AKHADA

Hotel Room Workout

  • Beginner
  • 2 or 3 days a week
  • About 25 min
  • A chair

Updated

A woman doing a bodyweight lunge in a hotel room

About this routine

Six bodyweight exercises that fit in the space between the bed and the desk: squats, push ups, reverse lunges with a hand on the wall, chair dips, glute bridges and mountain climbers. You need a sturdy chair and a wall.

For anyone on a work trip or holiday who wants to keep training without finding a gym. It is a beginner workout, so it also suits a first week back after a break.

The week

2 days a week

For a short trip. Two sessions keep you on track until you are home.

  1. MHotel room
  2. TRest
  3. WRest
  4. THotel room
  5. FRest
  6. SRest
  7. SRest

3 days a week

For a longer stay. Leave a day off between sessions.

  1. MHotel room
  2. TRest
  3. WHotel room
  4. TRest
  5. FHotel room
  6. SRest
  7. SRest

The workout

Before you start

If you have a medical condition or an injury, check with a doctor before starting a new exercise routine.

Stop any exercise that causes pain, dizziness, or strain somewhere you don't expect it.

6 exercisesAbout 25 minBeginner

Warm-up, about 5 minSee moves
  • Spot jog45 seconds
  • Jumping jacks30 seconds
  • Arm circles10 each way
  • Hip circles8 each way
  • Bodyweight squat10 reps
  • Light practice set of Bodyweight Squat1 to 2 sets
  1. 1

    Bodyweight Squat

    3 × 12 to 15 repsQuadriceps

    How to do it
    1. Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart, toes turned out slightly, arms in front of you.
    2. Sit your hips back and down, letting your knees follow your toes.
    3. Go down until your thighs are level with the floor, or lower if your heels stay down and your chest stays up.
    4. Push the floor away to stand back up.
    5. Stand fully tall at the top before the next rep.
  2. 2

    Push up

    3 × 8 to 12 repsChest

    How to do it
    1. Hands on the floor slightly wider than your shoulders, legs straight behind you.
    2. Tighten your stomach so your body stays in a straight line from head to heels.
    3. Lower your chest toward the floor, elbows angled slightly back rather than straight out.
    4. Push the floor away to come back up.
    5. Too hard? Do them with your knees on the floor, or your hands on a chair.
  3. 3

    Wall Supported Reverse Lunge

    3 × 8 to 12 repsQuadriceps

    How to do it
    1. Stand facing a wall with your hands lightly on it for balance.
    2. Take a comfortable step back, not a big one, and lower until your back knee is close to the floor.
    3. Keep most of your weight on your front foot, knee in line with your toes.
    4. Push through your front foot to stand back up.
    5. Do all reps on one leg, then switch.
  4. 4

    Dip Bent Knees with Chair

    3 × 8 to 12 repsTriceps

    How to do it
    1. Sit on the edge of a sturdy chair pushed against a wall, hands gripping the seat beside your hips.
    2. Keep your feet flat on the floor, knees bent, and slide your bottom just off the seat.
    3. Bend your elbows to lower yourself a little, keeping them pointing back, not out.
    4. Push through your palms to straighten your arms.
    5. Only go as low as feels comfortable. Stop if you feel a pinch at the front of your shoulders.
  5. 5

    Glute Bridge

    3 × 12 to 15 repsGlutes

    How to do it
    1. Lie on your back, knees bent, feet flat on the floor about hip-width apart and close to your bottom.
    2. Brace: tighten your stomach as if someone is about to poke it, and keep breathing.
    3. Push through your heels and lift your hips until your knees, hips and shoulders are in a line.
    4. Squeeze your bottom at the top for a second. Do not push higher by arching your back.
    5. Lower slowly. Stop if you feel it in your lower back rather than your bottom.
  6. 6

    Mountain Climber

    3 × 30 secAbdominals

    How to do it
    1. Start at the top of a push-up: hands under your shoulders, arms straight, body in a line.
    2. Tighten your stomach and keep your hips level with your shoulders.
    3. Drive one knee toward your chest, then switch legs quickly, like running in place.
    4. This is a cardio move, so keep a quick, steady pace. Slow down if your hips start bouncing.
    5. Too hard? Put your hands on a chair or step.
Cool-down, about 3 minSee moves
  • Easy walk1 minute
  • Chest stretch30 seconds
  • Quad stretch30 seconds each leg
  • Child's pose30 seconds

Rest and progress

Rest between sets

  • Rest 60 seconds between sets. If you are out of breath, take 90.
  • Move from one exercise to the next once you have caught your breath.

How to progress

  1. On the first session of a trip, stop each set with two or three reps left, especially after a long flight.
  2. Add reps across the trip. When you reach the top of the rep range on every set, slow the lowering or use the harder swaps below.
  3. Back home, carry on with your usual routine or a full body home workout.

Swaps

Push up too hard
Hands on the edge of the desk or the bed frame. The higher the hands, the easier it is.
Push up too easy
Feet on the bed or a chair (Decline Push Up).
Chair dips hurt your shoulders
Do push ups with your hands close together instead, or leave them out.
Squats too easy
Bulgarian split squats with your back foot on a chair or the end of the bed.
Worried about the room below
Swap mountain climbers for a Front Plank so nothing thumps on the floor.

Between meetings: the 10 minute version

Five moves, 2 sets each, little rest. Jumping jacks and mountain climbers are the noisy ones, so swap them for plank holds if you share a floor.

5 exercisesAbout 10 minBeginner

Warm-up, about 5 minSee moves
  • Spot jog45 seconds
  • Jumping jacks30 seconds
  • Arm circles10 each way
  • Hip circles8 each way
  • Bodyweight squat10 reps
  • Light practice set of Jumping Jack1 to 2 sets
  1. 1

    Jumping Jack

    2 × 30 secQuadriceps

    How to do it
    1. Stand tall, feet together, arms by your sides.
    2. Jump your feet out wide as you raise your arms overhead.
    3. Jump back to the start. Land softly with your knees slightly bent.
    4. Keep a steady rhythm. To make it easier, step one foot out at a time instead of jumping.
  2. 2

    Bodyweight Squat

    2 × 12 to 15 repsQuadriceps

    How to do it
    1. Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart, toes turned out slightly, arms in front of you.
    2. Sit your hips back and down, letting your knees follow your toes.
    3. Go down until your thighs are level with the floor, or lower if your heels stay down and your chest stays up.
    4. Push the floor away to stand back up.
    5. Stand fully tall at the top before the next rep.
  3. 3

    Push up

    2 × 8 to 12 repsChest

    How to do it
    1. Hands on the floor slightly wider than your shoulders, legs straight behind you.
    2. Tighten your stomach so your body stays in a straight line from head to heels.
    3. Lower your chest toward the floor, elbows angled slightly back rather than straight out.
    4. Push the floor away to come back up.
    5. Too hard? Do them with your knees on the floor, or your hands on a chair.
  4. 4

    Mountain Climber

    2 × 30 secAbdominals

    How to do it
    1. Start at the top of a push-up: hands under your shoulders, arms straight, body in a line.
    2. Tighten your stomach and keep your hips level with your shoulders.
    3. Drive one knee toward your chest, then switch legs quickly, like running in place.
    4. This is a cardio move, so keep a quick, steady pace. Slow down if your hips start bouncing.
    5. Too hard? Put your hands on a chair or step.
  5. 5

    Front Plank

    2 × 20 secAbdominals

    How to do it
    1. Rest on your forearms with your elbows under your shoulders and your legs straight behind you.
    2. Brace: tighten your stomach as if someone is about to poke it, and squeeze your bottom.
    3. Keep your body in a straight line from head to heels. Do not let your hips drop or raise your bottom up.
    4. Breathe steadily and hold. Too hard? Drop your knees to the floor.
    5. Stop if you feel it in your lower back.
Cool-down, about 3 minSee moves
  • Easy walk1 minute
  • Chest stretch30 seconds
  • Quad stretch30 seconds each leg
  • Child's pose30 seconds

Questions

Can I get a good workout in a hotel room with no equipment?

Yes. Every move here uses your body weight, a chair and a wall. Research found similar muscle growth with light and heavy loads when every set was taken to failure, so bodyweight work counts as long as the last reps are hard.

How much space do I need?

Room to lie down for push ups and glute bridges, and room to step back into a lunge. The gap between the bed and the desk is usually enough.

How long does it take?

About 25 minutes, plus a 5 minute warm-up. The 10 minute version fits before breakfast.

How often should I train on a trip?

Two or three times a week. WHO guidelines suggest muscle-strengthening work for all major muscle groups on 2 or more days a week, so even a short trip can keep you on track.

More routines

See all 24 routines

Sources

The Akhada team picked these exercises from our catalog of 7,000+ demonstrated movements. A strength coach reviewed the step-by-step cues for every exercise in our starter routines, these included. The schedule and the case for bodyweight training follow the research below.

  1. Muscle growth was similar with light and heavy loads when every set was taken to failure. That is why bodyweight training works, as long as the last reps of each set are hard.

    Schoenfeld, Grgic, Ogborn and Krieger. Strength and hypertrophy adaptations between low- vs. high-load resistance training: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 2017.

  2. Push-ups built as much muscle and strength as a load-matched bench press over 8 weeks.

    Kikuchi and Nakazato. Low-load bench press and push-up induce similar muscle hypertrophy and strength gain. Journal of Exercise Science and Fitness, 2017.

  3. Adults should do muscle-strengthening work for all major muscle groups on 2 or more days a week. That is why the short-trip schedule has 2 sessions.

    World Health Organization 2020 guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2020.