Weird Hotel Workouts -- bodyweight and gym exercises
I hope your summer is off to a great start!
You gotta love the barbeques, pool parties, days at the beach or lake...all of the outdoor fun that comes with summer... and this is the best time of year to be happy and confident with your body.
My own workouts have been going great lately and I've been making some good progressions in the gym.
But last week, I was traveling most of the week in Vegas with some of my other fitness author buddies -- Vince Delmonte (of http://buildcrazymuscle.com/ ), Craig Ballantyne (of http://beyondcardioworkouts.com/ ), and Joel Marion (of http://cheatyourwaylean.com/ ).
Since we were in Vegas the entire week, we had to improvise with whatever workouts we could get in at the hotel gyms, which are typically not that well equipped...
You know how it is for most hotel gyms -- barely any dumbbells and never heavy enough, a couple machine-based exercises, and some crappy cardio equipment, which I still refuse to use.
Since I'm usually so consistent with using almost entirely free weights (workouts with dumbbells, barbells, and kettlebells) and using multi-joint movements at my hometown gym, sometimes these hotel workouts can actually be good for variety because I'm forced to do some inferior exercise machines and lighter dumbbells, but still try to combine them together into an intense workout...
...and that requires some creativity.
I hate using machines instead of free weights because they are typically just not nearly as effective. However, I've found that if I can combine the available machines together into circuits with whatever dumbbells they have available, and move through them with almost zero rest between sets, a high intensity workout is still possible, even at these lame hotel gyms.
For example, here's a circuit I blasted through at the Vegas hotel last week:
a) Dumbbell step-ups
b) Machine horizontal back rows
c) Machine chest press
d) Dumbbell lunges
e) Dumbbell squat & presses with heaviest dumbbells they had
f) Pullups
g) Bent over reverse dumbbell flyes
I went through this circuit 3x... and it was a great high intensity circuit that still worked the entire body really hard despite the fact that I typically don't like to use machines and that the dumbbells this gym had were too light for me for most exercises... but working all the exercises together with minimal rest still enabled me to challenge myself despite limited equipment.
2 nights later, I wanted to get another workout at the hotel gym but when I showed up, realized the the gym had closed early. Instead of making excuses and not working out at all, I decided to do what I could in my hotel room.
I wanted to make sure I at least got some good exercise in before one of our big nights out to a big dinner and the nightclubs.
Here's the hotel room workout I improvised since I had no other options...
Bodyweight circuit in hotel room:
a) bodyweight jump squats - 12 reps
b) bodyweight jump lunges - 6 reps each leg
c) pushups - close grip - 15-20 reps
d) 1-legged romanian deadlifts (bodyweight) - 12 reps each leg
e) bodyweight speed squats - 20 reps
f) pushups - wide grip - 15-20 reps
I did that circuit 3x and it was a pretty killer workout considering I had no equipment and was stuck in the hotel room for the workout. But at least I felt I accomplished some sort of workout before going out for the big dinner.
If any of these ideas can help you the next time you're traveling or find yourself without your normal access to your gym, then go for it. I hope it gives you some ideas.
If you missed my newsletter the other day with the motivation from Will Smith himself, check it out.
If that doesn't inspire you to work hard, check your pulse!
Don't be lazy... be lean.
Mike Geary
Certified Nutrition Specialist
Certified Personal Trainer
Founder - TruthAboutAbs.com & http://busymanfitness.com/
PS - if you liked todays article, feel free to email this link on to any of your friends, family, or co-workers that would enjoy it.
new nutrition article: Top 3 (surprising) fat burning foods
You gotta love the barbeques, pool parties, days at the beach or lake...all of the outdoor fun that comes with summer... and this is the best time of year to be happy and confident with your body.
My own workouts have been going great lately and I've been making some good progressions in the gym.
But last week, I was traveling most of the week in Vegas with some of my other fitness author buddies -- Vince Delmonte (of http://buildcrazymuscle.com/ ), Craig Ballantyne (of http://beyondcardioworkouts.com/ ), and Joel Marion (of http://cheatyourwaylean.com/ ).
Since we were in Vegas the entire week, we had to improvise with whatever workouts we could get in at the hotel gyms, which are typically not that well equipped...
You know how it is for most hotel gyms -- barely any dumbbells and never heavy enough, a couple machine-based exercises, and some crappy cardio equipment, which I still refuse to use.
Since I'm usually so consistent with using almost entirely free weights (workouts with dumbbells, barbells, and kettlebells) and using multi-joint movements at my hometown gym, sometimes these hotel workouts can actually be good for variety because I'm forced to do some inferior exercise machines and lighter dumbbells, but still try to combine them together into an intense workout...
...and that requires some creativity.
I hate using machines instead of free weights because they are typically just not nearly as effective. However, I've found that if I can combine the available machines together into circuits with whatever dumbbells they have available, and move through them with almost zero rest between sets, a high intensity workout is still possible, even at these lame hotel gyms.
For example, here's a circuit I blasted through at the Vegas hotel last week:
a) Dumbbell step-ups
b) Machine horizontal back rows
c) Machine chest press
d) Dumbbell lunges
e) Dumbbell squat & presses with heaviest dumbbells they had
f) Pullups
g) Bent over reverse dumbbell flyes
I went through this circuit 3x... and it was a great high intensity circuit that still worked the entire body really hard despite the fact that I typically don't like to use machines and that the dumbbells this gym had were too light for me for most exercises... but working all the exercises together with minimal rest still enabled me to challenge myself despite limited equipment.
2 nights later, I wanted to get another workout at the hotel gym but when I showed up, realized the the gym had closed early. Instead of making excuses and not working out at all, I decided to do what I could in my hotel room.
I wanted to make sure I at least got some good exercise in before one of our big nights out to a big dinner and the nightclubs.
Here's the hotel room workout I improvised since I had no other options...
Bodyweight circuit in hotel room:
a) bodyweight jump squats - 12 reps
b) bodyweight jump lunges - 6 reps each leg
c) pushups - close grip - 15-20 reps
d) 1-legged romanian deadlifts (bodyweight) - 12 reps each leg
e) bodyweight speed squats - 20 reps
f) pushups - wide grip - 15-20 reps
I did that circuit 3x and it was a pretty killer workout considering I had no equipment and was stuck in the hotel room for the workout. But at least I felt I accomplished some sort of workout before going out for the big dinner.
If any of these ideas can help you the next time you're traveling or find yourself without your normal access to your gym, then go for it. I hope it gives you some ideas.
If you missed my newsletter the other day with the motivation from Will Smith himself, check it out.
If that doesn't inspire you to work hard, check your pulse!
Don't be lazy... be lean.
Mike Geary
Certified Nutrition Specialist
Certified Personal Trainer
Founder - TruthAboutAbs.com & http://busymanfitness.com/
PS - if you liked todays article, feel free to email this link on to any of your friends, family, or co-workers that would enjoy it.
new nutrition article: Top 3 (surprising) fat burning foods
posted by Mike Geary at
10:03 PM
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