I’ve been traveling extensively since May and the hardest part is trying to build consistency in my training.
Lethwei Fighters in Yangon.
Since May – I’ve been to the following countries (in order). Philippines, Vietnam, Philippines, U.S.A., Germany, Moldova, Austria, U.S.A, Canada, Philippines, Malaysia Myanmar, Malaysia, Philippines. I’ll finally be returning to the States for a few days before I turn back around for another week. The amount of hours on a plane coupled with jet lag the following day does a number on my motivation and my mobility.
The unforeseen challenge has been that almost every session is in a new & different gym. When I do get motivated enough to put on shorts and head to the gym, the workouts have been aimless and less than satisfying.
My perfect gym has a squat rack, barbell & plates, a pull-up bar, loud music and like minded people. No gym has come close to filling all of my prerequisites. Admittedly, the lack of Gary and Adam during my sessions has also killed the quality of my workouts.
I needed to simplify my training plan. Instead of progressing my squats, presses and deadlifts, I’ve decided to take a more generalist approach to my fitness. I’ve boiled down each day into trying to hit three goals.
1. Break a sweat – intentionally (It’s very easy for me to unintentionally sweat in South East Asia).
2. Drink plenty of water.
3. Stretch my hip flexors. A simple progression of standing lunge, kneeling lunge and the couch stretch with a running timer of 1 min keeps my hips much happier. After the 6 minutes is over, it almost always leads into other mobility work that leaves me feeling much more refreshed
The simpler approach prevents the aimlessness and feeling of dissatisfaction that kills momentum.
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(In future installments, I will list some of the actual training sessions that I have done in the various countries.)
