Home/Vacation/Hotel workout

Many times you may find yourself in a position that you want to workout but don’t have any types of standard fitness equipment at your disposal.  When I am traveling for speaking engagements or just vacations typically a month in advance I will start researching with the help of the internet for hotels with equipment or at least a gym close to the hotel.  What I have found is that the majority of hotels have at least the basic cardio equipment and if not they have worked out deals with local gyms for discounts or free passes.  Now, let’s say that you don’t have anything or you just want to stay in your room to workout, then what do you do.  If you came prepared then you will have a few items in your bag, such as I do.  For example, I like to pack a jump rope, Nautilus stretchy bands, push-up bars, swim trunks, good pair running shoes, and of course the necessities, Advocare multi-vitamins, protein shakes/bars, hand mixer and cup.  But what if for some reason your bag gets lost, or you forget to pack any of the above mentioned items.  There still are a number of exercises and furniture that can be used to still get a good workout.

The Three P’s

Tip #1- Plan- “Those who fail to prepare, prepare to fail” Always plan your trip including what you will do for cardio or workout.  Call ahead or check online.  Most hotel web sites have virtual tours or at least have pictures of their facilities, if all else fails give them a call.

Tip #2- Pack- Always pack necessities- Vitamins, workout clothes, swim trunks, shoes, jump rope, bands, etc. Save room in the bag for workout equipment or what I typically do is pack an entirely different bag that has all workout items in it.

Tip #3- ImProvise-(chairs, bags, push-ups, crunches, leg lifts, lunges, stairs, jog).  The goal here is to use anything you can that is safe and can effectively give you resistance or increase the intensity of your workout.  Obviously, the easy ones are body weight type exercises, such as push-ups, sit-ups, crunches, lying leg lifts, lunges, squats.  Add a chair and you can do incline push-ups with your feet on the chair and hands on the ground and if you still are unable to do a regular push-ups switching your hands to chair and feet on the ground.  Also, chair dips will help develop thickness in the triceps.  Start by sitting on the chair then stretch you legs out on the floor, even though another chair or bed is much better, then lift your glutes off the chair, straightening out your arms and then lower and stretch down as far you can go then push up as high as you can, repeat.  For lower abs, sit again at the edge of the chair hold your upper body off the back of the chair.  Extend your legs straight out then pull your knees into your chest without leaning back into the chair.  If the chair has open slits in the back, you can use it for bicep curls, high pulls, side or front shoulder raises, if not, the workout bag that I brought usually has a handle like any other gym bag can just velcros together.  I load the bag up with shoes or anything I can find and use it for the same exercises.  Also, if there is a mini-mart close a gallon of water is 8lbs and these can come in handy for numerous exercises.  Bottom line is get creative and you can still get a good, quality workout in anytime, anywhere.

…For more information and tips, www.chadamartin.com and thanks to OGF for providing equipment.