Hotel CrossFit Workouts – Introduction
What’s a great hotel CrossFit workout when you’re on the road?
Whether you are an occasional or frequent traveler, you already know how challenging it can be to maintain your workout schedule when you are away from home.
Some hotels have great gyms full of all the equipment you need for a rewarding workout.
But other hotels have poorly equipped gyms, and some may not have a gym.
While you could give in and miss a few workouts when you’re away from home, that will significantly impact your fitness, strength, and even your health if you travel a lot.
You could even find yourself gaining weight on lengthy trips.
The good news is that there are plenty of workouts you can do that require little or no fitness equipment.
This article shares some of the best CrossFit workouts you can do using nothing more than a pair of dumbbells and/or some bodyweight exercises.
Use these workouts to stay in shape no matter how often or how long you have to travel.
12 Hotel CrossFit Workout WODS [Dumbbell/Bodyweight]
Whether your hotel has no gym or has a gym, but it’s just not very well equipped, these CrossFit workouts will help you stay in shape during your travels.
But, before you start any of them, make sure you prepare your muscles and joints by warming up correctly.
Begin with 5-10 minutes of easy cardio, for example:
- treadmill,
- elliptical,
- jogging
- jump rope,
- rowing,
and then do some dynamic mobility and flexibility exercises for your major muscles and joints.
Finally, do a few reps of the main movements in the workout you are about to do.
#1. Hotel Murph
This workout is based on one of the most famous CrossFit benchmark workouts – Murph.
Traditionally done while wearing a weighted vest, this version is shorter than the original and requires no exercise equipment.
Complete the following as fast as you can.
Do all the reps for the first exercise before moving on to the next.
Rest when necessary but remember, the clock is always ticking!
How to do it:
- Run 1 mile
- 50 pull-ups
- 100 push-ups
- 150 air squats
- Run 1 mile
#2. Tabata x 4
Tabatas are a very time-efficient form of interval training.
With Tabatas, you work for 20 seconds, rest for ten, and repeat for eight rounds or sets.
Regardless of what exercise you do, Tabatas are intense.
This hotel CrossFit workout involves four Tabatas to work virtually every muscle in your body in under 20 minutes.
How to do it:
Do eight laps of 20 seconds work/10 seconds rest of each of the following exercises.
Complete all the rounds for the first exercise before moving on to the next.
- Dumbbell thrusters (squat and overhead press)
- Bent-leg sit-ups
- Dumbbell goblet squats
- Push-ups
#3. Lower body circuit
This workout is all about your lower body.
It combines some bodyweight and dumbbell exercises to hit your legs from all sides and angles.
Because the leg muscles are so large and demand a lot of oxygen, this workout will also burn many calories and should provide a decent cardio workout.
How to do it:
Do five laps of the following sequence, resting 1-2 minutes between rounds.
- Dumbbell squat x 15
- Romanian deadlift x 15 with dumbbell
- Dumbbell alternating lunge x 10 per leg
- Bodyweight squat jumps x 10
- Bodyweight wall squat hold x 30 seconds
#4. Upper body circuit
You don’t need a lot of equipment to get a great upper body workout.
In fact, only a pair of dumbbells and a pull-up bar are required.
This is a companion workout to #3, the Lower Body Circuit.
You can do both workouts in the same session or do them on alternating days.
How to do it:
Do five laps of the following sequence, resting 1-2 minutes between rounds.
- Deficit push-ups (hands-on dumbbells) x 15
- Pull-ups x 10
- Alternating dumbbell shoulder press x 12 per arm
- Bent-over dumbbell row x 12
- Dumbbell skull crushers x 12
- Dumbbell biceps curls x 12
#5. Cindy
For reasons that have yet to be revealed, many of the CrossFit benchmark workouts are named after women.
Cindy is a great little hotel CrossFit Workout WOD that works your entire body in 20 minutes.
All you need is a pull-up bar.
Can’t do pull-ups?
Don’t worry – you can do a dumbbell back exercise instead, such as bent-over rows.
Alternatively, do bodyweight incline rows.
How to do it:
Do as many rounds of the following as possible in 20 minutes:
- Five pull-ups
- Ten push-ups
- 15 air squats
#6. Full-body blaster
Whether you’ve got your own dumbbells for traveling or your hotel gym has some you can borrow, they’re all you need for a great full-body workout.
This one leaves no muscle group untrained, including your all-important core.
How to do it:
Do three laps of the following exercises:
- Single-arm overhead lunges (left side) x 15
- Single-arm overhead lunges (right side) x 15
- Dumbbell floor press x 15
- Single-arm bent-over row (left side) x 15
- Single-arm bent-over row (right side) x 15
- Goblet squat x 15 with dumbbell
- Dumbbell curl and overhead press x 15
- Russian twist x 15 per side with a dumbbell
#7. Descending pyramid
This hotel CrossFit workout is a descending pyramid against the clock.
So, do ten reps of each exercise and then do nine.
Continue doing one less rep per round until you reach one.
Rest when you need to but remember, the clock is always ticking.
How to do it:
Do 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 of the following bodyweight and dumbbell exercises:
- Burpees
- Pull-ups
- Dumbbell front squats
- Deficit push-ups (hands-on dumbbells)
- Dumbbell curl and press
#8. CrossFit couplet
CrossFit workouts comprising two exercises only are called couplets.
Despite their simplicity, couplet workouts can be both challenging and effective.
They’re also very time efficient.
Do 50, 40, 30, 20, and 10 reps of the following two exercises as fast as possible.
Rest when you need to but remember, the clock is always ticking!
- Dumbbell goblet squats
- Dumbbell curl and press
#9. Burpee challenge
Short on time?
No equipment available?
No problem!
You can do this bodyweight-only workout in your hotel room.
How to do it:
Just complete the following as fast as possible, resting only when necessary.
- 100 burpees (complete with push-ups and jumps)
#10. 30-minute EMOM triplet
EMOM stands for every minute on the minute.
You start your set at the top of each minute and then rest until the next minute rolls around.
The faster you go, the more rest you’ll get until you start your next exercise or set.
This EMOM workout consists of three exercises and ten laps for 30 minutes.
How to do it:
Starting each exercise on the minute, do ten laps of the following three exercises:
- Dumbbell swings x 15
- Push-ups x 15
- Dumbbell goblet squats x 15
#11. Pushes and pulls
A thruster is a front squat paired with an overhead press.
This popular CrossFit exercise works almost every muscle in your body.
This workout delivers a full-body workout using just two readily accessible movements paired with pull-ups.
How to do it:
Do five laps of the following two exercises:
- Dumbbell thrusters 40 seconds/20 seconds rest
- Pull-ups/chin-ups 40 seconds/20 seconds rest
#12. 10-minute punisher
Ten minutes might not sound like a lot, but you can still have a great workout in this short timeframe if you really push yourself.
Do as many circuits of the following exercises as possible in ten minutes.
Rest when necessary but remember, that clock is always ticking.
Do as many rounds as possible in ten minutes:
- Burpee pull-ups x 3
- Push-ups x 6
- Bent-leg sit-ups x 9
The Best Travel Dumbbells
While your hotel might have a gym or dumbbells you can use for your workouts, some won’t.
Be prepared by taking a pair of dumbbells on your travels!
Alternatively, a good set of resistance bands or a suspension trainer like TRX means you can work out anywhere and anytime.
#1. Deiris Water Dumbbells
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Lugging a pair of dumbbells won’t be practical if you plan on traveling by plane.
If nothing else, you’ll pay a fortune in excess baggage fees!
These Deiris dumbbells are filled with water so that you can empty them between workouts.
Collapsed and empty, they’re light, compact, and will take up next to no space in your suitcase.
But, once filled, they’re heavy enough to provide a decent workout.
2. PANMAX Adjustable Dumbbells Barbell Set
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While this dumbbell set is not particularly heavy, it’s weighty enough for most high-rep CrossFit workouts.
But, best of all, the dumbbells can be joined to make a barbell, providing a very versatile training package.
This PANMAX Dumbbell Barbell Set is an excellent option for anyone who travels by car.
3. Bowflex SelectTech 552 Adjustable Dumbbell
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Sold in pairs, this adjustable dumbbell set from Bowflex goes from 5 to 52.5 pounds.
While they aren’t the cheapest dumbbells around, this product is the equivalent of 15 sets of weights!
Keep them in your car to have a great workout anywhere and anytime.
Hotel CrossFit Workout – Wrapping Up
Getting fit, losing weight, burning fat, and building muscle require effort and consistency.
A couple of workouts won’t do it.
Instead, you need to train several times a week for months at a time.
Missed workouts will severely undermine your progress.
Traveling can disrupt even the most carefully planned workout schedule.
Combined with eating on the road and less physical activity, you could lose fitness and gain weight when traveling.
With these tried and tested bodyweight and dumbbell CrossFit workouts, keep your training on track.
So, even if your hotel gym is not up to much, you can still stay on top of your fitness.
Rich is a NASM-CPT (Certified Personal Trainer), an