Training Without Weights

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Training Without Weights

• By Russell Lee, Executive Director of
• Revolution Fitness

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I know you all travel a lot! Again, no matter if
you are an expat /housewife or businessman/woman.
Here is a way to keep fit when your personal
trainer is not with you. Youre on a trip,
staying in some strange hotel. Where /how can I
train? you ask yourself . Is there a gym
nearby? Pretty tired from the trip, its almost
as if you dont care if you workout at all,
except for the voice inside your head that says
you have to train to keep in shape. Theres no
escape So what do you do? Maybe you can workout
soon, right now, in your hotel room?
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YES, Ive been in this situation before. On the
road, of course I had a job on the road too (I
was a tour leader/guide before I decided to do my
own business in Thailand), but I didnt want all
my prior training to go to waste. I wanted to do
something to keep me in shape. So here is what we
can all do while on the road to stay true to our
fitness goals, and get a quick pump all through
our bodies with no weights at all! With a bed, a
doorway and doorknob, and two chairs I find that
I can workout as I choose.

• 1 Holding onto the door knob, I put each foot
  along the side of the door, lean straight back,
  and squat into the lowest position until my
  glutes are almost touching my heels. And then,
  push straight up with my crotch lightly rubbing
  the door, and stop when my knees are almost
  locked out, then descend down again slowly, and
  repeat this for 15-20 reps or more. Wonder if
  youll get sore from doing this? Breathless, I
  rest two minutes and I do it again. Remember what
  I always say good form and slowly
• Then, I close and face the door leaning
  against it with my hands. I do one legged calf
  raises with my foot on the floor, for 30 reps
  each leg, or until I cannot do any more. Now my
  legs are starting to feel a little bit sore.

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2 Now its time to stretch. Flinging one leg to
the top of the doorknob, heel resting against it.
Knee locked, bending forward at the waist, hold
it for 30 second. Theres no haste. Feel the
stretch in the back of the hamstrings and lower
back, and repeat with the other leg. Then, in
the standing position, I bend my knee and grab my
ankle, I pull it back until my heel is touching
my butt, hold for a half minute, feel the front
of my thigh stretch, and repeat with the other
leg. Ive got a good leg workout in just a few
minutes.

• 3 Still breathing fast, I lie on the floor on my
  back. Putting my feet up on the bed, I do
  crunches, thrusting my hips off the floor, as my
  head raises no more then a few inches. Then hold
  it a second, and after 30 reps my abs beckon to
  do something else. So placing my hands flat under
  my butt with my head off the floor, I raise my
  legs 30 degrees upwards, then lower slowly, and
  do 25 reps or more, feeling the tension in my
  lower abs. No need to do more.

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4 Looking around, theres a desk with two chairs,
if not, do your push-ups on the floor then do
your bench dips on one chair instead. So placing
the chairs 2 feet apart with my feet on the bed I
do push-ups, going into a deep stretch and not
quite locking out my elbows at the top. After 20
slow reps I do a stretch in the door jam, door-
away stretch for 30 seconds. Then I grab the door
knobs with feet on each side of the door, arms
extended, and pull my upper body up until my
chest touches the door, pumping up my lats
(back). Its a great push/pull super-set (but if
you are over 200 pounds then Im not too sure if
the door can take it or not) and I do 3 sets of
each exercise.

• 5 Then I do bench dips with my feet up on the
  bed, legs out in front of me bent at the waist,
  one hand on each chair, dipping down as low as I
  can go. After 15 reps of this, I stand in the
  doorway and contact the door jam with the side of
  each forearm and push upward-a great isometric
  contraction for the deltoids (shoulder), which I
  hold for 15 seconds. Finally, grabbing the
  doorknob with each hand I do isometric curls for
  biceps, holding the arms in the bent position for
  15 seconds.
• Im finished in 30 minutes from this
  weightless workout, pumped up all over, with no
  need to go searching for a gym. Ill resume
  regular weight training when I return home from
  this trip. As for aerobic activity, Carry your
  jumping rope with you!! I get a lot of aerobic
  activity from walking all the time while I am
  traveling.