I had my phone turned off most of the past week while traveling with friends, but rest assured, I still got my training done (I know you were all anguished without my 'workout of the day' logs).
I trained mostly by using a minimalist "grease the groove, workout snack" style.
Basically, pick 1-3 bodyweight exercises and accumulate reps throughout the day. I usually do 10-25 reps per set depending on how many "workout snacks" – or breaks – I take throughout the day and how I'm feeling. This allows me to vary intensity while still accumulating a decent amount of volume – what I'd consider the minimum effective dose. My goal was at least 50 reps of 2 exercises per day, going along with my 2025 goal of doing at least 50 reps of pushups daily.
Pushups, squats, lunges, and various floor ab exercises all work well with this style of training because you can do them any time, anywhere, without any equipment, and can easily squeeze a set of 1, 2, or even 3 of these exercises into a 1-2 minute space during the day (ideally several times per day).
Alternatively, you could block off 10-30 minutes in your day and string together a bunch of sets, like I did while traveling around Christmas time.
Either way, this is an effective strategy if you're not able to dedicate specific time to working out if you're traveling, super busy with work life, baby life, or other extreme life situations, or find yourself without a gym, equipment, or a great deal of time.
This isn't an ideal long-term strategy, but it's a great tool to have in your toolbox so that you're never without exercise, no matter the excuse.
People often feel guilty and complain to me that they fall off the wagon when they go out of town, travel, or visit with family and friends for extended periods of time. But, just because you're temporarily without gym access or find yourself with limited time doesn't mean you're out of luck and your body and health must suffer.
Adopt this grease the groove/workout snack approach during sub-optimal times to maintain both the habit of fitness AND your gains.
And remember, while simple, low skill bodyweight exercises may not be as efficient as weight training (more resistance options allow you to get more out of less sets and reps), you can compensate for this lack of added resistance by doing more volume – specifically, accumulating more reps – to keep intensity high AND by performing the exercises in a way that makes sets more challenging by using different tempos, adjusting rest periods, or finding more challenging variations. Focus on quality sets taken close to failure, no matter how many sets it takes or how much resistance (an entire gym or just your own body weight) you have available.
With that said, here's how 4 days of my training went while staying at a remote house in a remote village in a remote country....remotely.
02/11/2025 Workout of the Day (5 hours of driving today)
Pushup tally
20,20,20,20,20,20 = 120
Squat tally
20,20,20,20,20,20 = 120
02/12/2025 Workout of the Day
Pushup tally
20,20,20,20,20 = 100 pushups
Reverse lunge tally
10/10, 10/10, 20/20, 20/20, 20/20 = 80/80 lunges
02/13/2025 Workout of the Day
Pushup tally
20,20,10 = 50
Squat tally
20,20,10 = 50
Leg Raises
20,20,10 = 50
02/14/2025 Workout of the Day (another 5 hour drive day)
Pushup tally
20,10,10,10 = 50
Reverse lunge tally
20/20, 10/10, 10/10, 10/10 = 50/50
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