By: Trevor Fullbright
Whether you’re training for fat loss, muscle gain, athletic performance, or just because you love it, staying consistent is usually much easier when you’re at home and in your routine. You’ve got your go-to meals, your gym is right down the road, and your schedule is predictable enough to block off training time.
But then—life happens. Maybe it’s a vacation, a work trip, or a long weekend away. Whatever it is, your routine goes out the window. No kitchen. No gym. Jet lag. Weird food options. Hotel pillows. Welcome to the beautiful chaos of being out of your comfort zone.
Traveling doesn’t mean you have to abandon your goals. It just means you have to approach them a little differently.
At RP, we’ve worked with everyone from high-level athletes to busy parents and business travelers, and we’ve seen just about every travel curveball there is. With the right plan and a flexible mindset, you can stay on track and make progress even when your environment isn’t ideal.
Training While Traveling
1. Train for Maintenance
If you’re traveling for vacation, your best move might be to shift your training mindset from “progress” to “maintenance.”
Maintenance training is a way to hold onto your gains with a reduced workload. You don’t need to go all out every session. In fact, research shows that muscle and strength can be maintained with as little as one-third of your usual training volume, as long as the effort is still high. That means fewer sets or sessions, but still training hard.
Consider timing a deload or active rest phase to match your trip. Not only does this give you a physical break, but it also lets you fully enjoy the trip without guilt. Plus, vacation recovery tends to be better than the day-to-day grind—extra sleep, fewer work stressors, and more downtime can help you come back feeling fresh and ready to crush it.
It’s not a step back. It’s a setup for a stronger comeback.
2. Make Smart Adjustments
If you don’t want to deload or rest, you can still train hard with limited resources. Especially if you’re training for hypertrophy, the name of the game is training the target muscle close to failure.
Hotel gym with only dumbbells up to 50 pounds? No problem. Crank up the reps, reduce your rest periods, slow your tempo, and push your sets near failure.
Will it feel like your regular gym workouts? No. But will it provide enough stimulus to keep things moving forward? Absolutely.
This is a great time to remember that consistency beats perfection. The workout might not be pretty, but it gets the job done.
3. Find a Local Gym
In the age of smartphones and GPS, finding a nearby gym is easier than ever. Just do a quick search on Google Maps for "gym near me" or check apps like ClassPass or Gympass. Many commercial gyms offer day passes or short-term memberships that are perfect for travelers.
This can be an especially good option for longer trips, or if you’re preparing for an event and can’t afford to let intensity drop. Even if the gym isn’t ideal, you’ll likely be able to do most of your core lifts and stay on track.
Pro tip: If you’re serious about lifting while you travel frequently, consider booking hotels near known gyms or looking for accommodations with built-in fitness centers. A little planning goes a long way.
Diet Strategies That Travel Well
1. Eat for Maintenance
Just like with training, maintenance is often your best friend when traveling.
If you’re on vacation, trying to stick to a strict fat loss or muscle gain diet can be stressful and frankly, unrealistic. The restaurants, the social events, the new experiences, all of it makes rigid dieting tough. And the reality is, vacations ruin diets and diets ruin vacations, as Dr. Melissa Davis says.
That’s why hitting pause and eating around maintenance can be a game-changer. You’re not trying to gain or lose, just hold steady. That gives you the flexibility to enjoy yourself without spiraling into "I'll start over when I get back" territory.
Even better, maintenance can be a huge psychological relief. You can enjoy food, experience new places, and still feel in control.
2. Plan Ahead When Travel Is Frequent
Vacations are one thing. But if you’re traveling every other week for work, maintenance won’t cut it long-term. In these situations, you need a solid travel game plan.
This means thinking ahead and packing portable, high-protein snacks like:
- Protein bars
- Jerky
- Whey protein powder
Look for hotels with kitchenettes or at least a microwave and fridge. That way, you can stop at a grocery store and grab:
- Pre-cooked or canned lean proteins (chicken, tuna, tofu)
- Microwaveable rice or potatoes
- Frozen veggies or pre-washed salad kits
- Fruit, yogurt, or low-fat cheese
You’re not aiming for gourmet meals. You’re aiming for enough control to keep the train moving. It might be simple, but it works.
3. Plan to Be Active
Training might be tough, and your meals might not be perfect—but you can always move your body.
One of the most underrated strategies while traveling is just staying active. Keep your step count high, take the stairs, go for walks, explore the city, or even sneak in some morning mobility in your room.
This helps keep your NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis) up, which maintains a healthy calorie burn even if your workouts are lighter. It also helps with digestion, blood sugar regulation, and even mood—important stuff when your schedule is out of whack.
Plus, being active helps you experience the place you’re in. Whether it’s walking the streets of a new city, hiking in a national park, or chasing your kids around a beach, movement connects you to the moment.
Final Thoughts
You don’t have to be perfect to make progress. Travel throws a wrench in your routine, sure—but it doesn’t have to throw off your results.
Whether it’s a planned vacation, a last-minute work trip, or anything in between, you can still hit your goals. Maybe not with the same precision, but with enough intention and flexibility to keep things rolling.
So plan what you can. Control what you can. And when you can’t? Do your best and move on. Because long-term success isn’t built on perfect weeks. It’s built on consistent action over time, even when conditions aren’t perfect.
Find Trevor on…
Instagram: @Trevorxgage
