Travel Doesn't Mean Leaving the Gym at Home

Over the last few weeks, the poker circuit has stretched far and wide. With tournament destinations, spread from California to the Czech Republic to Calgary and future series hitting Sochi, South Florida and Sao Paulo, that means that instead of spring cleaning, most poker players will spend the next few months traveling the globe.

Whether you are traveling internationally or staying domestic, one of the hardest things to do is to stay active and on a workout schedule while chasing your next big tournament score. Here are some tips to stay active while away from home:

Make a schedule. Whenever players travel to different tournament stops, most have their playing schedule, save for one or two additional tournaments, planned well ahead of time. Build around that tournament itinerary and determine when you’ll be able to fit your workouts in ahead of time. With most domestic tournaments starting around noon, that is likely in the morning, so make sure you set those alarms.

Know your surroundings. Earlier last week, Olivier Busquet tweeted that there was “an insane health club/gym 15 minutes from @TVPokerRoom”. A few days later, Busquet had navigated his way to the WPT Rolling Thunder Main Event final table, so knowing your surroundings clearly means you’ll see success on the felt. Not exactly but before you arrive, do a quick search to see what kind of facilities are nearby.

Workout in your room. With workout streaming services, such as StreamFIT, Daily Burn and more, you don’t even need to leave your hotel room to get a workout in. You can stream your favorite workouts, from strength training, to kickboxing, to HIIT workouts, to yoga, while also researching body weight-only workouts that allow you to get a sweat without any equipment.

Nutrition is key. Most poker tournaments are a grind and we get that if you go deep into a session or event, waking up the next morning before play starts may not make sense if you have another 12-plus hour session on deck. If getting a gym session in is not in the cards, keep your diet clean to make up for any missed workouts. 

Traveling the tournament circuit doesn’t mean you need to leave the gym behind, so follow these guidelines to make sure you are crushing both and and off the felt.