Last Updated on May 21, 2023 by Michael Brockbank
Normally, I love staying in Hampton Inns. During normal times, I can get in some hotel fitness by swimming or visiting the exercise room. However, these are not normal times and all the fun stuff is closed. So, now what?
I suppose that really depends on your imagination and motivation to maintain healthy practices.
And since I challenged my 20-year-old to see who can lose the most weight in 30 days, I need to make sure I stay moving. Unfortunately, I packed up my Xbox Kinect. In retrospect, I should have brought it with me.
Why am I in a Hotel?
In the middle of February, the landlord said that my roommate and I had to be out by the end of March because he wanted to sell the house. He offered to sell it to us, but the FHA loan wouldn’t cover the amount of damage.
He was a poor landlord who never fixed anything, including a leaky roof that wound up covering my office in mold.
Fast forward a bit and we found a house to buy. Unfortunately, we don’t close on it until April 30th. So, I moved into the Hampton Inn in the meantime.
And I can tell you, I’m already breathing better than I was at the house. I’m not waking up with headaches constantly, and the temperature is consistent.
Not all of the heating ducts were connected properly in the old house.
If you want optimal health, it starts with where you live!
Before you ask, no, the landlord didn’t care about the global pandemic. He just wanted us out so he could start the selling process. We even offered to pay for the next month before moving into the new house.
No Hotel Fitness Amenities
So, perhaps the worst part about this experience is the hotel fitness amenities are shut down because of COVID-19. Add in the fact that I am also next door to a Top Golf which is closed, and we have my own personal hell.
It’s like life is saying, “Here, look at all this cool stuff that you cannot do. Nya nya…”
At any other point in time, this next month would have been heaven for me. Sigh…but no, we have a virulent virus sweeping across the world freaking everyone out.
Good times.
My Own Hotel Fitness Plans
OK, since I am unable to relax in a hot tub or go swimming in a chlorinated pool, I have to come up with my own way to lose as much fat as possible before April 30th. And since I am feeling far more relaxed, I’m sure I can come up with something.
If I would have brought the Xbox Kinect, I could easily melt away the time and fat. Well, it’s now in a box deep within my storage unit.
What else can I do?
Breaking Personal Records
I’m all about breaking personal records. It’s one of the ways I gamify fitness to keep my head in the idea of losing weight. And I can access all of my personal bests using Exercise.com.
For this month’s hotel fitness, I’m going to work on:
- Push-Ups
It’s been a while since I set my push-up record, and I’m looking forward to shattering the previous number. - Lying Leg Raises
Luckily, I remembered to pack my leg weights. With 10 extra pounds, I will start to train myself to break this record quite easily. - Planks
I haven’t set a plank record since…2014? I think? So for April, I am going to work on that as well. - Dumbbell Reps
Unfortunately, Exercise.com doesn’t track repetitions in some of the weighted workouts. But, I already know how many reps I can do with 20-pound dumbbells. It’s my goal to surpass that number.
What I’ll do is stick with my workout schedule of one set of everything at 10 am, 3:45 pm and 8:45 pm. Being isolated in the hotel for fitness and away from anyone lets me try my exercise experiment without interruption.
Essentially, I am picking five exercises to do three times per day, all of which are less than 10 minutes. As I am a desk jockey, I just need something to break up the day.
Something else I can try is to get every one of my records within the top 100 of the Exercise.com website.
Checking What Exercises I’ve Never Done
One of the things I want to work on this month to get in some hotel fitness is to check what exercises I haven’t done in the past. As there are thousands of ways to move the body, there is plenty I can do to experiment.
It’s a good way to find exercises that you might like which you never thought you’d be doing. For instance, I thought planking was dumb until I started doing them. It turned out to be one of my favorite exercises overall.
My point is that you’ll never know what your cup of tea is without trying. You may just come across something you love doing that you had no idea existed.
Lapping the Outside of the Hotel
Since I can’t swim laps, I can surely walk them. The Hampton Inn isn’t all that large, so I’ll periodically go outside and do perhaps three laps or so.
Unfortunately, it recently snowed. Which means the walks are a bit chilly. However, it takes an awful lot to make me cold. I’ve done quite a few laps around the hotel already.
Being in the middle of nowhere, Centennial, I don’t have immediate access to beautiful paths or nature. It’s a bit of a bland walk, but at least I’m moving.
And that’s what really matters.
Keeping My Calories in the Green
The biggest part of hotel fitness, at least for me, is keeping an eye on my caloric intake. This is when I track everything I eat through MyFitnessPal while tracking calorie burn through the Fitbit Charge 3.
This is the driving force behind how I lost 80 pounds so far while being able to keep it off. True, I’ve kind of grown stagnant over the past year or so. But, keeping an eye on how much I’m eating prevented from going back up to 300.
Since the coronavirus outbreak, the hotel is handing out sack breakfasts instead of a full-functioning kitchen. Which is a bit of a bummer, but it also means I won’t stock up on carbs first thing at an all-you-can-eat buffet.
At least they’re bagging up oranges and granola bars, which is ideal to help me lose weight.
Get in a Lot More Writing
The physical aspect is only half of maintaining good isolated hotel fitness. Keeping your mind sharp is also a major part of health. For me, it’s all about keeping the mind busy and occupied with other things.
And since I don’t have the same interruptions now, I can get a lot more work done this month.
After all, I have three blogs, YouTube channels, clients and a novel to take care of. I don’t want to waste this opportunity and make sure I keep myself busy.
Keep Yourself Moving, But Keep Yourself Safe
The key to losing weight is making sure you keep yourself in motion. However, you want to make sure you’re doing so in a safe manner. Luckily, I have very little interaction with anyone here at the hotel.
Try not to stress over the situation. Think of it as a way to accomplish some things around the house you keep putting off.
Be safe out there.
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