These days, most of us are short on time. This makes it way too easy to find another excuse to add to the list of why we didn’t make it to the gym. Our resistance training and cardiovascular workouts are set aside due to hectic schedules and too many commitments. Thankfully, it doesn’t have to be that difficult.
Bodyweight Exercises
Bodyweight resistance training can be done anywhere and anytime whether you’re stuck in a hotel room, at the office, or even at the airport. The fittest of the fit can make a bodyweight workout challenging enough with some simple modifications.
Even if you have absolutely no equipment or furniture or even nature available to you and you’re standing in a stark bare room with just a floor and four walls, you can put together a bodyweight workout. Imagine grouping together some bodyweight squats, lateral hops, push ups, planks, split jumps, supermans, mountain climbers and burpees and performing them back to back with no rest.
This is sure to get those muscles firing and burning while sending the heart rate way up. You’ll get a great resistance training workout while simultaneously working the cardiovascular system and burning fat and calories.
If furniture is available to you, you can add in some dips or make push ups harder by doing them decline style. Step ups and glute bridges can be thrown in to fuel the fire as well.
If you have access to a park, you can use tree branches or monkey bars for pull ups or inverted rows, benches for bench jumps or step ups and maybe even a swing set in place of a TRX for some great core exercises.
Aside from getting a great workout in a short amount of time, bodyweight resistance training is so convenient that it really eliminates excuses since it can be done anywhere, anytime. It’s the perfect solution to those of us that are always on the go.
Resistance Bands
Resistance bands are an economical, very convenient way to take fitness with you wherever you go. You only need a couple different bands, offering different tensions in order to get a great, full body workout. They are easy to throw in a suitcase, weigh next to nothing and require pretty much zero set up.
Resistance bands can be anchored on door handles, furniture, tree trunks, benches, or anywhere else that offers a stable enough surface. Try wrapping your band around a tree limb for rows or pull downs or turn yourself around for a chest press and flyes. Standing on your band will allow for all kinds of exercises with various tensions like bicep curls, shoulder presses, tricep extensions and lateral raises. The number of different exercises that can be done with the use of resistance bands is endless.
How to Design your ‘On the Go’ Workout
The way you create your bodyweight resistance training workout will simply depend on your level of fitness and the limitations of your creativity. The variety of exercises is simply endless, making this a fun, stimulating way to train.
If you’re somewhat new to working out, try pairing the exercises as supersets, using opposing body parts. Perhaps you could pair push ups with bodyweight squats or pull ups with lunges. Rest in between sets and repeat, making sure you include each muscle group and a variety of exercises into your workout.
If you’re more advanced, set up a circuit, incorporating numerous exercises in rapid succession. Try squats, pull ups, lunges, push ups and hanging leg raises. This type of design will spark every single muscle in the body and leave you gasping for air. Take a short rest when the circuit is complete and repeat for as many times as you can muster the energy for.
The bottom line for this type of resistance training workout is to have fun with it and keep it challenging. Use your imagination to keep things interesting.
In Summary
This method of training is perfect for anyone with a busy schedule, and these days that means pretty much all of us. Whether you’re a business executive that’s always away from home or a busy Mom, shuttling kids around, if you’re always on the go, this is the type of training you could fit in to your lifestyle.
Just because life is hectic and you have a million things on your to-do list, doesn’t mean your health needs to suffer. With a little knowledge and creativity, you can easily squeeze that resistance training workout in no matter where you go.
[stextbox id=”grey” caption=”About the Author”]Shauna Labelle has worked with extensive demographics including a wide range of goals and requirements. She has coached men, women, children, seniors, ranging in age from 9 to 90. Shauna has incorporated her knowledge and drawn on personal experience to create programs for pre/post natal clients, professional bodybuilders, triathletes, business executives that just want to lose a few pounds, seniors that want to have the energy to play with their grandchildren and everything in between.[/stextbox]
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