Hotel Workout You Can Do Anywhere

Travel is hard, I have already written about overcoming the struggles in this in my blog post on healthy tips for traveling.  In this blog post I would like to give you a simple workout you can do anywhere while traveling, even inside your hotel room.  This is the exact workout I did in my hotel room this past week while I was in Paris.  To do this workout you need a suspension trainer and some resistance bands.  Both of these items travel very well, they can easily fit into a suite case or in a carry on.

For the resistance bands, I suggest this Rubberbanditz Resistance Band Kit.  It comes with four different bands, handles you can attach to them, and a bag to keep everything in.

The suspension trainer I have is not longer sold on Amazon, but there are plenty of other options to choose from.  Just make sure it comes with an attachment that you can use to anchor the trainer from a door.

The Workout

OK, now on to the workout.  It was pretty strait forward, I did 3 sets of the following exercises to fatigue.  That means go to 2-3 reps short of failure.

• Bulgarian Split Squats
• Suspension Rows
• Suspension Chest Press
• Spartan Race Style Burpees – chest all the way to the floor, jump, ands touch overhead
• Band Shoulder Lateral Shoulder Raises

Below are some videos I recorded of the exercises I did in my hotel room.  Yeah I had to move the bed and I attached the suspension trainer to the window, but since the hotel “gym” was the size of closet with no room to do these moves this was the best I could do.  That’s the point, do the best you can do when traveling, it is not going to be perfect, but it is better than nothing.

 

 

 

Bonus – PowerDot

Another nice tool I have is called a PowerDot.  A PowerDot is a type of electrical stimulation device.  Basically it uses electrical currents to engage the muscle.  It has many different programs you can use from recovery to endurance to resistance training.  You can find out more on their website.  It is not cheap, but it is effective.  It is a “nice to have device”, and is great in those situations where you might not be able to hit the gym.  After I did the above exercises I did a resistance training program on my quad, hamstring, and chest.  Below is a sneak peak of what that looked like 😉

 

Modifications

You could easily modify this workout to your own level of fitness.  You don’t need to do the split squats with a band.  The chest presses could be replaced with pushups or pushups on your knees.  Modify the rows by making the angle more friendly.  You can even do a modified burpee.

NEAT

NEAT stands for non-exercise activity thermogenesis.  Basically all that means is all the movement you do outside of a formal workout.  This includes things like taking the stairs, walking, and fidgeting.  This movement adds up at the end of the day so it is important to make sure you keep your NEAT high, especially if your formal workout is not what it normally is.  While in Paris I was getting 10-15k steps a day.  I accomplished this by walking to and from the venue the conference was at (about a 30 min walk each way), taking the opportunity between session as the conference to move about, and finally taking the stairs as I went to and from my hotel room.

Frequency

Often you might be traveling for multiple days, so how often should you do the workout I outlines here?  I would say every other day is best.  On the days in-between focus on keeping your NEAT high and maybe throw in a yoga or mobility session.  What did I do in-between?

1. Stationary Lunge
2. Single Leg Toe Touch
3. Prone Cobra
4. Stabilization Push Up – This is just a pushup with a 2 second hold at the bottom and the top
5. Single Arm Band Row
6. Full Plank To Downward Dog
7. Plank Shoulder Touch
8. Hollow Body Rocker

I did each exercise sequentially to fatigue and did 3 sets.

Wrap Up

So as you can see you can still get a workout in while traveling even if you don’t have access to a gym and with minimal equipment.  This workout can even be done at home when you don’t have time to get to a gym or are looking to switch things up.  If you are an athlete looking for help managing peak performance and health throughout all aspects of your life please reach out, we can help.  What are your favorite workouts to do when traveling?  Let me know below.