Alternating Lateral Lunge (squat/lunge)
- KB 3-Point Row or Pull Up / Chin Up (pull)
- Alternating Dead Bug or KB Get Up (core/stability)
There you have it, a simple and effective way to get your training in while traveling. Give this a shot and let us know how it works for you.
If you have ANY questions, please ask!