The rule for road workouts is simple: failing to plan is planning to fail. If you head out on a business trip figuring you will see what the hotel gym has, you probably will not work out — most people do not. I am on set at Hawks Cay, where we have filmed for eighteen years, so I know exactly what the gym has, what our days look like, and what I need to bring. This week I show you how I review my programming before a trip, pack the right gear, and scale the workouts so I come home maintained instead of starting over.
Watch now: press play on the video above, or listen in the player at the top of the page.
Plan before you leave — that is the entire game. Look at what your program calls for during the trip days, figure out what the destination offers, and decide in advance how each workout will be modified. If you wait until you arrive to see what the hotel gym has, you will probably skip it. Most people do. A plan made at home survives the trip; good intentions do not.
Whatever lets you approximate your normal training. On this Hawks Cay trip I brought a rowing machine in my truck, plus a sandbag, a kettlebell, and a jump rope. Not everyone can haul a rower, and you do not need to — a bicycle, a kettlebell, or just a jump rope can stand in. The principle is identical: bring what you have that recreates the work you would do at home.
No — and accepting that is part of the plan. On the road you have less time, less equipment, and unpredictable days. The goal is maintenance: thirty to forty minutes of exercise that holds your fitness, so when you get back to the gym you pick up where you left off instead of starting all over. Maintaining through a trip is a win.
Read the week's programming before you go, then substitute. My program called for an Assault bike; I am traveling with a rower, so the rower stands in. Strict press and power jerks become sandbag and kettlebell work. If you have a coach or personal trainer, tell them you are traveling and ask them to convert the week to bodyweight or to a standard hotel gym — a treadmill and a couple of dumbbells.
Plan around exactly that. A standard hotel setup — treadmill, a few dumbbells — plus bodyweight movements covers more of your programming than you would think, and a jump rope in your bag covers conditioning anywhere. Know before you leave which workout goes with which day, scale the loads to what will be there, and the basic gym stops being an excuse.
Here is the process I used to plan this Hawks Cay trip, step by step.
I show the gear in the truck and walk through how I scale the week's actual workouts in the episode. Press play in the player above.
Because it is not a plan — it is a hope. When the day gets long and the gym turns out to be two dumbbells and a broken treadmill, hope folds immediately. A decision made at home — this workout, this day, this equipment — survives all of that. I have watched the difference play out over eighteen years of work trips to this same resort. I explain how I lock the plan in before the truck is packed in the episode, so press play in the player above.
For this trip: a rowing machine, a sandbag, a kettlebell, and a jump rope, all in the truck. People hear rowing machine and think that is extreme, but what is the difference between packing a rower and packing a bicycle? It is just whatever you have. The gear list matters less than the matching — every piece earns its spot by standing in for something my program actually calls for. I go through the substitutions in the episode — press play in the player above.
I am running Mat Fraser's HWPO program right now, and today's sheet says strict press, power jerks, then a MetCon of Assault bike calories, squat cleans at 55 percent, and fifty double unders, descending each round. No Assault bike here, no full barbell — so the rower takes the bike's place, the sandbag and kettlebell carry the strength work, and the jump rope handles the double unders as written. I show the full scaled version in the episode, so press play in the player above.
You might not get in better shape on the road, and that is fine — that was never the assignment. Maintain. Thirty or forty minutes a day, planned before you leave, and you come home without losing a step.
Talk to your coach before your next trip, or just read your own program and build the travel version yourself. Failing to plan is planning to fail — and the plan takes ten minutes.
Hawks Cay · road workouts · travel fitness · HWPO · Mat Fraser · rowing machine · sandbag · kettlebell · jump rope · MetCon · squat cleans · double unders · hotel gyms · bodyweight training
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. On the podcast's Physical Friday series I share the training, nutrition, and mindset that keep fishing guides, anglers, hunters, and outdoorsmen strong, healthy, and in the game for life — short, practical episodes you can put to work the same day.
Subscribe to get the latest episodes, show notes, and exclusive content delivered straight to your inbox.