Working Out while on Travel or Just Busy

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This week I received a few emails asking about a good workout you can do in your hotel room while on travel or in your living room when too busy to go to the weight room.

“I was trying to figure out how I would be able to work out in Germany. Two weeks is a long time without a work out. So I was wondering if you had any good workout ideas for some kind of work out I could do in my room in Germany? Thanks.”

This email is from a civilian high school student who aspires to become a member of the Armed Services, so this answer is geared for future military or active duty military members, as well as those who prefer a calisthenics workout.

The goal is to create a maintenance program that will challenge your cardiovascular system as well as your muscle endurance.  Some hotels may have weight rooms with cardio equipment or even pools.  If that is the case, get your cardio in the pool, or on bikes or treadmills.  Otherwise, these workouts can be done with little or no equipment as demonstrated below:

The super set is a series of exercises to be repeated with no rest. For the upper body superset, simply do five to ten pushups then roll over and rest your pushup muscles by doing ten crunches and continue on with the two different versions of pushups and crunches. One super set can be accomplished in as little as two minutes. If you repeat this particular workout five times you will have 150 pushups and 200 crunches in a ten minute period.

5-10 Super sets

1) Pushups 10
2) Crunches 10
3) Wide pushups 10
4) Reverse Crunches 10
5) Triceps pushups 10
6) Left/Right crunches 10/10

·        Add 10-20 jumping jacks after before every pushup set and get some cardio benefit out of it.

·        total time - 10-20 minutes

On other days you can work your legs and abs again or combine them for a full body workout. 

Repeat the leg superset five to ten times depending on your fitness level.

1) Squats - 20
2) Crunches - 20
3) Lunges - 10/leg
4) Left/Right crunches - 20/20
5) Heel Raises - 20
6) Reverse crunch - 20

·        Add jumping jacks to this one and you will get winded.

The leg workout superset below is a little more challenging due to the fact that you stand up and lie down repeatedly. Some people have commented that the hardest part of this workout is the transition from one exercise to the other. As you can see, there is really no excuse why you cannot exercise any day of the week whether you are traveling, working long hours or staying at home with the kids. With minimal equipment and time sacrifice, we can all fit exercise in our lives and stay healthy for many years to come. Good luck.

Mix a little cardio with PT for an all in one workout with both cardio and muscular benefits:

Jumping Jacks - 10 / Squats - 10 (repeat 5-10 times)

And / or jog or walk or bike 5:00
Stretch
Repeat the following 4-5 times:
squats- 20 reps
lunges 10/leg reps (regular, 1/2)
calves - 30 (regular, toes in, toes out)
bike or jog - 5:00

Mix jogging or biking with leg exercises with this time saving workout:

Jog 1/4 mile or bike 2:00-3:00 / stretch
Repeat the following four times:
Jog 1/4 mile on a treadmill or outside (or bike 2:00-3:00)
Squats - 10 - 20 reps
Lunges - 10 -15 reps each leg
Calves - 30 reps each leg
Stretch

Hope that gives you a few ideas of how you can maintain your fitness level while on travel, as well as how you can start a fitness plan with little or no equipment.  See the StewSmith.com Fitness eBook Store to get the Busy Executive or Travel Workout for more ideas and great programs to help you along your fitness journey.  Also read some of the articles in the Stew Smith Fitness Archives for even more ideas on any type of exercise.

 Keep those emails coming.  I am doing my best to answer them all each week.  Good luck.   Stew@stewsmith.com

                                      Want a great idea for travel workouts?  See the Fit Deck and TRX!