The Guest Room Workout

Good morning and happy Saturday!

I hope that you all had a fabulous Friday yesterday! Mine was full of fun with my niece and family. Originally the plan was that I would be Friday’s daycare, but as it turned out I got the whole family instead so that was a BONUS for sure! We ended up taking a trip to the Toledo Zoo and had a really fun time.

There wasn’t any ‘organized’ exercise on Thursday and Friday to speak of but I was exhausted at the end of each day — I definitely got activity but in a ‘running around’ sort of way.

I tried to make up for it a bit this morning by doing some strength work AND a run. I present to you the Guest Room Workout for today’s FitFeature (or “Shhhh, Everyone’s Still Sleeping”):

I woke up this morning at 4:48 AM (yes, very early. I SO wish I could sleep in!) I had my usual coffee and it was too dark out to head out for a run. I realized that I hadn’t done any strength work since last Sunday while on the road in the RV so I decided to see if I could very quietly get a workout in while waiting for the rest of the household to wake up.

I had packed my exercise bands to bring along with me, as they are lightweight and take up no room at all in my suitcase and knew they wouldn’t make any noise.

Warmup with BW Squats and arm circles
20 Modified Pushups
15 Stationary Lunges (per leg)
20 Modified Pushups
15 Stationary Lunges (per leg)
20 Modified Pushups
15 Stationary Lunges (per leg)
20 Tubing Single Arm Rows (per arm)
20 Glute Raises (per leg)
20 Tubing Single Arm Rows (per arm)
20 Glute Raises (per leg)
20 Tubing Single Arm Rows (per arm)
20 Glute Raises (per leg)
20 Overhead Shoulder Presses w/ Tubing
12 Side Laterals w/ Tubing
20 Overhead Shoulder Presses w/ Tubing
12 Side Laterals w/ Tubing
20 Crunches
20 Overhead Shoulder Presses w/ Tubing
12 Side Laterals w/ Tubing
20 Crunches

While this wasn’t a heavy strength workout by any means, I did get my heartrate up fairly high by performing it as a circuit without rest. I went with higher reps to aim for some semblance of muscular fatigue without having the heavier weights I usually use. Had I been outside, I would have liked to include some step-ups or explosive lunges to really work my legs but because I didn’t want to wake the 2 year old sleeping in the next room, this was what I went with. It’s definitely better than NOT doing anything, and it will hold my muscles over until I get home next week and can get back to working them harder as I usually do.

The moral here is that if you WANT to workout when you travel but don’t have access to a gym or equipment, there’s always something you can do to improvise a program to stay fit. This can also be said for someone who would prefer not to work out in a gym setting and wants to get started at home without a lot of expense.

So there you have it: my Guest Room Workout.

After it finally got light outside, I then went out to jog around this great small town on foot. It was a very enjoyable 3.5 miles and I feel ready to tackle the day! It will be another busy one, as we are headed off to a big family gathering.

– Shari B. =)