Standard hotel rooms usually don't come with an exercise bench and free weights in every room --- or in any room --- but you don't have to throw your workout routine out the window when you're on the road. A few quick, easy and efficient hotel room exercise routines can be part of your travels, even with no equipment whatsoever.
Tips
The main trick is to keep your hotel room exercise fairly simple. Also keep it fairly quick, lasting no more than 30 minutes. The morning is the best time to do your hotel room exercise routine, before you start running around and it falls to the wayside. It's also helpful to actually schedule it into your day, setting aside a daily block of time dedicated specifically to your workout.
Biggest Bang for Your Buck
"Road and Travel Magazine" deems squats, push-ups and bicycle crunches the most effective hotel-room exercises because they work every muscle group. Do 20 repetitions of each exercise per set, for a total of three sets of each exercise. You'll get an even bigger bang for your buck if you do the routine circuit style, starting with one set of each exercise and then repeating your sequence. It doesn't matter which order you choose, as long as you go through your circuit three times if you can.
Jump It Up
Another routine, this one suggested by CNN Health, includes jumping jacks in between the exercises to get your heart pumping even further. The routine kicks off with lunges, 15 for each leg, followed by at least 15 seconds of jumping jacks. Push-ups are next; perform 20 of them. More jumping jacks follow the push-ups and then it's on to the abdomen. First, lie on your back and then lift a weight of sorts, either a phone book or large water bottle. Hold your arms in front of you as you lift your upper body and the weight towards the ceiling, then lie back down. Repeat. Perform 20 repetitions and follow it with more jumping jacks. Move through the exercises twice more to complete a three-set circuit routine.
Yoga
Yoga is a practice you can take anyplace, "Yoga Journal" points out, even if you have to modify your usual routine a bit. If you don't have a yoga mat, you can still do yoga stretches and many of the standing poses without worrying about slipping or lack of traction. The standing poses alone give you dozens of options, from the three warrior poses to the tree pose, which you can arrange in any sequence you like. Bring a book for guidance if you need a reminder on any poses.
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