Hello! Halfway through the week- woohoo! Last week I shared a quickie bodyweight hotel room workout that I did while I was in Milwaukee. Today, I’m sharing a dumbbell circuit that I completed in the small hotel gym. The beauty with this workout is you just need a few sets of dumbbells (can do it with just one set if that’s all you have) and a small space in order to complete.

I did my cardio beforehand so this doesn’t really have much traditional cardio, but if you work through the exercises quickly with little to no rest between rounds (always keeping good form- that’s more important than speed!), you should definitely break a sweat not long after you get going.

• Goblet Squats– try and go heavier than normal with this exercise since you’re only holding one dumbbell. Hold the butt of the dumbbell in your hands (like you’d hold a goblet of wine ;)… or a bowl!), place your feet in position so they are about shoulder width apart, toes and knees in line and at about a 45* angle to help open your hips so you can get lower. Squat down and then press back up.
• Push Press– You can grab heavier weights than you’d use for a strict shoulder press since you’re using momentum from the legs to help push the weights up. Start with the weights at your shoulders and sink into the legs and then explode up and press your weights up to the ceiling. As your arms come down, allow yourself to sink back into your slight squat/knee bend to catch the momentum of bringing the weights back to starting position.
• Burpee->row->push-up->press- How about that for a combo move?! For this one, you’re going through the moves of a traditional burpee, but adding in weights and some extra pieces to it. With your weights in your hands, squat down keeping your back straight. When the weights hit the ground, brace your core and jump back into a high plank. Do a row on the right, then the left, then a push-up before you jump your feet back into your hands and come up in that same flat back squat position. At the top, instead of jumping, just add a shoulder press.
• Deadlift w/row- Standing with your feet about hips width apart with dumbbells in each hand, hinge forward from the hips into a standard deadlift position. You want your knees to be soft (ie: not locked out), but you don’t want to be bending from the knees (that would be squatting). Make sure to keep your core engaged, shoulders pulled back and chest open so that when you hinge forward, there’s no curve in your back. When you’re in the hinge position, squeeze your shoulder blades together as you pull your elbows up & back. Release, come to standing & go again.
• Up, Up, down, down plank- Starting in a high plank position (core engaged, shoulders pulled on your back, shoulders, elbows and wrists in line, neutral gaze & straight line from your head to your toes), drop to a low plank one arm at a time. Press back up into a high plank and repeat. Try to make sure you switch leads (the arm going down into the forearm plank first) each time and try to make sure your core stays braced and you aren’t lifting your hips as you move from high plank to low plank and back up to high plank. Check out this video if you want a visual.

There ya go! I tried to hit on all the major muscle groups to get the biggest bang for my buck. Remember to do a proper warm up and cool down, as you should before and after every workout. I’d love to know if you try this!

Questions for you: Do you use hotel gyms or try to do something outside, in your hotel room or at a local studio?