A friend recently asked me to write a post on exercises you can do in your hotel room with no equipment. Some hotel room exercises are obvious. Push ups, chair dips, bodyweight squats and crunches all come to mind first when I think of exercises to do in a hotel room.
I’m going to cover some of the more creative, less-obvious exercises you can do, primarily focusing on working the back, shoulders and legs.
Luggage Lateral & Front Raises
We can take advantage of the fact that shoulders are a relatively small muscle and tire them out just using a piece of luggage.
Inverted Bodyweight Row, Feet Elevated
I thought this one was pretty smart. Look, if you have a tree outside, or your hotel room happens to have a pull-up bar, pull-ups and chin-ups are an obvious way to work your back. However, inverted bodyweight rows can work in a pinch and doing them with your feet elevated is a great way to make them tougher. As Steve says, make sure your desk is sturdy enough to support you before attempting these!
Bed Jumps
Instead of doing 1000 bodyweight squats, you can try adding some explosiveness to your movement. You could do regular jumping squats in your hotel room but the landing may piss off your neighbors downstairs. A creative alternative from Buff Dudes are Bed Jumps.
Pistol Squats
These things are brutal. Even if you’re used to doing heavy squats, you’re likely to find Pistol Squats difficult. Al Kavadlo shows us some variations ranging from easier to harder.
Bulgarian Split Squat on Chair
Unilateral leg movements are a great way to add extra difficulty to your leg workout while only using bodyweight. Another favorite is the Bulgarian Split Squat. Normally you would do these using a bench at the gym, and could load the movement with a barbell, but for higher reps, the bodyweight bulgarian split squat is a great movement you can do in your hotel room using just a chair.
Wall Squat
A great way to work your quads and glutes, Wall Squats can be done anywhere. Hold them for 30-90 seconds or for as long as you can.
Conclusion
I thought I’d close this post with a great video by Israel Scott of Fitness BKS who demonstrates 28 different movements in 6 minutes, all of which are done in a hotel room with only a piece of luggage.
Ready to Elevate Your Workouts?
Gravitus is the ultimate tool for lifters.Download Gravitus and connect with fitness enthusiasts worldwide.
Eric is the Co-Founder & CEO of Gravitus. His passion for design, tech and setting PRs at the gym led him to start the company and create the app that we know and love.