I’m currently a member of a gym in London with every machine, class and facility you would ever need. I enjoy exercise and don’t want to use travel or being in a hotel as an excuse for getting out of shape when I no longer have access to a gym. Therefore I’m planning and experimenting with a routine for strength and cardio that involves minimal equipment and easily packs in my suitcase. My current plan uses 3 bit of small kit:
- Ab wheel (left item on image below), this is optional as there are plenty of ab exercises possible without the use of equipment but the ab wheel targets other muscles groups and is small, light and packs easily in your suitcase.
- Resistance bands (middle item), loads of exercises possible with different difficulty levels and all 5 bands would fit in your pocket.
- Skipping rope (right item), great for your cardio and again packs away easily.
Here’s my “version 1” of an approx. 30 minute workout which is possible in a small hotel room. Skipping might not be possible, if so swap out for running on the spot with high knees.
Listed below are some resistance band exercises included with the guide that came with my purchase, there are many other exercises.
Page 1 
Page 2
More exercises
Here are a few more exercises worth considering that are well suited for a small space, requires little/no equipment yet challenging:
- Mountain climbers: a full-body exercise for core, upper and lower body.
- Inch work press-up: like a normal press-up but you start standing and crawl to the press up position and return to standing.
I’ll come back to this guide and make changes as I experiment at home, likewise if you have any tips and feedback then please let me know.
