Business travel without losing three months of progress

Many of my clients fly twice a month: Riyadh, London, Mumbai. A trip should cost you nothing, as long as you plan the minimum before you pack.

The pattern is predictable. A client trains well for three weeks, flies to Riyadh for four days of meetings, comes back tired, misses a week, and by the time they are back on track a month has gone. The trip was not the problem. The re-entry was.

The travel minimum

For every trip, we agree a minimum before the flight: two sessions of 25 minutes, 8,000 steps a day and protein at every meal. That is all. It is easy enough to hit in a hotel with a gym the size of a cupboard, and it keeps the habit alive.

My standard hotel session is dumbbell goblet squats, push-ups, one-arm rows, split squats and a plank, four rounds. If there are no dumbbells, it is the same thing with bodyweight and slower tempo. Twenty-five minutes, done before breakfast, before the day can get away from you.

Eating out is the bigger risk. Order the grilled protein, ask for vegetables instead of fries, and decide in advance how many drinks or desserts the trip includes. A client dinner is not a reason to throw away the plan; it is one meal.

The day you land

Train the day you get back, even if it is a short session at half the usual weight. It tells your brain the routine is still on. My clients who do this miss on average one session per trip. The ones who wait until they feel ready miss five.

Jet lag makes everything harder, so sleep comes first. If you land at 2 am, skip the morning session and train in the evening instead. Moving the session is fine. Skipping the week is not.