The Ultimate Hotel Room Workout

Working out while on vacation can be difficult. Sometimes you don’t have time to hit the gym or there isn’t one around. Thankfully, your hotel room can be your gym! When it comes to maintaining your fitness on vacation, the key is to do whatever you’ve got time for, daily. You’ve only got time for one set? Awesome. You can only do three of the exercises today? Sweet. In the mood for a full on, sweaty workout? Even better! These exercises require no equipment and are easy to do from your hotel room.

Plank

Planks are great because you can add different movements to make them harder or elevate your hands to make them easier. One way to increase the difficulty is to put your feet up on the hotel bed and your hands on the ground. Lifting the feet puts more weight onto the arms and shoulders and can be more challenging to maintain form.

Once you’re in this position, play around with it. Try a knee tuck or a push up. Just because it’s a hotel room workout doesn’t mean it should be easy!

Box jump

We all used to jump on hotel beds as kids, and some of us still do! This move is just like the box jump you’d do at the gym, but replaces the box for the bed. These bed-box jumps are an easy way to get your heart rate up and also work on toning your legs. Remember, when jumping onto the bed, you should be landing in a squat position. Avoid landing with your knees straight (if that’s even possible). Throw 30 of these into your workout and you’ll be sweating in no time.

Handstand push up

This may sound intimidating, but there are variations for everyone here. The standard version is to kick up against a wall and perform a push up vertically, but this is extremely difficult and unnecessary. An easier option is to start in a plank position with your feet on the bed, then walk your hands back so your body is in an L shape and your hips are above your shoulders. Now try a push up.

Elevated hip bridge

If you want to fire up your glutes, this is the exercise for you. Imagine a standard bridge, but your feet are on the edge of the bed and you’re lying on the floor. This will target your glutes a little differently and get your muscles burning. If it’s too easy, try a single leg hip bridge in this position to challenge yourself.

Door frame row

This is a little different to your normal rows, but you can in fact use a door frame to do a row. Hold onto a door frame with your feet slightly in front of you so your hands are holding your bodyweight. Move your hands down and squat while still leaning back. In the squat position, rock your body forward as you pull or row with your arms on the doorframe. If you’re leaning back too far it’ll be difficult and awkward. Find that sweet spot, do those reps, and enjoy your vacay!

Maddy has worked in the health and fitness industry for 5 years. She has a bachelors in Exercise Science and has recently received her Masters in Exercise Physiology. She has worked with a wide demographic of clients as a Personal Trainer and loves helping people reach their goals and continue to grow.  She is an outdoor enthusiast and dedicates her workouts to rock climbing, hiking and whatever new experiences may come her way.

Main Photo Credit: Estrada Anton/shutterstock.com; Second Photo Credit: EZ-Stock Studio/shutterstock.com; Third Photo Credit: stockfour/shutterstock.com