Bodyweight exercises and workouts to do in your hotel room
Alright, so the hotel that you're staying at doesn't have a fitness center and you're too cheap to pay for a day pass at the local gym. And since you're traveling, you've been pounding down fast food and alcohol with your colleagues, so you've definitely upped the calorie count in your diet. So what can you do in your hotel room to mitigate the damage?
Fortunately for you and to take away your excuses, there are a lot effective exercises that can be done without the need of barbells, dumbbells, and machines. Your body actually serves as good weight, hence the term "bodyweight exercises".
#1 Burpees
This one is a no-brainer and has been lauded by fitness junkies for decades. By incorporating a push up, squat, and a jump, you're essentially using all your muscles to perform this one "simple" exercise. Since no muscle gets off the hook, try doing 2 minutes (yes, just 2!) of straight up nonstop burpees and tell me how you feel. Might as well be the longest 2 minutes of your life.
#2 Push ups
Push ups are considered by many to be an upper body exercise primarily focusing on the chest and triceps, but it should also be thrown into your repertoire of core exercises since your torso and legs need to maintain a straight plank throughout the entire exercise. A few push ups definitely won't do much or work up a sweat, so the proper way to do this exercise is to failure. It'll not only get your cardio going, but your chest and arms will be completely exhausted as well.
#3 Jumping lunges
Bodyweight lunges aren't that challenging for us seasoned lifters, assuming you don't skip leg day. But adding a "jump" to lunges makes a significant difference. The extra dynamic jump takes substantial power from your quads, and it'll also burn out your cardiovascular endurance in no time as you're activating primarily your biggest muscle group: the legs.
#4 Double pump jump squats
Ok, you made your point: you don't skip leg day and do barbell squats at least once a week. So bodyweight "air" squats are too easy for you. So let's up the ante and have you do double pump jump squats, the pump being an air squat followed by an actual jump up from the squat position. Similar to jumping lunges, this dynamic movement requires power from your biggest muscle group and will wear you out quick. Try doing this for just 1 minute straight nonstop and tell me how you feel, bro.
#6 Mountain climbers
This, along with push ups, goes out to all you who neglect your core. Mountain climbers are essentially a dynamic leg movement in the the plank position, so it'll force your core to stabilize while keeping your legs active and burning out your cardio.
#7 Dips
Not to overlook the arms, dips are one of the best bodyweight arm exercises. All you really need is a chair, bench, or even your hotel bed. Like the push up, do these until failure and your arms and upper body overall will be completely exhausted.
Bonus: pull ups
Yes, this would mean that you would need a pull up bar in your hotel room, but maybe go to the park and find one. And every gym bro knows the importance of pull ups for those V-shaped lats, so stop complaining and get 'em done.
Circuit training
Don't worry, this isn't crossfit. But if you want to be effective with your time while burning off all those extra calories that you consumed, you could easily pair these exercises into a timed back-to-back circuit. For example, do burpees for 30 seconds, followed by mountain climbers for 30 seconds, lumping lunges for 30 seconds, rest for 30 seconds, then rinse and repeat. In as little as 10 minutes, you'll probably be dead, so good luck!
Bottom line
When it comes down to it, there's no real excuse for you not to exercise when you're traveling or on the go. Your body can serve as an excellent weight, and you can manipulate it in ways to perform effective strength and cardio workouts. There are a countless number of body weight exercises, but I've just listed the tougher and more effective ones since you're going to want to go ham if you don't have free weights handy. Oh, and maybe request a room on the 1st floor if you're serious about burpees, jumping lunges, and jump squats....
Fortunately for you and to take away your excuses, there are a lot effective exercises that can be done without the need of barbells, dumbbells, and machines. Your body actually serves as good weight, hence the term "bodyweight exercises".
#1 Burpees
This one is a no-brainer and has been lauded by fitness junkies for decades. By incorporating a push up, squat, and a jump, you're essentially using all your muscles to perform this one "simple" exercise. Since no muscle gets off the hook, try doing 2 minutes (yes, just 2!) of straight up nonstop burpees and tell me how you feel. Might as well be the longest 2 minutes of your life.
#2 Push ups
Push ups are considered by many to be an upper body exercise primarily focusing on the chest and triceps, but it should also be thrown into your repertoire of core exercises since your torso and legs need to maintain a straight plank throughout the entire exercise. A few push ups definitely won't do much or work up a sweat, so the proper way to do this exercise is to failure. It'll not only get your cardio going, but your chest and arms will be completely exhausted as well.
#3 Jumping lunges
Bodyweight lunges aren't that challenging for us seasoned lifters, assuming you don't skip leg day. But adding a "jump" to lunges makes a significant difference. The extra dynamic jump takes substantial power from your quads, and it'll also burn out your cardiovascular endurance in no time as you're activating primarily your biggest muscle group: the legs.
#4 Double pump jump squats
Ok, you made your point: you don't skip leg day and do barbell squats at least once a week. So bodyweight "air" squats are too easy for you. So let's up the ante and have you do double pump jump squats, the pump being an air squat followed by an actual jump up from the squat position. Similar to jumping lunges, this dynamic movement requires power from your biggest muscle group and will wear you out quick. Try doing this for just 1 minute straight nonstop and tell me how you feel, bro.
#6 Mountain climbers
This, along with push ups, goes out to all you who neglect your core. Mountain climbers are essentially a dynamic leg movement in the the plank position, so it'll force your core to stabilize while keeping your legs active and burning out your cardio.
#7 Dips
Not to overlook the arms, dips are one of the best bodyweight arm exercises. All you really need is a chair, bench, or even your hotel bed. Like the push up, do these until failure and your arms and upper body overall will be completely exhausted.
Bonus: pull ups
Yes, this would mean that you would need a pull up bar in your hotel room, but maybe go to the park and find one. And every gym bro knows the importance of pull ups for those V-shaped lats, so stop complaining and get 'em done.
Circuit training
Don't worry, this isn't crossfit. But if you want to be effective with your time while burning off all those extra calories that you consumed, you could easily pair these exercises into a timed back-to-back circuit. For example, do burpees for 30 seconds, followed by mountain climbers for 30 seconds, lumping lunges for 30 seconds, rest for 30 seconds, then rinse and repeat. In as little as 10 minutes, you'll probably be dead, so good luck!
Bottom line
When it comes down to it, there's no real excuse for you not to exercise when you're traveling or on the go. Your body can serve as an excellent weight, and you can manipulate it in ways to perform effective strength and cardio workouts. There are a countless number of body weight exercises, but I've just listed the tougher and more effective ones since you're going to want to go ham if you don't have free weights handy. Oh, and maybe request a room on the 1st floor if you're serious about burpees, jumping lunges, and jump squats....
Comments
Post a Comment