To get an effective workout while traveling, you don’t need to pack a pair of dumbbells or search for a local gym. You don’t even need to leave your hotel room.
“Your best piece of equipment is yourself,” said Ani Oksayan, a personal trainer in San Marcos, Calif. Body weight workouts can build muscle, improve your endurance and help you maintain the habit of working out, making it easier to jump back into your regular routine when you return home.
Compound movements like squats, lunges and push-ups work multiple muscles and joints at the same time, and can be modified to make your workout more challenging.
If you’ve been strength training consistently for a few months, taking time away from weights won’t hinder your progress either, said Brad DeWeese, director of the Human Performance Science Program at Penn State.
You just have to be creative with how you adapt your routine, he said. Moving more slowly through the lowering phase of a movement like the squat, or adding a pause at the bottom, keeps your muscles working longer. Incorporating plyometrics, or explosive exercises — turning a lunge into a jumping lunge, for example — adds a cardiovascular challenge and helps you improve your speed and power.
You can do this no-equipment routine as often as you like while on vacation, Ms. Oksayan said. But listen to your body and take rest days as needed. “We’re not pushing iron, but it doesn’t have to be an easy workout, either,” she said.