Did you catch last week’s blog post, “Best Upper Body Travel Hotel Room Workout?” This week we’re delivering Part 2 – the Lower Body Workout. Getting your workouts in when you’re traveling – whether it’s for work or fun – can really be a challenge! But doing these quick travel workouts will help to ensure you don’t get out of shape or out of the habit while you’re away from home!
Why is it so important to keep up with your workout routine when you’re on the road? First, it helps you avoid getting sick, which is common especially with air travel. Traveling can sometimes take it out of us, but exercising while on vacation will help to improve those energy levels. It also helps to keep up with good habits even when we’re outside of our usual routine. Exercise during your trip will not only help prevent you gaining those few extra pounds during your vacay, but will encourage you to keep up with good eating habits since you’re continuing to work out.
There are 3 elements to a good travel workout: it has to be fast, something you can do in a hotel room if necessary, and require little to no equipment. You’ll need nothing but a chair for this super effective lower body workout!
Instructions:
Do the first 4 exercises one after the other with no rest in between. Then do the energizer at the end. Rest 90 seconds and then repeat. See if you can do 3 rounds. If that’s easy, go 5 or 6!
Chair Step Ups or Squats
If you’re going to do the step-ups on a chair, do ensure that it’s stable enough to be safe. Start with your left foot on the floor and your right foot on top of the chair. Step up with the right leg and bring the left knee up. Lower the left leg back down to the floor. This is one rep. Do 12 reps on the right side and then 12 reps on the left. If you don’t have a stable chair close by, substitute squats for this exercise. Standing with feet about hip width apart, bend at the knees and lower your body placing your weight in your heels and your back slightly arched so that your sit bones point behind you. Return to standing. Do 12 reps.
Chair or Bed High Bridges
These bridges are one of the best exercises for strengthening low back and glutes. Lying flat on your back on the floor with your feet on the bed or chair, raise your hips toward the ceiling and squeeze the glutes. Complete 12 reps.
Alternating Lunges on the Floor
Standing up straight, first lunge backward with your left leg until your knee almost touches the floor. Push off with your left leg and return your left foot to standing next to the right. Next, repeat the same with the right leg. Complete 12 reps with each leg for a total of 24.
Rear Leg Lifts
Get down on your hands and knees on the floor. First bring your right knee toward your chest, then push your right foot directly up toward the ceiling. The shape of your leg should be a 90 degree angle. Repeat 12 times. Then do 12 reps on the left. To make this more challenging, hold something with a little extra weight (maybe a full plastic water bottle) in the crook of your knee as you complete the reps.
Speed Skaters
Standing with legs hip width apart, raise your right foot and push off sideways with your left. Land on the right foot two to three feet from your starting position and kick your left foot behind the right. Now do the same movement jumping left. Continue moving side to side completing as many repetitions as you can in 45 seconds. This is your energizer – you should get your heart pumping!
Hope you enjoyed this fast, effective lower body workout for the road! Tune in next week for Part 3 – Best Travel Abs Workout. Switch off between these three while you’re on the road and you’ve got your whole body covered!
If you’re looking for quick and very effective workouts for home or the gym, try Athlean-XX for Women. Our workouts are only 30 minutes per day – but I promise, you’ll feel the burn and you’ll see the results you want! Why only 30 minutes? We know how busy a woman’s schedule is – ours is too! And really, 30 minutes a day is all you need with Athlean-XX for Women. How can that be possible? We combine strength training moves into high-energy circuits that are both fun and get your heart pumping. Each day, you’re covering both your cardio and your strength-training at the same time!
