While traveling, it is very important to have a pre-planned attack for training. If 212 Olympia champ and Y3T athlete Flex Lewis can keep on top of his workouts while traveling the world each year during his prep, so can you!
PLAN AHEAD
Find out where the gyms are at the destination you’re heading to.
See if they have a website where you can see what equipment they have; if they don’t, you can either call or e-mail ahead. If the gym isn’t suitable, you have time to look for other places to train rather than wait to find out.
ADAPT YOUR WORKOUTS
If you feel that the gym you’re training in is limited—which can often be the case with a hotel fitness center—try adapting your workouts to make them more intensive in other ways. For instance, if the weight isn’t heavy enough, do the following things to achieve the levels of intensity required:
Extra-slow eccentric reps
Reduce rest periods
Increase rep ranges (i.e., opting for a Week 2– or Week 3–style Y3T workout)
Hold and squeeze the isometric contraction position longer
FOLLOW THE RULES
There is nothing wrong with using only machines or only free weights if that is all that is available. Don’t get caught up in thinking that because you can’t squat, it isn’t worth training legs—that’s not true.
The basic rules of training are:
Intensity
Time under tension
Overload
Sometimes the best workouts are achieved with minimal equipment, provided the application of the training session is correct and you use the prescribed tempo.
What looks like a very basic workout on the face of it will actually really challenge the muscle fibers you’re training, due to the specific application of the exercises.
SOMETHING IS BETTER THAN NOTHING
Don’t ever get into the mindset that because you cannot do what you feel to be the “perfect” workout, there’s no point in training. Even if you are reduced to doing body-weight exercises, do that rather than nothing!
The reality is that you’re always going to have to juggle things and make sacrifices to get the results you’re chasing. Keep focused on what you’re trying to achieve.
NOTES: Rest periods of 90 seconds between sets; tempo: three-second negatives with one- to two-second isometric contractions. All of these key points ultimately equate to big changes taking place.
