When the hotel gym gives you dumbbells and a bench... I have been traveling a lot in the last few weeks, and I've had to get more creative with training on-the-go. Last weekend, I found myself in a hotel gym with dumbbells, a bench, and the usual cardio equipment (recumbent bike, some kind of elliptical with moving arms, and a sad little treadmill). I pushed through the urge to just break a sweat on the treadmill, and decided to do a leg workout. I believe that you can get a great workout accomplished just about anywhere. There are times when I don't have the heavy weights I'd like, so I slow down the tempo and keep tension on the muscles. Other times, when I don't have access to machines, I can recreate the movements with dumbbells or resistance bands. Here's the leg workout I did, using just dumbbells and a bench:
Warm-up:
5 min jog/walk on the treadmill
Explosive plyos (30 sec to one minute between sets):
2x10 speed squats in front of the bench
2x10 dynamic step-ups (each leg) on the bench
2x10 pop squats
Weight workout (1 minute between sets):
4x10 dumbbell goblet squat
4x10 dumbbell RDLs
4x10 dumbbell deadlifts, superset with calf raises
3x15 resistance band squats (attach band to stationary object), superset with reverse lunges
The goal of the workout is to work on power in the beginning, and sculpting toward the end. The reps on the weighted exercises should be slow and controlled. I keep a close eye on recovery time between sets, and never go over a minute. This helps me get my cardio in while weight training.
I'm so happy with the results I have been seeing while taking BetaTOR. My recovery has improved, and I find I'm able to train at a higher volume and with more intensity than before!
Thank you for checking out my blog! If you try the workout, let me know what you think! Train hard, y'all!
-Erin Stern