Road Warrior: Workouts for the Road

Many jobs require travel. Travel can make working out difficult. But it doesn't make it impossible.

This section of the program isn't about progression — it's about maintenance, discipline, and not using the road as an excuse to skip training. Whether you're in a hotel room with nothing but a floor and a wall, or you found a pull-up bar in a parking garage, these workouts keep the blood flowing and the discipline intact. Some of them are rudimentary. All of them are effective. And any of them can become murderous when the volume and intensity are turned up.

Already following the program? These workouts fit between any series at any level. New to the program? Start with Start Here: The Jocko Workout Program.

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The Road Warrior Mindset

Before you travel, plan a hard training session. Push yourself before you leave so your body is ready for a recovery period. On the road, use these workouts to maintain your fitness, keep the blood flowing, wake up alert, release endorphins, and start your day right. When you get home, pick up the program where you left off.

For extended trips — a military deployment, a multi-week business trip — plan ahead. Bring equipment, find a local gym, or set up a workout area. You can almost always find a way to stay on the program.

For shorter trips — one to four days — travel light. A chalk bag, wristbands, a notebook to track your workout, some one-inch tubular nylon, and a hard ball (slightly larger than a lacrosse ball) for mobility and maintenance work. That's it.

If the hotel has a gym, use it. Hotel gyms are usually limited — light dumbbells, no pull-up bar, no dip bar. That's fine. Improvise. Hang a towel over a machine for pull-ups. Do dips between treadmills. Use benches to jump over. Use whatever is available to get the work done.

If there's no gym, the hotel room floor is your gym.

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Pull Workout on the Road

Find a pull-up bar. Check the hotel parking garage (make sure the structure is solid), look outside for a tree or scaffolding, or find anything that works. Then do 8–10 sets of pull-ups in a very slow, controlled, dead-hang manner — focusing on the negative (coming down slow). Mix in chin-ups, chest-to-bar pull-ups, typewriter pull-ups, and other variations. If you need to get the blood flowing, add burpee pull-ups and gut work.

Sample Road Pull Workout

No Pull-Up Bar?

If you truly can't find anything to hang from, do inverted rows under a sturdy table or desk. Or focus on the push and squat workouts and save pulling for when you're back at the gym.

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Push Workout on the Road

Push-ups. Lots of them. The hotel room floor is all you need.

Sample Road Push Workout — Option A (Descending Ladder)

Sample Road Push Workout — Option B (Volume Pyramid)

10, 10, 10, 10, 100, 50, 50, 33, 33, 33, 25, 25, 25, 20, 20, 20, 20, 10, 10, 10, 10 — that's 500+ push-ups.

On top of the push-ups, add burpees — 100 for time. And gut work.

Scaling

If you can't do the full volume, cut the numbers in half and build up. The point is to get on the floor and do work. Eighty push-ups too many for set 1? Start at 50. The format scales to wherever you are.

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Lift Workout on the Road

Handstand push-ups against a hotel room wall. 8–10 max sets. Mix in arm haulers, jumping jacks, arm circles, and of course — burpees.

Sample Road Lift Workout

This workout requires nothing but a wall and a floor. No excuses.

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Squat Workout on the Road

Pistol squats (one-legged squats) and jump squats. This is a descending ladder that will test your single-leg strength and explosive power with zero equipment.

Sample Road Squat Workout — Pistol/Jump Squat Ladder

That's 220 total reps with no equipment. Other options: lunges, split jumps, mountain climbers, squat thrusts, and burpees.

Can't Do Pistol Squats?

Hold onto a doorframe or desk for balance. Or substitute with single-leg box squats onto a chair — lower yourself onto the chair on one leg, then stand back up. Build toward the full pistol over time.

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Recovery Day on the Road

If you're really sore and need recovery, do some good stretching, a little gut work, some mobility drills, and mix in 100 burpees to get the blood going. Recovery doesn't mean doing nothing — it means doing lighter work that promotes blood flow and movement quality.

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Fuel Your Road Workouts

Travel makes nutrition harder, but Jocko Fuel has travel-friendly options that don't require a blender, a kitchen, or a gym bag full of supplements.

Travel Fuel Kit

You don't need the full stack to train on the road. But a GO, a Protein Shake, and a HYDRATE packet can be the difference between a productive training session and a sluggish one.

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The Bottom Line

Don't get lazy. Don't get complacent. Don't use the road as an excuse. Get creative. Get aggressive. Get it done.

When you are on the road — stay on the path.

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This section is adapted from the Road Warrior Workouts appendix of Discipline Equals Freedom: Field Manual by Jocko Willink. Fuel pairing recommendations by jockofuel.com.