Although regular push-ups have their merits, and they are certainly on this list, we start off with one of their more intense variations – divebombers. Often done in the military, this exercise requires you to start in a piked position. You then lower your nose to the ground while maintain your arched position. Right before your nose hits the floor, flatten yourself out as if you are trying to slide under a bar and keeping your hips low to the ground drive your head upwards until you are looking straight ahead. Finally, do everything in reverse until you are back at the starting position. That was one divebomber pushup. While this may not be the best workout to do in your hotel room, that’s what hallways are for (at least until someone calls the police). The risk is worth it though, as this dynamic exercise works everything from your shoulders to your quads. And the best part? It’s easy to explain – just get on all fours and start crawling as fast as you can. But remember, these aren’t baby crawls…they’re bear crawls, and bears don’t crawl with their knees on the ground (at least we’re pretty sure). Okay, so this is the first of several exercises on this list that you can’t really do anywhere. Depending on your level of creativity though, you can get pretty close. All you need is a table, a low bar, or something else you can slide under and hold onto. Now, pull yourself upwards towards the tabletop. Rows are a very effective back exercise and this is probably the closest you’ll get to doing them on the road. This is probably one of the best leg workouts you are going to get without a gym, and luckily its pretty straightforward. All you have to do is take a large step with one foot and bend your knee to a 90 degree angle (as in the image above). Although you can walk forward with each lunge, you don’t have to. You can stay in the same spot if you want and just keep switching legs. If you have a wall handy, then prepare to destroy your quadriceps with this intense exercise. There isn’t much to explain, but if you can’t do one leg, do two. While there is no need get into the “how” of jumping jacks, as we assume everyone is familiar with the mechanics, familiarity breeds contempt and this workout is often overlooked for its perceived simplicity. It’s an amazing warm up though, and if you are having trouble finding space to run/jog, a thousand jumping jacks make for an excellent cardio workout. Depending on your grip (overhand, underhand, spread), you are essentially working out your entire back. Like table rows, however, this exercise requires something for you to grab. This exercise targets one muscle – your calves. You don’t need much space to do it, but if you find a slight ledge, as in the image above, it will allow you to have a greater range of motion. Although at first glance this exercise may seem trivial, beggars can’t be choosers. If you want to work out your shoulders without a gym, you need to improvise. Besides, after thousands of shoulder circles, we guarantee you that you’ll feel it. If you don’t though, put something in your hands. This is a dynamic exercise that only requires an elevated surface. Once you figure that part out, you’re ready to break a serious sweat. Just jump up onto the box/park bench/bed/etc. and then jump down again. Repeat this until your lower body is destroyed. Laying on your stomach, pull your head and upper back off the ground. Hold it for a second as you focus on contracting your back muscles and then lower yourself back down. Cycle through this several times, and you should feel a pretty good workout, especially in your lower back. As we promised, here is yet another push-up variation. All you have to do is find an elevated surface to rest your feet on and then proceed with push-ups as normal. The advantage of these is that they specifically target your upper chest, and depending on the degree of incline, your shoulders as well. Here is yet another powerful lower body workout. If you failed to find that perfect elevated surface for your box jumps, fear not, jump squats to the rescue. With your hands behind your head, proceed with a regular squat and once you reach your lowest point, explode upwards, jumping off the ground. Repeat. We promise we’re at least half way through the push-up variations. They are extremely effective and work numerous muscles groups so bare with us. Spiderman push-ups involve you emulating the superhero’s wall climbing movements as you are doing push-ups on the ground. Basically, every time you lower yourself, one of your knees will come up and tap your elbow. This is the only exercise on our list that is designed to deliberately target the triceps. In order to maximize the effect, if you can find a surface to raise your legs off the ground, the intensity of the workout is compounded. Your core is the most important part of your musculoskeletal system for obvious reasons (it’s right in the middle of your body), and leg raises are one of several exercises on this list designed to target this muscle group. You may find that they work out your quads as a secondary muscles group too. No, this is not the planking trend, it’s an actual exercise. To do this exercise you have to hold yourself up off the ground. You can also modify the exercise by turning to the side and holding yourself on one elbow. This is one of the best things you can do for your core. If one foot is too hard, use two feet. Whatever you do, make sure you include this exercise in your gymless workout. It is the only one on this list that targets your glutes and hamstrings. Here we have yet another group of exercises designed to target your abs. Although normal crunches are super effective by themselves, there are numerous variations that you can try in order to hit your oblique abdominals as well (bicycle crunches above). While this is primarily a cardiovascular workout, it works a number of muscles in the process. It can be a bit hard to describe, but in order to start this exercise you need to assume a push-up position. Now you are going to alternate bringing your legs up towards you hands. Keep doing this until you feel the burn. If doing a one-legged squat seems intimidating, don’t worry, it’s not as crazy as it seems. Start off by using a chair and then gradually wean yourself off of it. Finding a good spot to run while you are on the road is not easy. You don’t know the area, and if you’re in a bad part of town, it may just be best to stay in your hotel room. Oh well, so much for cardio. No! Quit that defeatist attitude. It’s back to the hallway…we’re doing sprints. Your traps (neck muscles) are one of the hardest parts of your body to target without having some sort of weight in your hands. In fact, unless you can find some parallel bars, hang from them upside down, and do “inverted pullups” you are going to need to improvise. The easiest thing you can do is stuff your suitcase and use that as a stand-in dumbbell. This is one of those workouts that will probably leave most people thinking, “yeah, right.” It’s really not that bad, though. If you can’t hold a handstand, find a door or a wall to support your legs. Also, put a pillow between your hands just in case you come down and find yourself unable to push back up. If you can’t go down at all though, that’s fine. Just try to hold a handstand. If you don’t know what a burpee is then all your childhood coaches must have had very kind hearts. They are the bane of every athlete’s existence, but there is a reason for that – they are extremely effective. As in the image above, you start by squatting down. Next, shoot your feet out in to a push-up position and guess what? That’s right, do a push-up. Now bring your feet back under you and explode upwards reaching as high as you can. That’s one burpee…but don’t stop there.
