I just spent the last coupe of days in El Paso, TX for my brother’s wedding (congrats again bro!). It was a good time, but no matter where I travel I like to try and get a good workout.
I’d like to share with you some of the great/fun workouts I ended up doing, offer some suggestions for your travels and show you scaled versions of each workout…that way no one has an excuse to not workout while traveling.
Keep in mind this is End of Three Fitness. This isn’t an article telling you that you can do push-ups, sit-ups and run around your hotel. Everyone already knows that, and no one cares. I want to suggest some workouts you probably wouldn’t normally do. A few travel workouts that may challenge you, force you outside your comfort zone and workouts that keep you interested and engaged.
On my trip I was busy, between being the best man in the wedding and wanting to spend time with my family, I didn’t have a lot of time to workout. I decided I would go check out the hotel gym anyway…I was vastly disappointed. A (small) sea of machines…not my style. My favorite part of this gym is the TV that was ripped off the wall…
Yes, you can get a perfectly good workout with a machine, but give me functional or give me death, right? Too far?
Anyway, I opted out of the hotel gym altogether and decided to use a stairwell and my hotel room for a workout that was 10x than anything I could have done on those machines.
But before we get into that; if you are new to Eo3 or traveling workouts you should read “How to Pull a Workout Out of Thin Air!â€Â and develop your ‘fitness traveler eye’.
Alright, you got it! Let’s jump right in.
First, I have a fitness-fanatic obsession to confess…When I travel, I travel with workout equipment. If by car, I usually bring kettlebells and if by plane normally just a jump rope. This time was by plane, but I decided to travel with my Rings.
Honestly, I recommend bringing something when you travel. TRX bands are great (I’ve heard), rings, jump rope, anything that you think you may be able to use.
I digress. So once I decided to to ditch the hotel gym, which was on the 10th floor, I decided to take the stairs back to my room, which was on the 7th floor. Then, light bulb!
This hotel was 17 stories, which meant 17 flights of stairs, which is an automatic no-brainer for a workout. Then I started looking around a little bit more and noticed The stairs had some flat, sturdy, horizontal metal bars. No good for pull-ups, but great for hanging rings!!
Now I was excited!
***Let me start with an upfront disclaimer, working out in a stairwell, alone, is not the safest idea. Not only that, hanging your rings at 7ft. and doing muscle-ups in a spot where if you slipped and missed you could very easily fall down a flight of stairs…but that just motivated me to be safe and efficient.***
Workout #1
Warm-up light jog up and down the stairs, just a few flights, a few times with light stretching. Then set up the rings, which can be a great warm-up by itself. Then…
- 30 muscle-ups for time.
That’s it! A great workout, but let’s talk about scaling.
Recruit – Set up the rings lower than you would for a muscle-up, then…
- Bodyweight ring rows, 60-90 repetitions.
- Ring Dips assisted with one leg, or band (if you have one), 60-90 repetitions.
Established – Set up rings at muscle up height, then..
- Ring pull-ups, 60 repetitions
- Ring Dips, 60 repetitions
Competitor – Set up rings at muscle up height, then…
- 30 muscle-ups for time – OR –
- 30 Burpee muscle-ups for time
The workout above may be enough for you, so feel free to stop after you finish. Or you can set a 15 minute timer and stop at 15 minutes, then move to workout number two. This workout is more strength based, the next workout is conditioning.
Workout #2
If you are in a hotel, they most likely have stairs, whether one set of stairs or 17 flights…you should have some stairs to work with. Stairs can be awful by themselves, but let’s take it up a notch.
- 17 flights of stairs + 10 squats every flight (170 total squats)
A few rules…
- No skipping stairs.
- Squats must be perfect. Read “How to Do a Squat: A One-Year-Old Can Show You Upâ€
- If you have only one flight of stairs…run up and down 17 times.
Recruit
- 10 flights + 10 Squats
Established
- 15 flights + 10 Squats
Competitor
- 17 flights + 10 Squats – OR –
- As many flight and squat as possible in 20 minutes.
The key to this workout is to move as fast as you can. Hold on to rails if you need to and be safe, but this should be a pretty quick workout and really get your heart rate going and those legs burning.
Workout #3
Last, but not least, the workout anyone can do at anytime. The no excuses workout. Even if you are on a business trip and working in your hotel, you can take a few minutes to stop and do this one.
- 100 Strict Handstand Push-ups + Squats
Rules…
- Handstand push-ups must be 100% strict
- Every time you come off the wall you must do 25 squats.
Recruit
- 100 Hand-relase push ups
- Every time you take a break for longer than it takes to release your hands and push back up, do 15 squats.
Established
- 100 elevated push-ups. Put your feet either on your hotel desk, or hotel bed and get as close to vertical as you can and do handstand push-ups.
- Every time you take a break, 25 squats.
Competitor
- 100 strict handstand push-ups
- Every time you come off the wall, 25 squats.
I can’t actually take full credit for this workout. Rich Froning, 3x CrossFit Games champion, actually said this is one of the workouts he does when he is in a bind and has absolutely no equipment in his hotel. Nonetheless, it is a great workout – scaled or not!
Well, that’s all I got!
What are your favorite travel workouts?
-Jerred