Working Out in a Hotel Room

As I've mentioned, I've done each of the workouts of Insanity and P90x in a hotel room.  It's not ideal, but for those of us that have to do it, it can work.  I think you need a bit more room for Insanity than P90x, but when my options are a large meal at a restaurant with a few drinks, or my workout, I'll choose the workout.

For Insanity, you ideally need a space about twice the width of your body, by the length of your body.  e.g.  If you're 6 ft tall, you would need a space 6 ft x 12 ft.  You could get away with a smaller space, even 6ft x 6ft, but some of the moves have to be condensed and you have to use the angles.  If you're in such a small room that you don't even have a 6x6 area, look into seeing if there is a meeting space available that you could use after hours, maybe hit the hotel gym, and pick up some accountability buddies, or even workout outside, setting your laptop up on the hood of your car.  You also might not always be able to face the TV or laptop, but after 1 or 2 times, you know what the moves should look like, and if not, it gives you a chance to catch a breather.

The gear I always bring with me are a variety of exercise bands and the door attachment to use the bands for pull-downs, my heart rate montior, and a shaker cup for Results & Recovery and Shakeology.  Right now, I have five different size bands: burgundy, red, green, blue, and black.  Before I workout, I usually fill up my ice bucket and water bottle so I have a constant supply of ice cold water for hydration.  I also make my results & recovery so it's ready for me when I'm done.  Then I push play and go hard.

You do have to improvise sometimes.  I've used water bottles as well as notebooks for light weights.  For decline push ups, I've used the desk chair, the bed, and the couch.  I've used pillows to cushion me in Ab Ripper X.  I also do the leg raise in Plyo over my suitcase.  There are always options, you just need to use some ingenuity and some "want to".

One of my favorite features of a hotel room is the big windows you often find.  I like to use the window like a mirror.  I’ve found that when I can see myself working out, I can be more conscious of my form.  Unless you can see what you’re doing,  all you can do is imagine yourself in space and assume body position.  The window/mirror allows you to see yourself and get a little light into the room.

I know it can be hard to use the laptop for the workout, especially as you're learning the routines.   The up and down motion doesn't lend itself to good viewing angles on many laptops.  I've invested in a cable to connect by laptop to the TV.  Many laptops now have an HDMI or DisplayPort output that can carry the sound and video to the TV.  The trick I've found to be able to actually use the TV as something other than a TV is to disconnect the phone wire thing in the back of the little box on the back of most hotel TVs.  That opens up the menu or source buttons on the TV where you can change the input to use the HDMI cable.  Then you have something a little bigger with better viewing angles to use for your workouts.