A dice workout uses two dice — one labeled with exercises, one with numbers — so every roll tells you exactly what movement to do and how many reps, turning any hotel parking lot into a gym for thirty minutes. In this Physical Friday I show you the blank wooden dice I bought on Amazon for a couple of dollars, how I label them for no-equipment and single-dumbbell workouts, and why deciding the night before is the real secret to training on the road.
Watch now: press play on the video above and follow along.
You use two dice. The first die has an exercise on each side: squats, push-ups, sit-ups, flutter kicks, burpees, whatever you choose. The second die gives you the rep count; I use a twelve-sided die with numbers up to 12. Set a clock for ten, thirty, or forty minutes, roll both dice, and whatever comes up is the exercise and the reps. Do it, roll again, and repeat until the clock runs out.
Amazon. I bought a pack of about 30 blank wooden dice for roughly two dollars and a cheap multi-sided gaming die with numbers up to 12. I mark the blank dice with a label maker, putting a different exercise on each face. They cost almost nothing, they weigh almost nothing, and they live permanently in my travel bag.
I keep one die that is completely equipment-free: burpees, push-ups, flutter kicks, squats, and even a joker side, which means run around the block or the parking lot. I keep a second die for hotel gyms that have a single dumbbell: single-arm press, goblet squat, single-arm snatch, and deadlift. Build dice around whatever you know you will actually have access to on the road.
Never rely on the hotel gym. I travel a lot for Saltwater Experience shoots, sometimes two weeks with no gym access, so my rule is to maintain fitness with tools that fit in a bag: a deck of cards and these dice. I look at my schedule the night before, decide exactly when and how long I will train, and in the morning I grab the dice and a towel and go to the parking lot. Maintaining the routine matters as much as the workout itself.
For me it is mental as much as physical. If I get out of the habit of working out for more than a couple of days, I get foggy and lethargic and my thinking is not as sharp as when I am training consistently. The dice keep the routine alive even when there is no equipment and no time, which protects my mental fitness as much as my physical fitness.
Whatever your schedule allows. I look at the morning the night before: if I have forty minutes, I roll dice for forty minutes; if I only have ten, I do ten. The format scales perfectly because there is no round count to finish, just a clock and the next roll.
Here is exactly how I make and use the dice that travel in every one of my bags.
I always travel with a deck of cards and these dice. Between the two, there is no hotel, boat ramp, or parking lot where I cannot get a real workout in.
When I go on a shoot for Saltwater Experience, sometimes I am gone for two weeks with no access to a gym or any equipment. I have had to figure out how to get workouts in during that time, not necessarily to improve my fitness but to maintain it, because the alternative is coming home having lost ground. The dice are the most portable answer I have found. I talk through my full road routine in the episode, so press play above.
If I get out of the habit of working out for more than a couple of days, I get foggy and lethargic, and my thinking is not as good as when I am training consistently. That is the real reason the dice matter: they keep the routine alive, and the routine keeps my head right on long shoots. Plenty of you have told me over the years you are the same way. I get into the mental side in the episode, so press play above.
The deck of cards workout has been my travel staple for years: an exercise for each suit, the number on the card tells you the reps. The dice came from thinking about what else could work that way. The difference is that dice are fully customizable; you decide exactly which six exercises live on each die, matched to the equipment you expect to find. I compare the two tools in the episode, so press play above.
The dice only work because of one habit: I look at my schedule the night before and decide exactly when and how long I will train. Forty minutes in the morning? That is locked in before I go to sleep. In the morning there is no negotiation and no wondering what to do, just grab the dice and a towel and head for the parking lot. I explain why pre-deciding beats willpower in the episode, so press play above.
For a couple of dollars and an ounce of luggage weight, the dice solve the travel fitness problem completely. No gym, no equipment, no plan needed in the morning, because the plan was made the night before and the dice make every decision after that.
Make a set, throw them in your bag, and email me at podcast@saltwaterexperience.com to tell me what you put on your dice. We will share our workouts. Press play above to see mine.
dice workouts · travel workouts · deck of cards workout · blank dice from Amazon · burpees · push-ups · flutter kicks · goblet squats · single-arm dumbbell snatch · hotel gym training · Saltwater Experience shoots · Physical Friday
Physical Friday is my weekly fitness series for fishing guides, anglers, hunters, and outdoorsmen — the training, nutrition, and mindset to stay in the game for life. Watch and listen to every Physical Friday episode from Tom Rowland.
I'm Tom Rowland, a professional fishing guide based in the Florida Keys, host of the Tom Rowland Podcast, and the longtime host of the Saltwater Experience television show. Physical Friday is the podcast's weekly fitness series, where I share the workouts, training formats, and mindset lessons that keep guides, anglers, hunters, and outdoorsmen strong enough to do what they love for life.
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