Can I work out in a small hotel room?

Yes. Use the chair, table and available floor space to set up a 15-minute circuit, including the space between the wall and bed.

What should I pack to support healthy choices?

Carry extra water and pack healthy snacks such as nuts and dried fruit. Plan these needs around your itinerary before you travel.

How can I fit movement into waiting time?

Use time waiting to board for mobility work. Include light recovery activities, such as walking or gentle cycling, elsewhere in your travel schedule.

Answers

How do I stay fit while travelling?

Short answer

Plan ahead around your itinerary. Use your hotel room’s chair, table and floor space for a 15-minute circuit, or head out for a quick run instead of watching TV. Carry extra water and pack healthy snacks like nuts and dried fruit. Fit in mobility work while waiting to board, and allow time for light recovery activities.

By Dai Manuel, CrossFit L2, HYROX L2, Precision Nutrition, NeuroChange Practitioner. Last reviewed 26 September 2026.

Who this is for

For dads and other travellers who want to keep moving and make practical food and hydration choices while away from home.

How do you stay fit while travelling?

Plan around your itinerary before you leave. Make room for a short workout, carry extra water and pack healthy snacks such as nuts and dried fruit. If you know when you're travelling and where you're staying, use that information to plan your health needs rather than leaving every choice until you arrive. Keep it simple: movement, water, food and recovery all deserve a place in the plan.

What can you do without a hotel gym?

Use what you've got. Your hotel room's chair, table and floor space can become the setup for a 15-minute circuit. Even the space between the wall and bed can give you room to move. Prefer getting outside? Swap aimless channel surfing for a quick run in your host city. Equipment can add variety, but a lack of gym access doesn't have to stop you from exercising. The starting point is choosing to move.

Where do mobility and recovery fit?

Look for opportunities already in your travel day. While waiting to board, fit in some mobility work instead of spending the whole wait on your device. Allow time for recovery, too. Light walking or gentle cycling are options for keeping movement easy. You don't have to turn every opportunity into a workout. Make space for both exercise and lighter activity around your itinerary.

Common questions

Can I work out in a small hotel room?: Yes. Use the chair, table and available floor space to set up a 15-minute circuit, including the space between the wall and bed.
What should I pack to support healthy choices?: Carry extra water and pack healthy snacks such as nuts and dried fruit. Plan these needs around your itinerary before you travel.
How can I fit movement into waiting time?: Use time waiting to board for mobility work. Include light recovery activities, such as walking or gentle cycling, elsewhere in your travel schedule.

Sources

Keep going

Where Dai has talked about this

Episodes (27)

Episode · jump to 7:36
Chapter 3: Overcoming Excuses: A Path to Fitness and Personal Development
Most hotel rooms have a chair and a table which you can use to create a mini circuit for a 15 minute workout. You can even use the space between the wall and the bed. If you're a regular traveler, you probably know your itinerary in advance, that is, you don't likely just wake up in the morning, remember? Oh, I got ahead to San Fran today. So take a little time to plan your health needs and set yourself up to make good choices while you travel. This means carrying extra water air travel causes loads of dehydration and pack some healthy snacks, such as nuts and dried fruit. Remember that dehydration can be confused with hunger, so we often reach for the wrong foods when we're groggy after a flight. Above all, try to resist the lure of aimless channel surfing on the bed in your hotel room. Try to get out for a quick run in your host city and instead you know 15 minutes is all you need.
Episode · jump to 21:04
Chapter 2: Transforming Struggles into Strength: The Power of Finding Your 'Why'
The reality for many of us is that we can't travel as much as we like when we're in our prime and midlife years. We work full time, we have families to provide for and older parents who need our time and energy. If you want to be able to see the world you retire, you'll need to be fit and healthy when you reach that age. Whether your idea of great travel experiences rise in early to watch the Lions room freely while on safari in Africa, or stripping down to your swimsuit to wallow in warm Caribbean waters you'll get more out of it if your body is optimal state of health. Even to achieve optimal health is undoubtedly solid reason to exercise. Now I know that people have different ideas of what optimal health means. For me, health is about feeling good.
Episode · jump to 19:37
Chapter 2: Transforming Struggles into Strength: The Power of Finding Your 'Why'
When I survey the people I have coached, I find that what drives most is desire to create a more fulfilling life. If they're considerably overweight and they're closed to a fit, they don't feel confident in themselves. When they feel winded by going up a flight of stairs, they're not having fun Mentally, they're exhausted all the time and they want it to stop. For others, such as those who have suffered heart attacks or who have life-threatening illnesses such as diabetes, the why might be a basic desire to live. For some of us, the deeper motivation stems from a desire to support a healthy relationship with our romantic partner. Christie and I are strong believers in the same. Couples who sweat together, stay together. In my work, I've met a lot of accomplished business executives in their 40s, many who are once football or hockey players who, but who are now 50 pounds overweight.
Episode · jump to 0:07
Are you Gym Fit or Fit for Life? There is a Difference
Hey there, wellness warriors, welcome back to another episode of the 2% Solution. I'm your host, Dai Manuel, here to give your Monday a motivational boost. Today we're diving into a crucial topic that can transform how you approach health and fitness the difference between being gym fit and being fit for life. It's not just about hitting the gym. It's about creating a sustainable, healthy lifestyle that integrates seamlessly into your daily routine. Let's start with a little history. The concept of physical fitness has evolved dramatically over the centuries. In ancient times, fitness was about survival. The concept of physical fitness has evolved dramatically over the centuries. In ancient times, fitness was about survival, hunting, gathering and fighting. Now, fast forward to the 20th century and the idea of fitness became more structured with the advent of gyms and workout regimens.
Episode · jump to 11:49
Stop Running. Your Body is Broken - Fix It First!
I have a little travel roller and on top of that I just I'd wear easy, loose, fitting clothing because it was more comfortable to travel in that. But we're waiting to board a plane. I'm there doing some mobility work sitting on my roller, like why not, rather than sitting on a device and sitting there in a chair with my neck all out of whack? I'm going to use that time, why not? So again, where can you fit that in your day? Is there little opportunities where you can stretch it out for two minutes or so? I think there is. Number four active recovery. Don't forget to give your body time to recover. Active recovery, like light walking, gentle cycling. This will help promote blood flow, reduce inflammation, aid in muscle repair and regrowth. So active recovery, I'm not saying do nothing. I'm saying do something that's light, that your body will thank you for it.
Episode · jump to 2:53
Chapter 6.5: Busting Exercise Myths and Discovering Your Fitness Journey
Think of exercise equipment as a vacuum or a dishwasher. These are fantastic appliances that help us complete housework more efficiently, but what did you do before we had them? We washed dishes by hand and we swept our floors of the broom. So think of fitness equipment as amazing tools or, as I say, toys that can add diversity to your workouts. But don't let a lack of equipment or gym access limit your exercise and fitness. Listening to the tortured debates in the store, I really wanted to tell many customers just buy the shoes. As wonderful gym equipment can be, it's not going to make you move in the first place. That has to come from you. Only buying the sneakers or not underscores the basic premise of fitness. Being fit comes from your own motivation to move and change your life.
Episode · jump to 6:07
Chapter 3: Overcoming Excuses: A Path to Fitness and Personal Development
What if every single person you know is overweight and complacent and nobody wants to work out with you. Well, no problem. Through social media, I can connect you with some fantastic online communities where there are both private and public fitness groups. Not only can we see what the others are doing, we can also encourage and support each other. Members post recipes, inspirational video and audio clubs, share struggles, console and uplift one another and act as sources of accountability, which we all need from time to. It's all the name in the name of motivational fun. There are also some engaging online tools, such as my fitness pal, calm, and activity trackers such as Fitbits, to help you Gauge your progress against your health and fitness goals. Here's another one for you the no space excuse.
Episode · jump to 1:20
Functional Fitness vs. Traditional Workouts: And Other Fitness Trends to Keep You Moving in 2024
It was actually technically a two bedroom, with a very small would be dead, but it only had one bathroom. So you can imagine this Four of us, one bathroom. Oh man, it was crazy, but I was walking the staircase up and down. That's what I was doing to try to stay healthy and fit and really just to keep my mental state in a better place. That's what I did during the pandemic. What were you doing? Did you work out in your living room? Were you the ones that went on Marketplace or online trying to buy whatever equipment you could? And it was sold out everywhere? Holy, it's hard to believe that was only a few years ago.

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