Post: #1

Hi all,

How do you usually find a way to hit the gym when you're abroad for a couple of weeks ? I will most likely be travelling for a few months and will be moving from place to place.

Any tips is welcomed.

Thank you

Post: #2

Are you going to be staying in Hotels? I'm sure some of them will have gyms. If not, just try to look up casual passes to the local gyms in the cities you visit as an alternative.

Post: #3

(09-28-2014 06:07 AM)UnW Wrote:  Are you going to be staying in Hotels? I'm sure some of them will have gyms. If not, just try to look up casual passes to the local gyms in the cities you visit as an alternative.

I'll sometimes hit hotels, in that case it would often solve the problem (would only book one where there is a gym) but I guess most of the time I will rent airbnb pads.

Since I will mostly stay 1 week in the cities I visit, I don't think that passes are an option, but I wonder if there would be the possibility to pay for every session in countries in Sout-East Asia and South America

Post: #4

Perhaps this is an option...

pdfYou Are Your Own Gym - The Bible Of Bodyweight Exercises For Men And Women.pdf

http://www.docdroid.net/idlt/you-are-you...n.pdf.html

Post: #5

Part of working out is about making a habit stick.

This is why I would suggest anybody who works out with weights to have a separate workout that doesn't involve the gym, just bodyweight movements or something similar.

That way when you travel, it's problem solved, just hit your bodyweight workout a little harder. This is the biggest reason why I train headstand pushups, ab wheel rollouts, front and back levers (unlikely to be able to do while travelling but certainly not impossible), pullups, planche progressions, and pistol squats. I don't care as much about making gains as I do about always having something to do that's familiar, no matter where I'm at.

So for the OP, train the headstand pushup and pistol squat in your regular gym routine and you'll never be without the ability to get swole.

Post: #6

I think Hades has the best suggestion.

When I travel in the US I can generally find a powerlifting or crossfit gym reasonably close by and can go there for weight workouts. Most hotel gyms don't have anything higher than 50 lb dumbbells and and I've never been to one that had barbells. Traveling internationally is really tough. The barbell training culture isn't as big in other countries isn't as big and it can be difficult to find gyms with the right equipment. Usually there's just one or two in a metropolitan area and google search isn't very effective. The best thing to do is find a local who looks like they lift and ask them where the best place in town to go is.

The bigger problem I have is the jetlag. Sleep is so important to performing well in the gym that I struggle to do workouts for a day or two after I've been on a plane for more than 5 or 6 hours.

Post: #7

Hotel gyms are very rarely well equipped and don't have heavy enough dumbbells. I think even expensive hotels are behind the curve, a lot of people today lift weights and do crossfit etc.

What I like to do is Google for public parks. Almost all cities have some park with pull up bars and dip bars. That's in Asia or similar without a bodybuilding culture, otherwise in Europe and elsewhere there are usually cheap gyms.

Post: #8

Thank you very much for your useful answers. Obviously, if I have no other choice I will use bodyweight exercices (nice guide by the way reyemad).

So you think that trying to find gyms and negotiate daily passes would not be a viable option in South East Asia especially ?

Post: #9

I don't know about south east asia but I've never had a problem getting a day pass - except at an exclusive gym in London that only did personal training sessions. The hardest part has always been finding the gym. Once you know where it is just go in and ask if you can get a day pass. Most places offer an affordable option ($10-$20), the ones that didn't (with the exception of the one noted above) just let me work out for free.

Post: #10

Gyms in SEA are expensive and want to sell yearly memberships. If you have local knowledge there are usually plenty of jungle gyms available at little cost. In Bangkok I knew of two where one year membership was $5 and a $1 pr. training. Not luxurious mind you and you will be the only foreigner.

Post: #11

(09-28-2014 03:45 PM)berserk Wrote:  Gyms in SEA are expensive and want to sell yearly memberships. If you have local knowledge there are usually plenty of jungle gyms available at little cost. In Bangkok I knew of two where one year membership was $5 and a $1 pr. training. Not luxurious mind you and you will be the only foreigner.

So you believe most of the gyms will not offer daily passes at high prices relatively speaking (5-10$/day) ?

Also, how do I find these jungle gyms ? Do they have dumbbells/barbells ?

Post: #12

(09-28-2014 05:15 PM)AwFkBye Wrote:  So you believe most of the gyms will not offer daily passes at high prices relatively speaking (5-10$/day) ?

Also, how do I find these jungle gyms ? Do they have dumbbells/barbells ?

This is a jungle gym.


You can do all kinds of stuff on it like pullups, dips, flags, front and back levers. Lots of pretty good barstarzz type athletes do the bulk of their work at a playground. Unfortunately they don't have barbells but that would be pretty cool.

Post: #13

(09-28-2014 05:15 PM)AwFkBye Wrote:  

(09-28-2014 03:45 PM)berserk Wrote:  Gyms in SEA are expensive and want to sell yearly memberships. If you have local knowledge there are usually plenty of jungle gyms available at little cost. In Bangkok I knew of two where one year membership was $5 and a $1 pr. training. Not luxurious mind you and you will be the only foreigner.

So you believe most of the gyms will not offer daily passes at high prices relatively speaking (5-10$/day) ?

Also, how do I find these jungle gyms ? Do they have dumbbells/barbells ?

Look for public facilities like in Bangkok the Thai-Japanese Youth Center or similar public places, lots of them around, but difficult to spot in crowded highrise cities. If they have a pool, they'll usually have some weight equipment.

Otherwise yeah, public parks often have some weightlifting equipment and you can run and look at fit asses on your route.

I generally refuse to pay the extortionate fees for training in Asia pr. day, because in Bangkok it is around $25 pr. session which is insane.

Overall, I'd say it is easier to cut during travel than to bulk. Maintain with bodyweight and get some cardio in.

Post: #14

Getting a body weight back workout is the trickiest part. I can do chest, arms, shoulders and legs in a hotel room, but do you guys go to playgrounds to find a suitable pull up bar?

I'll be traveling all of November and December (Thailand and China) so I'll need either a gym visit at the very least once a week, or plenty of body weight workouts (I'm loath to skip heavy weights for an entire two months though, but single session prices are indeed prone to being exorbitant in some countries or cities).

Post: #15

I'm using my hotel gym right now. The only barbell is on a smith, fuck that. But there's a pretty nice selection of dumbells, so I'm adapting all movements to use dumbells.

While I'm travelling, chances are I feel like shit from jetlag and/or being hungover. So I'm not pushing for gains while I'm travelling, just basic maintenance. If that means I gotta drop my weights by 10-20% then so be it.

My body feels weaker so there's a fine balance; obviously still want to push myself for a great workout, but at the same time I don't want to overdo it.

I think it's better to just shoot for maintenance while travelling to keep yourself fit. Once you're back home and get back into your routine, resume as usual.

Post: #16

(09-29-2014 12:43 AM)MikeS Wrote:  Getting a body weight back workout is the trickiest part. I can do chest, arms, shoulders and legs in a hotel room, but do you guys go to playgrounds to find a suitable pull up bar?

I'll be traveling all of November and December (Thailand and China) so I'll need either a gym visit at the very least once a week, or plenty of body weight workouts (I'm loath to skip heavy weights for an entire two months though, but single session prices are indeed prone to being exorbitant in some countries or cities).

why don't you use one of those 20 buck pull up bars? take with you or go shopping there.

Post: #17

(09-29-2014 12:43 AM)MikeS Wrote:  Getting a body weight back workout is the trickiest part. I can do chest, arms, shoulders and legs in a hotel room, but do you guys go to playgrounds to find a suitable pull up bar?

I'll be traveling all of November and December (Thailand and China) so I'll need either a gym visit at the very least once a week, or plenty of body weight workouts (I'm loath to skip heavy weights for an entire two months though, but single session prices are indeed prone to being exorbitant in some countries or cities).

PM me for gym suggestions in Thailand, I know of cheap places in Bangkok, Phuket and Pattaya.

If you're staying in the same place for a month or so, then I'd consider buying a kettlebell. Can get some pretty good workouts with it and takes up no space, though obviously you don't want to be lugging it around more than necessary. Since a kettlebell is mostly just iron, you can probably sell it on for close to purchase price.

Post: #18

Definitely check out the hotel gym first and foremost... since usually not really busy, IF there's a hunny in there it's a great spot to run gym game you normally wouldn't be able to, at a typical large gym in the city.

Secondly, some of the best workouts I've ever had were dropping the weights when on the road, and doing 100% body-weight workouts in the hotel room. Feet up on bed for inclined pushups, regular pushups, chair tricep dips, declined pushups, crunches.. Hell I even repped out bicep curling the desk chair before.

Granted you might lack the weight, but high rep workouts can make you really swollen if you typically do 10-12 or less reps with weight.

Post: #19

(09-28-2014 01:36 PM)Ensam Wrote:  I don't know about south east asia but I've never had a problem getting a day pass - except at an exclusive gym in London that only did personal training sessions. The hardest part has always been finding the gym. Once you know where it is just go in and ask if you can get a day pass. Most places offer an affordable option ($10-$20), the ones that didn't (with the exception of the one noted above) just let me work out for free.

My experience is limited to different cities in the USA, but I think a lot of gyms here in general don't even bother with people that don't want to become members which means not letting out of town people use their facilities. A lot of them do give out free trials, but that's only to locals. I was in Seattle recently for a week and I pretty much had to lie about just having moved there in order to have them give me a trial. They asked for ID, and upon seeing my PA driver's license, they asked if I had anything else that could prove that I was from Seattle. I lied that I literally just moved there for work, had no time to settle in thus no bills or anything else that could prove I was a local. I was up to my eyes in bull shit that day but eventually they let me use their gym. Probably would not have even attempted this hoax, but I lied initially and they kept forcing me to lie further in order to cover up previous lies.

In terms of hotel gyms they're hit or miss. I've been to Hyatts that have a lot of machines and bar bells, which I guess is good for upper body day. But no squat rack or anything along those lines. Other hotels will have little more than a tread mill or two, and maybe other types of cardio equipment if you're lucky.

If you're traveling for a long period of time, I'd recommend figuring out a body weight regimen, as it can be quite annoying negotiating with the salesmen at various gyms and having to hear the sales pitch every time you switch places.