Hotel Gym Workouts

Here are three hotel gym workouts (plus a nutrition guide) to help you stay on track while on the road.

Do you train while on vacation?

My clients often ask me this question when they have a trip coming up. Usually, the question comes with a hint of, “Do I expect them to work out on vacation?” The answer to that is no, I don’t. Vacation should be a break from your routine. It’s a time to relax and fill your day with fun.

That said, I train on vacation. Not because I feel like I have to or because I’m worried about losing strength or muscle or getting fat. No, I work out on vacation because I love it. Seriously.

Now, sometimes, vacation offers the opportunity to check out a cool gym. And if that is an option, I will take advantage of it. However, with a wife and three kids, I have to make do with what’s available at the hotel most of the time.

The good news is that you can get a good workout anywhere. Plus, when you hit up the hotel gym, you can wake up early and get back to your room before anyone even notices you’re gone.

So, if you are like me and a vacation is only a vacation with a workout or two (or three or four), I’ve got you covered.

Hotel Gym Equipment

Hotel gyms are like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get. Sorry, I had to.

I’ve experienced the full spectrum of hotel gyms, from an entire commercial fitness facility to a broom closet with a treadmill.

That said, the average hotel gym will have the following:

Limited dumbbells: Usually at least up to 50 pounds
Adjustable bench
Cable machine of some sort (with a spot to do pullups)
Treadmill, elliptical, or exercise bike.

I’m going to assume this is what you have available for the workouts in this article. If your hotel has less than this, stick to bodyweight workouts. Here are my favorite 11 bodyweight workouts to get you jacked.

Here are three hotel gym workout routines that will keep you looking and feeling right while you are on the road. Depending on your schedule, there is a three, four, or five-day-per-week option.

Three-Day Push Pull Legs

The three-day push-pull-legs routine is my favorite vacation workout. I love training, but I typically don’t train every day while on vacation. Three days of lifting is plenty if I’m on the road for a week.

Monday: Push

Incline Dumbbell Bench Press: 3 sets x 12-15 reps
Push-up: 4 sets x failure
Standing One Arm Dumbbell Press: 3 sets x 12-15 reps
Cable Side Raise: 3 sets x 10-12 reps
Triceps Pressdown: 3 sets x 12-15 reps
Dumbbell Overhead Triceps Extension: 3 sets x 15-20 reps

Wednesday: Pull

Pullup: 4 sets x failure
Dumbbell Row: 3 sets x 15-20 reps
Cable Facepull: 3 sets x 12-15 reps
Dumbbell Shrug: 3 sets x 15-20 reps
Low Pulley Cable Curl: 3 sets x 12-15 reps
Incline Curl: 3 sets x 10-12 reps

Friday: Legs and Abs

Dumbbell Bulgarian Split Squat: 3 sets x 10-12 reps
Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift: 3 sets x 15-20 reps
Heel Elevated Dumbbell Goblet Squat: 3 sets x 15-20 reps
Dumbbell Single Leg Calf Raise: 3 sets x 15-20 reps
Leg Raise: 3 sets x 10-20 reps
Cable Crunch: 3 sets x 10-20 reps

Four-Day Upper Lower

If I’m going to be gone for more than five days, I will do an upper-lower split. It’s a classic workout that works great at home and on the road.

Monday: Legs and Abs

Dumbbell Bulgarian Split Squat: 3 sets x 10-12 reps
Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift: 3 sets x 15-20 reps
Heel Elevated Dumbbell Goblet Squat: 3 sets x 15-20 reps
Dumbbell Single Leg Calf Raise: 3 sets x 15-20 reps
Leg Raise: 3 sets x 10-20 reps
Cable Crunch: 3 sets x 10-20 reps

Tuesday: Upper

Flat Dumbbell Bench Press: 3 sets x 15-20 reps
Standing One Arm Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 3 sets x 12-15 reps
Pullup: 3 sets x failure
Dumbbell Pullover: 3 sets x 12-15 reps
Dumbbell Hammer Curl: 3 sets x 12-15 reps
Triceps Pressdown: 3 sets x 15-20 reps

Thursday: Legs and Abs

Air Squat: 100 reps (in as few sets as needed)
Dumbbell Reverse Lunge: 3 sets x 12-15 reps
Cable Romanian Deadlift: 3 sets x 15-20 reps
Seated Dumbbell Calf Raise: 3 sets x 15-20 reps
Dumbbell Side Bends: 3 sets x 10-20 reps
Plank: 3 sets x 60 seconds

Friday: Upper

Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 3 sets x 15-20 reps
Pushup: 4 sets x failure
Cable Crossover: 3 sets x 12-15 reps
Dumbbell Row: 3 sets x 15-20 reps
Cable Side Raise: 3 sets x 10-12 reps
Dumbbell Spider Curl: 3 sets x 12-15 reps

Five-Day Body Part Bro Split

The beauty of the five-day split is that since you train more frequently, you can make the workouts shorter. It’s a classic bro split, hitting one muscle per workout. If you push the pace, you can get in and out of the gym in around thirty minutes.

Monday: Chest

Flat Dumbbell Bench Press: 3 sets x 15-20 reps
Cable Crossover: 3 sets x 15-20 reps
One Arm Incline Dumbbell Press: 3 sets x 15-20 reps
Pushup: 100 reps (in as few sets as possible)

Tuesday: Back

Pullup: 50 reps (in as few sets as possible)
Incline Prone Dumbbell Row: 3 sets x 15-20 reps
Rope Lat Extension: 3 sets x 12-15 reps
Low Pulley Cable Row: 3 sets x 12-15 reps

Wednesday: Shoulders and Abs

Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 3 sets x 12-15 reps
Cable Facepull: 3 sets x 12-15 reps
Dumbbell Side Raise: 3 sets x 10-12 reps
Dumbbell Shrug: 3 sets x 20-25 reps
Sit Up: 3 sets x 10-20 reps

Thursday: Legs and Abs

Goblet Squat: 3 sets x 15-20 reps
Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift: 3 sets x 15-20 reps
Dumbbell Reverse Lunges: 3 sets x 15-20 reps
Bodyweight Standing One Leg Calf Raise: 3 sets x 20-25 reps on each leg
Leg Raise: 3 sets x 10-20 reps

Friday: Arms

Dumbbell Alternating Curl: 3 sets x 12-15 reps
Lying Dumbbell Triceps Extensions: 3 sets x 15-20 reps
Dumbbell Preacher Curl: 3 sets x 12-15 reps
Cable Overhead Triceps Extensions: 3 sets x 12-15 reps
Low Pulley Cable Curl: 1 set x 20 reps
Cable Triceps Kickback: 1 set x 20 reps

Tips for Hotel Gym Workouts

Although I try to make hotel gym workouts similar to regular ones, you can do a few unique things to get the most out of them.

Use High Reps

The first thing you will notice about the workouts is the high reps. It’s out of necessity. Hotel gyms generally have a limited selection of weights. Most hotel gyms top out at 50-pound dumbbells. For some, that’s all you need. For others, it’s too light for the big lifts. The easiest way around this is to jack up the reps.

There is an added benefit to using high reps at hotel gyms. Since most people avoid high-rep training during normal workouts (I’m raising my hand), being forced into it is a nice change of pace. Plus, the unique stimulus will likely induce some fun soreness.

Slow The Tempo (and add pauses)

High-rep training is one of many ways to overcome not having enough weight. Another way is to slow the tempo down. Instead of lowering the dumbbells on a regular cadence, take 3-5 seconds. You can also add a 2-3 second pause at the hardest part of the lift, for example, at the bottom of a press. Adding tempo and pauses can make light weights feel significantly heavier.

Push Close to Failure

With dumbbells and cable machines, pushing your muscles closer to failure is safer. For example, there is less chance you will get hurt going to failure on a cable fly than a barbell bench press. While training at a hotel gym, use this to your advantage. Push each set to the absolute limit.

Pick Up The Pace

Training density is the amount of work you get done during a given time frame. It’s the forgotten training variable. When research supported longer rest periods, people took it and ran with it. Look, there is something to say about taking your time and resting between sets. You generally want to rest long enough to feel recovered so you don’t have to reduce weight on subsequent sets.

However, you can take that too far. There is no reason to extend a 45-minute workout to two hours. This is especially true while on vacation when you want to be as efficient as possible.

During these hotel workouts, pick up the pace. Only rest about a minute between sets. A minute is shorter than you think. It’s not enough time to scroll through Instagram, check your email, and send a few texts. Leave the phone in your gym bag for these hotel workouts.

Try Something New

I have a rule: Never go to a chain restaurant while on vacation—at least not one you have access to at home. Vacation is a time to try something new. The same applies to your workouts.

It’s a long shot, but if you find a unique piece of equipment at the hotel gym, use it.

What About Cardio on Vacation?

Before we move on to nutrition, I want to touch on cardio. We have a few options here.

If you have big-time cardio goals, doing some cardio on vacation makes sense. The good news here is that most hotel gyms have nice cardio equipment. For some, that’s all they have. Of course, you can always go outside and walk or run – which is what I recommend.

For everyone else, your daily activity will often be enough to skip cardio. I don’t know about you, but I take more steps on vacation than on a typical day. Ten thousand steps on vacation is nothing. And if you happen to be vacationing at an amusement park, what are we even talking about? You might get twenty thousand or more steps. I averaged over twenty-five thousand steps a day on our last Disney trip.

How to Eat While on Vacation

Since many people have questions about how to handle nutrition while on vacation, I wanted to provide you with some structure to make this stress-free.

Look, you don’t need to follow a strict meal plan while on vacation. The theme of this article is to enjoy yourself. That said, you can do some little things to mitigate the damage.

Things to bring with you:

Protein powder
Shaker cups
Water
Beef jerky
Rice cakes
Fruit

Breakfast

If the place you are staying has breakfast available, take advantage of it. Order some eggs and oatmeal or eggs and home fries. If there is a continental breakfast, take a scoop of protein powder and make a meal with what they have. Here is an example of what that could look like.

One scoop of protein powder
8oz of fat-free milk
Apple or banana
Toast, oatmeal, or waffles

Lunch

While on vacation, I recommend eating a light lunch. Doing so gives you more calories to work with at dinner so you can enjoy yourself. A good option for lunch is a grilled chicken salad or a turkey sandwich and a piece of fruit.

Lean protein source
Carbohydrate source (small amount)
Fruit, or vegetable, or both

Snack

Since you will probably need a snack at some point in the day, here is where we will lean into the supplies you brought. Keep it high in protein and low in carbs and fat.

Beef jerky or another scoop of protein powder
Rice cakes

Dinner

While on vacation, eat whatever you want for dinner. Have an appetizer, a couple of drinks, and even dessert. If you get a workout in, take lots of steps, and eat light throughout the day, you can let loose and enjoy a nice meal with minimal “damage.”

Whatever you want

Always on the Path

I want to end this similar to how we started. Do you need to train while on vacation? No, you don’t. However, you should strive to be the type of person who wants to train while on vacation. Fitness is hard and even harder when you don’t like it. For long-term success, it needs to be who you are, not what you do. Fitness should enhance your life, not take away from it.

As always, if you have any questions, feel free to send me an email!

Want a crazy bodyweight workout to do while on vacation? Check out the workout Mike Tyson used to do back in his prime: https://kylehuntfitness.com/the-mike-tyson-workout-and-diet-plan/

Author: Kyle Hunt

Email: KyleHuntFitness@gmail.com

Hire Kyle as your coach: http://www.kylehuntfitness.com/services/

Hotel Gym Workouts | Stay on Track While on the Road

Hotel Gym Equipment