In the run-up to my first Highland Games competition in 2023, I spent 16 of 25 days traveling for work. In that time, I took seven flights across three time zones and drove about 1,500 miles. At most destinations, I arrived late, woke early, then stood on hard floors all day with limited chances to drink water. Somewhere in there, I also went to the velodrome for track cycling sprint practice (including an elimination race) and to visit a weightlifting gym for heavy snatches, around lifting & throws practices when I was home.
Despite all that, I made above-average marks in all my Games throws – just two days removed from the last trip, after sleeping on my sister-in-law’s couch.
This is the final part of a series about being a Road Warrior and keeping your body in good condition despite frequent travel.
Bonus: all these tips help when you travel for competition, too.
Drink, Settle, & Sleep…but How to Get Better?
The rest of this series has been about how I limit the disruption of travel as an athlete. But I’m not content with just keeping healthy – I want ever-higher performance!
Once I’ve taken care of my body and mind in the fundamental ways, I look to exercise to keep me on track. That said, I have to be ready to change the plan…
Manage Travel With Exercise
If I can stay well hydrated, keep aligned with normal wake and bedtime routines, and get great sleep, I tend to avoid that groggy-and-swollen malaise of travel. Absent that garbage feeling, I can focus through my work day and still have juice left over when I get back to the hotel. If I can feel even slightly energized at the end of a work day on the road, I’m usually itching to stay on my training schedule.
…but…
I often have to lower my expectations.
Equipment and space availability are always a problem on the road.
Access to better training spaces isn’t guaranteed. And I’m generally too cheap to buy a day pass at a local gym.
So rather than be aggravated about what I can or cannot do from my training plan while traveling, I focus on my body’s main needs first, then on anything that could make me a better athlete second, and only then on the specifics of my training week. My body’s main needs are joint health, cardiovascular health, and mobility. Naturally, I carry my own tools to manage these.
I travel with a lacrosse ball, a resistance band, and a jump rope.
I massage the soles of my feet, my calves, my glutes, and sometimes my chest/shoulders with the LAX ball.
I use the resistance band for shoulder mobility exercises, assisted or resisted hip & ham stretches, and several of my PT exercises.
If I feel good, I can finish with pushups, lunges, leg raises, and jumping rope.
The hotels I stay at tend to have several floors, so I use the fire exit stairs for health & performance, too.
Long steps up multiple stairs double as strength work and hip flexor stretching.
Running & jumping stairs are great any day of the week.
A single step with a hand rail is perfect for calf stretching.
If I’ve done all of that, I really don’t need much in the way of training. Most of my trips are 2-3 days from leaving to returning home, so I can treat them as recovery days by training hard before and after travel. For longer trips, though, I approach additional exercise from an athlete-first perspective.
It’s extremely rare to have a barbell or kettlebell or sufficiently heavy dumbbells to train hard in a hotel gym. But if there’s a place to hang (usually the cable machine), a bench, and matched pairs of dumbbells, I can put together high-athleticism training.
Pullups or leg raises; step-ups or weighted bench jumps; pushups with plank rows; front squats; kneeling overhead presses…
A decent indoor bike is great for short, sharp cycling intervals…
A long hallway (like down the conference room row) is really good for sprint drills and 1-leg hopping, even if you can’t actually sprint.
If all I can do on the road is make myself a better athlete or shore up my weaknesses or, *gasp*, recover from my normal training, then I’ve done plenty!
Travel Is Still A Problem But…
Travel is still disruptive for athletes. The limited sleep, the chronic stress, and the burden of whatever you’re traveling to do can add up. You can execute everything in this series right, yet come home tired, flat, and worn down.
It’s often productive to plan a recovery day once you get home.
It can help to back off training for several days after a huge trip (international travel; conferences; anything around a family member’s health).
You may not be back to yourself for a full week after some trips that really wear you down.
But the more you do to stay hydrated, to keep to your routines, to get great sleep (however brief), and to care for your athlete body, the less disruptive it all is. As with most factors in life, planning goes a long way. Find your favorite salty mix, get your favorite sleep mask, and pack that mini-band – you could be a Road Warrior who is always ready to go despite what real life throws at you!
If you play an explosive sport and find yourself on the road frequently but feel like planning the training before, during, and after a travel week is too much to think about – or if you want the full confidence that your training plan is built with your travels in mind – let’s talk.
This is my job as a coach: to shape training to your life, so you can perform no matter your circumstances.
I’d love to hear about your upcoming travel schedule, your goals for next season, and to share what could help you level up despite being such a Road Warrior.
Jump to…
- Part 1: Road Warrior Hydration
- Part 2: Road Warrior Routines
- Part 3: Road Warrior Sleep Hygiene
- Part 4: Road Warrior Exercise [you’re here!]