Adjusting Your Workout for a Hotel Gym
Hotel gyms are a sore subject with gym-goers and athletes alike. The training and grind don’t stop when you travel, and sometimes finding a gym in your temporary locale isn’t an option.
On the positive side: nearly every hotel you’ll find yourself in will have a gym these days.
On the negative side: hotel gyms sometimes barely qualify as a gym in the first place.
So what do you do when you’re in a hotel gym with limited equipment? Read on for three tips to make the most of your hotel gym workout.
Let’s breakdown what you can generally expect in a hotel gym:
1. Treadmills or some type of cardio machine
I don’t think I’ve ever been to a hotel gym that didn’t at least have a single treadmill, exercise bike, or elliptical variation - often you’ll see a couple of different cardio machines.
2. Dumbbells
There’s a high degree of variability here, but hotel gyms will often at least feature a set of dumbbells. Now, the actual weight and how many will vary greatly, but you’ll often find a set that goes from 5 to 25 pounds. The higher the weight the better, but there’s a lot you can do with a set of dumbbells.
There’s a big drop-off from here, but in a hotel that has given some thought to its gym, you can reasonably expect the following two items:
3. A Bench (ideally adjustable)
It’s not a given that a hotel will feature dumbbells and a bench, but in most cases, if you see a set of dumbbells, you can expect to see a bench as well. If you can adjust the incline or decline, then you’ve just doubled the amount of exercises you can perform.
4. Cable Stacks & Functional Trainers
If you’re going to a resort or all inclusive getaway with a gym that the hotel feels the need to brag about, or even a business travel and short-stay hotel, you can expect them to have a functional trainer or cable stack and pulley machine. These machines are great because they’ll often double as a pull-up bar or attachment point for items like a set of bands or suspension device.
If your hotel has the 4 items above, you are in phenomenal shape. The combination of the 4 make for a pretty diverse training experience. For the strength athletes, it may not feature a barbell and allow you to do your heaviest lifts, but you can still work your problem areas and weak points with the above pieces of equipment.
We can understand the frustration of walking into a hotel gym and not seeing the equipment you’re accustomed to, but let us assure you - you can definitely manage a solid workout with a treadmill, dumbbells, and a cable stack.
The more gym literate you are, the better. Exercise can be done with extremely minimal equipment, and the above equipment is going to give you more possibilities than I can quantify.
1. Escalating Density Training
Escalating Density training is a favorite of athletes and bodybuilders alike. It’s very simple to organize and execute, but hardly an easy workout — which makes it perfect to do with limited equipment inside of a hotel gym.
To properly perform an Escalating Density protocol in a hotel gym: choose an interval of time (10-20 minutes works well), up to 3 exercises, and go through as many rounds of those 3 exercises as you can in that timeframe. The repetition ranges are up to you and your goals.
It’s important you don’t race and compromise technique (no sloppiness!). The real challenge is to build a good volume of work with good form.
Depending on what’s available to you, you can split the circuit into exclusively upper body exercises, or lower body exercises. You can mix the two by creating two separate circuits (one upper, one lower based), and performing one after you complete the other. The possibilities are endless and really should be based on your goals and current training status.
Example of an Upper Body E.D. Circuit:Perform the 3 exercises below in a circuit for 15 minutes. Note how many times you get through it:
Dumbbell Bench Press: tough 8 reps with heavy dumbbells or 15 reps with a lighter set
1 Arm Bent/Supported Dumbbell Rows: x8 each side
Triceps Pushdown with Rope: (replace with a dumbbell triceps exercise if no cable stack): x14
Rest 4-5 minutes before performing another E.D. block of 15 minutes.
Example of a Lower Body E.D. CircuitPerform the 3 exercises below in a circuit for 15 minutes. Note how many times you get through it:
Goblet or Bodyweight Squat: A tough 8 reps with a heavy dumbbell or 15 reps done with just your bodyweight
Reverse Lunges: x8 each side
Romanian Deadlift with 2 Dumbbells: x8-10 reps
Rest 4-5 minutes before performing another E.D. block of 15 minutes.
2. Challenge Your Cardio
For all the lifters and strength athletes out there: you probably aren’t prioritizing cardio training or conditioning to begin with. If that statement resonates or stings, you’re who I am referring to. A trip of a few days is a great opportunity to challenge and train your cardio and lay off the weights. I know, it’s hard, but a few days of non-lifting exercise won’t kill you, and the benefits of training cardio will have as much of a positive effect on your health as any relaxation and downtime on vacation or that business trip. It may even give you more energy.
On the other hand, for those who train and default to primarily cardio (ie: runners), you can try something like Escalating Density Training (above), or you can shake up your cardio by taking big movements like squats, push-ups, pull-ups, or dumbbell rows, and combining them with shorter sprints on a treadmill to challenge your sprinting and anaerobic ability.
Example hotel gym cardio workout:Perform each exercise for a minute before moving onto the next one. Do this 3x before resting. Repeat this cluster as many times as you see fit:
Cardio Machine #1 (Treadmill): Jog for 1 minute at modest pace.
Walking Lunges: Continuously for 1 minute
Cardio Machine #2 Spin Bike (alternatively: Plank or Foot Supported/Help Sit-Ups): 1 Min
Repeat the three exercises 3x before resting 1-2 minutes. Repeat as desired.
3. Take The opportunity to drastically deviate
In the event you have some unique machines or opportunities to train on different equipment — take them!
If you’ve read any articles I’ve written, you know and understand the importance of variety in your training.
I recently saw a video of a fully outfitted, multi-thousand square foot gym with all kinds of brand new machines at a resort in Florida. If you find yourself in a situation like that, I would recommend you go with the flow and use everything you never get the opportunity to. Go nuts! Enjoy the new stimulus and the challenge of something different.
Maybe the hotel has a spin class, a pilates class, or even yoga. Try that. Do something different.
Honorable Mention:
buy some bands and take them with you
Once we’re in a routine with our training, many of us don’t want to deviate too much. I get it. That’s why a good strategy for the most devoted athletes and gym goers is to get a set of very good bands from a site like EliteFTS and take them with you. Match the movements you do in your normal training to exercises with the bands and go at it. This way, the equipment available to you can never, and will never be, an excuse.
About the Author: MARK DISALVO, CSCS
Mark is the founder and owner of DiSalvo Performance Training. He brings over a decade of experience training clients and athletes of all backgrounds and is the strength and conditioning coach to grapplers of all levels and disciplines: from youth to professional and Olympic-level. He is currently a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu himself, with 10 years of experience in the sport. You can read more about him here.
A graduate of Northeastern University, he’s an NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) and Sports Performance Expert with a specialty in combat sports. He’s also a Steve Maxwell Certified Kettlebell Instructor (Levels 1 & 2).