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Summary
On episode 503 of 40+ Fitness, Coach Allan shares the strategies he built during the years he traveled about 90 percent of the time, when he was home roughly three days a month and used the road as an excuse to skip his health.
He breaks the approach into steps: outline the trip (duration, locations, purpose, and constraints), adopt the right mindset about what you can’t control, research your options before you go, and then map out a realistic plan with built-in contingencies.
Allan and co-host Rachel Everett close by pointing out that travel can be a distraction or an opportunity to explore, and that the real difference comes down to commitment: don’t let travel be the excuse.
Links
- https://40plusfitness.com
Key Takeaways
- Outline the trip before you do anything else. Know the duration, the locations you’ll be in, the purpose of the trip, and the constraints you’ll be working around, like business dinners or family gatherings, so you know what’s actually possible.
- Accept what’s outside your control, and act on what isn’t. Flight delays and closed hotel gyms will happen. Allan’s response to a six-hour delay was to walk the airport instead of sitting in the bar near his gate.
- Set a reasonable, flexible pace instead of an all-or-nothing standard. Doing something is better than doing nothing, and being comfortable that your pace may shift throughout the trip keeps you from quitting when plans change.
- Build in accountability before you leave. Allan says clients who come to him with a trip plan already in place come back happier with what they accomplished than clients who travel without one.
- Research room amenities, grocery stores, and restaurant menus ahead of time. A room with a refrigerator, a grocery store’s deli counter, or a restaurant menu you’ve already scanned for protein-forward options can keep you from defaulting to the hotel bar.
- Research gyms specifically, not just generally. Check what equipment a hotel gym actually has, whether it has a drop-in rate or a free trial, and whether your home gym membership has reciprocal access somewhere nearby.
- Look for trails, tracks, and safe places to walk or run, including odd ones. Allan has walked hotel parking lots and even small airport terminals end to end when nothing else was available, and found unexpected gems like a park in Houston along the way.
- Build in contingencies for when plans fall through. Pack resistance bands, real shoes, and portable protein like tuna, sardines, or protein powder, since hotel gyms sometimes aren’t open on your schedule.
- Take action and be kind to yourself when you slip. A plan on paper does nothing without follow-through, and a missed workout or off-plan meal isn’t a reason to abandon the rest of the trip.
“Don’t let travel be the excuse.”
Coach Allan
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