Why I’m Obsessed With Maintaining My Exercise Routine When I Travel (And Why You Should Be Too)

I get asked this question constantly, whether I’m seeing patients at the clinic, posting on Instagram, or talking with friends: “How do you stay consistent with exercise when you’re always travelling?”

The short answer? I don’t see movement as optional. It’s foundational medicine.

The longer answer involves mitochondria, insulin sensitivity, detoxification pathways, loss of muscle mass, fear of losing my freedom, vanity… there are so many reasons. But it’s also because I genuinely understand what muscle represents from a functional medicine perspective: metabolic currency, longevage insurance, and functional independence as we age.

Whether I’m home or halfway across the world, my movement non-negotiables remain the same: Lagree, Pilates, hiking (mountains when possible), and tennis. These aren’t arbitrary choices—each serves a specific physiological purpose, and together they create a comprehensive approach to metabolic health, stress resilience, and cellular function.

Let me break down exactly why this matters.

The Mitochondrial Argument: Why Your Cells Need You to Move

f there’s one thing I want you to understand about exercise, it’s this: movement is mitochondrial medicine.

Your mitochondria are the energy-producing powerhouses within every cell. They determine how efficiently you produce ATP (cellular energy), how well you handle oxidative stress, and how resilient you are to metabolic challenges. The more functional mitochondria you have, the better your body performs at every level—from cognitive function to immune response to hormonal balance.

Different types of exercise stimulate mitochondrial health in distinct ways:

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) upregulates PGC-1α, which is essentially the master regulator gene for mitochondrial biogenesis. When you push your body into those uncomfortable zones of effort, you’re literally signalling your cells to create more mitochondria. This is why I incorporate interval-style work into my routine—it’s one of the most powerful stimuli for mitochondrial growth.

Endurance activities like hiking (especially at altitude, which I seek out whenever possible) increase mitochondrial density within cells. This means you’re not just creating more mitochondria—you’re packing them more efficiently into muscle tissue, which translates to greater aerobic capacity and metabolic flexibility.

Resistance training like Lagree optimises mitochondrial efficiency. You’re teaching existing mitochondria to function better, to produce more energy with less oxidative stress. This is crucial for long-term cellular health and aging.

Tennis—which I play regularly, even through deep winter—provides cardiovascular conditioning through repeated high-intensity bursts followed by active recovery periods. It’s not pure endurance work, but that intermittent pattern has its own benefits for cardiovascular adaptation and metabolic conditioning.

The outcome of all this? Enhanced cellular energy production, metabolic flexibility (your ability to switch between burning glucose and fat), and superior resilience under stress. These aren’t abstract benefits—they show up in how you feel day-to-day, how well you recover from illness, and how your body responds to hormonal shifts.

Metabolic Health: Insulin Sensitivity and Body Composition

Here’s what we know from the research: combining aerobic and resistance exercise is one of the most effective interventions for improving insulin sensitivity and metabolic health.

Regular training lowers fasting insulin levels and improves how efficiently your cells respond to glucose. This is absolutely critical for long-term health—insulin resistance is at the root of so many chronic conditions, from PCOS to cardiovascular disease to cognitive decline.

The combination approach—mixing resistance work with aerobic activity—appears particularly effective for reducing visceral adiposity (the dangerous fat around your organs) and waist circumference, whilst simultaneously supporting lean muscle development.

And here’s where my vanity intersects with my science: muscle mass isn’t just aesthetic. It’s metabolically active tissue that improves glucose disposal, supports hormonal balance, and quite literally determines your metabolic rate. Losing muscle mass means losing metabolic flexibility and resilience.

This is why I’m so committed to resistance training, particularly as I age. The research is clear: we can build muscle at any age, but we need to provide consistent stimulus. Lagree and Pilates-based resistance work give me that stimulus without the joint stress of heavy lifting, which matters when I’m also playing tennis and hiking.

The HPA Axis: Exercise as Stress Medicine

One of the most underappreciated benefits of consistent exercise is its effect on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis—your body’s central stress response system.

Regular training has been shown to:

• Lower baseline cortisol levels
• Improve heart rate variability (HRV)—a key marker of autonomic nervous system resilience
• Enhance your body’s recovery capacity after stress exposure

HRV is particularly interesting because it reflects your nervous system’s ability to shift between sympathetic (fight-or-flight) and parasympathetic (rest-and-digest) states. Higher HRV correlates with better stress resilience, improved immune function, and greater metabolic flexibility. Exercise—particularly when it includes varied intensities and modalities—is one of the most reliable ways to improve HRV over time.

This is why I don’t just focus on one type of movement. The variety itself—switching between resistance work, endurance activity, and interval-style demands—creates a more robust stress adaptation response.

Detoxification: Your Lungs and Skin as Elimination Organs

We often think about detoxification as something that happens in the liver or kidneys, but two of your most important elimination pathways are your lungs and skin—and exercise directly supports both.

Pulmonary clearance: Exercise enhances lung function and increases the clearance of particulates and metabolic waste through deeper, more efficient breathing. This matters enormously for anyone living in urban environments (hello, London) or exposed to environmental toxins.

Antioxidant upregulation: Regular exercise doesn’t just create oxidative stress—it teaches your body to produce more robust antioxidant defenses. This is hormetic stress at its best: a manageable challenge that makes your system stronger.

Sweating: Your skin eliminates heavy metals, BPA, phthalates, and other environmental toxins through sweat. Lagree classes leave me absolutely drenched, and whilst that’s not the most glamorous aspect, it’s genuinely beneficial from a detoxification perspective.

Lymphatic circulation: Unlike your cardiovascular system, your lymphatic system doesn’t have a pump—it relies on muscle contraction and movement to circulate. Exercise directly supports lymphatic drainage, which is essential for immune function and waste removal.

This is why movement isn’t optional when I’m travelling. Travel itself is stressful—different time zones, irregular sleep, unfamiliar environments, often questionable air quality. Exercise becomes even more important as a way to support my body’s natural elimination and stress-response systems.

My Practical Approach: What This Looks Like in Real Life

Theory is wonderful, but implementation is everything. Here’s how I actually maintain this practice when I’m on the road:

I seek out studios. Wherever I am, I’ll research Lagree or Pilates studios and book myself in. There’s something about being in a class environment that holds me accountable, plus I love experiencing how different instructors approach the work.

Resistance bands are non-negotiable. They’re always in my suitcase. A good set of resistance bands can transform any hotel room into a functional studio. I have specific routines I can do in 20-30 minutes that hit all major muscle groups.

I look for mountains. If there’s a hiking opportunity, particularly at altitude, I’ll prioritize it. There’s something profound about moving through nature that combines physical challenge with nervous system regulation in a way that gym-based exercise simply doesn’t replicate.

I don’t aim for perfection. Some weeks I’m in the studio five times. Other weeks it’s resistance bands in a hotel room twice and a long walk. The goal isn’t perfection—it’s showing up consistently and providing my body with regular stimulus.

The Bottom Line

Your body doesn’t care about your travel schedule, your work deadlines, or how busy you are. It cares about stimulus, consistency, and challenge.

Movement is medicine—mitochondrial medicine, metabolic medicine, stress medicine, detoxification medicine. The research is unequivocal: regular exercise, particularly when it combines resistance training with aerobic activity, is one of the most powerful interventions we have for long-term health.

Am I vain about wanting to maintain muscle mass? Absolutely. But that vanity is backed by solid physiology. Muscle mass represents metabolic health, functional capacity, and resilience as we age.

Perfection isn’t the goal. Showing up is.