Tips and Tricks for Working Out in a Hotel Room

Tips and Tricks for Working Out in a Hotel Room

Disclosure – This Tips and Tricks for Working Out in a Hotel Room post is a collaboration with Mary Johnson. This post may contain affiliate links that earn That Traveling Chick money at no cost to you.

For those of us who like an active vacation where there is so much to see and do, we often find ourselves getting more walking and movement in than we do while we are at home. However, working out is crucial and sticking to your routine is proven to lead to better results, and not every hotel you end up staying at has a gym.

This doesn’t mean you have to skip out on your workout routine or pay a lot of money for a random class in a studio you may not enjoy as much though!

Luckily, we can get an effective workout in the comfort of a hotel room:

How to exercise in a hotel room

With limited space and people around you, you want to focus on exercises that are high impact but that don’t make a lot of noise with jumping, etc. that will disrupt your neighbors.

Here are a couple tips for how you can exercise in a hotel room and be considerate of others:

Use your luggage
Your luggage can be used as weight for your weightlifting needs or, as a prop for your engagement needs.

Do mostly body weight exercises
Body weight exercises bring your workout back to basics, no equipment required, but don’t compromise on effectiveness.

Use the desk chair
Hotel rooms come equipped with some sort of a desk space and a desk chair, and you can use that desk chair as a piece of makeshift exercise equipment! Rather than the bench at the gym, use the desk chair (if it doesn’t have wheels of course) as your stabilizer for your exercises.

If the chair does have wheels, you can still sit on it for upper body exercises and hold yourself steady through your legs and abdominal’s.

Exercises to do in a hotel room

Plank
The plank exercise really engages your abdominal’s and you can adjust it so it fits your fitness level and needs.

Plank exercises beyond the traditional plank include: one arm plank with knee touches, one arm plank with rotations, plank jacks, plank walk-ups, side plank, and side plank with hip dips.

Superman Raises
This works your legs, butt and shoulders and while effective for strength, it also increases flexibility. Here are some tips on how to do the superman exercise correctly.

Wall Sit
Wall sits you can do anywhere for an effective leg and butt workout. To boost your wall sits, hold for 60 seconds, then add pulses.

Chair Dip
Chair dips you can do on the office chair at your hotel room as long as it doesn’t have wheels!

Mountain Climbers
Mountain climbers can be done anywhere and you can make them even quieter by not wearing socks/shoes. Remember to focus on your breath work during this exercise and keep your arms in line with your shoulders.

Squats
Squats are a classic exercise due to their effectiveness. Use a water bottle or other object from your luggage to engage your upper body as well, or do prisoner squats.

Lunges (and lunge variations)
Lunges work your legs and butt and require you to engage your abdominal’s for stability.

Lunge variations you can do in your hotel room include backward lunges and lateral lunges.

Yoga
Used for relaxing after a busy day, or meditation or just stretching out those overworked muscles, yoga is a perfect way to stay in shape and finish off a fun day of sight seeing.

At the end of every workout, be sure to incorporate a cool down period. Then you can take advantage of the bathtub in your hotel room to soothe sore muscles. Bonus if you packed Epsom salts or can pick some up at a local shop!