I’m a big believer in training becoming just a thing you do. You don’t need to motivate yourself to brush your teeth or watch game of thrones, you shouldn’t need to rely on motivation to workout either.
I also believe that if fitness is truly a part of your life then you should train on vacation. The workouts can be shorter and less frequent but get them done. It really isn’t a big deal if you just take a few minutes to plan it out.
My first recommendation would be to look for gyms in the area you’re visiting. Every major city will have gyms that sell day passes or week passes so this is the best way to seamlessly just do a workout while traveling. However, I understand this isn’t always possible due to time or logistics.
Another option would be to use the hotel gym. Most of us know the feeling of checking out the hotel gym and just seeing something like this:
Surprise, the “gym” is actually a dusty closet with a couple broken down cardio machines.
A hotel gym typically won’t have anywhere near the level of equipment you need. Usually, you’re constrained to cardio machines and if you’re lucky, some dumbbells. If you’re extra lucky, you may have a cable stack and a kettlebell or two. Here are a couple of concepts to take with you to create an effective hotel training routine to get you through a couple workouts on the road.
Pre-Exhaust
This is a method I’ve discussed in previous articles. It’s something bodybuilders back in the day would use frequently along with john meadows to some extent with his pre-pump phase.
Perform high reps of a similar muscle group before performing your primary movement, this will simulate the primary movement being heavy and force you to recruit more motor units, in turn this means you’ll recruit more muscle fibers.
Example:
A1. Pushup x AMRAP
A2. Dumbbell Bench Press x 10-15 to failure
Another pre exhaust method could be an isometric like a wall squat to induce fatigue before squatting.
A1. Wall Sit x Max Time
A2. Goblet Squat x 10-15
Higher Heart Rate
You won’t get an ideal workout in a hotel gym since you don’t have the equipment, so I recommend more variations and keeping the heart rate high. I recommend using the format below to setup a giant set.
A1. Bodyweight Movement
A2. Weighted Dumbbell Movement
A3. Burner
A4. Mobility / Corrective exercise
A burner is any movement that elevates the heart rate. This could be a burpee, mountain climber, squat jumps, or a quick sprint on the treadmill to name a few.
The mobility or corrective exercise should be done for about 30-60 seconds, this is essentially active recovery. I recommend selecting a joint or muscle group that’s paticularly tight or immobile.
Full Body
Full body everyday is what I recommend for hotel workouts most of the time. Do the above template for a lower body movement and then simply perform another giant set with the same outline for the upper body. Finish with 5-10 minutes of core and you’re done.
Example
A1. Wall Sit 3 x Max Time
A2. Bulgarian Split Squat 3 x 10-15
A3. Squat Jump 3 x 15
A4. Perfect Stretch x 5 / side
B1. Pushup 3 x AMRAP
B2. Incline DB Bench 3 x 10-15
B3. Dumbbell Thruster 3 x 15
B4. T-Spine Rotations x 10/e
Core & Circuit
C1. Burpee w/ Tuck Jump 5 x 5
C2. Leg Raise 5 x 10
C3. Russian Twist 5 x 10/e
One last method (Bonus), timed sets are also fun to try out. Simply select 4-6 movements and perform them for 40 seconds on and 20 seconds rest. Do 3 to 5 total sets. 5 Movements for 5 sets will take only 25 minutes and will hit you with a lot of volume.
40/20 Training
A1. Pushup x 40 sec, 20 sec rest
A2. Alternating Reverse Lunge x 40 sec, 20 sec rest
A3. Half Kneeling Overhead Press x 40 sec, 20 sec rest
A4. Dumbbell Row x 40 sec, 20 sec rest
A5. Plank x 40 sec, 20 sec Rest
5 Rounds
ISO Extremes
No Equipment? Try ISO Extremes. Accumulate 3 to 5 minutes in a split squat ISO and Pushup ISO. The total time to do both of these may only be 15 to 30 minutes but if you've never done long duration isometrics you’ll probably still be able to get some benefit.
In this case, I would bang out the 3 to 5 minute ISOs then hit a bodyweight circuit or some core work. You could do isometrics basically daily if you wanted to train and really had no equipment to use.
Do the most you can with the least. Don’t overthink it, make a plan while warming up with a walk on the creaky treadmill and bang out a sweat sesh before starting the day.
No equipment and no space? no problem for the initiated. Great post as always