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A few months ago, I found myself in a few concurrent dilemmas.

The first was that I was still nursing a foot injury that was beginning to make me feel hopeless. I had stopped even trying to heal it and I just accepted that it would hurt every day, walking would be uncomfortable, and I couldn’t exercise like I wanted to.

The second was that I had a relationship come to an abrupt end and I was very hurt by it, feeling many different mixed emotions each day.

The third was that I had a ton of bottled up drive that I needed an outlet for. I had some anger, some disappointment surrounding my own lack of achievements, and I felt it was time to start moving myself forward.

The conclusion I came to is that I should start pursuing strength training because it would help me build muscle mass, make me stronger, provide me with a positive discipline, and offer a ton of health benefits anyway.

Like I said, I couldn’t run anymore, which I missed a lot. So it became clear to me that I needed to start strength training.

The only problem was that I hated lifting weights. I had to get myself interested in it so I would go and do it effortlessly. I’m not a fan of forcing myself to do anything; I don’t like using will power if I don’t have to.

My philosophy is very much that the best workout is the one you’re actually going to do.

Hotel Workouts

One of the big ideas that got me enjoying strength training as a practice is the idea of ‘hotel workouts’.

Someone I like following mentioned in a podcast that he is in hotels for about half of the days each year. Because of this, he had to figure a way to ensure that he would get daily workouts in even though he can’t count on each facility having a gym, let alone having the same machines and options.

Because of this, he has to streamline his workouts so they utilize a minimal amount of equipment and so they can be done in almost any setting.

Without him disclosing exactly what he does, I was able to get a feel for the things he does as I’ve seen some of his pictures across social media and heard him mention things in other podcasts.

He’ll push and pull a weighted sled around (if it’s available), box with his brother and cousin, carry heavy bags, etc. I’ve also heard him mention push ups and pull ups a few times. He is a former professional fighter so a lot of his workouts will involve sparring, kicking, core training, running, shadow-boxing in a sauna. It gets very creative to increase the difficulty.

This got me thinking about how simple working out can be. I had a lot of resistance to strength training before because it felt overwhelming. I felt like I had to be in the gym, lifting heavy weights for an hour or so, and I thought it would all be too boring and hard for me. But listening to this guy helped me realize something I already knew; you can workout anytime, anywhere.

I think we usually carry around a preconceived notion that exercise has to look a certain way or that if you’re going to the gym, you’re either running on a treadmill or lifting heavy weights. I actually don’t do either of those things at my gym because I’m not interested in them.

I decided that starting with bodyweight movements would be simplest for me, easiest because I didn’t have to worry about my form as much as with weights, and I could do them every day since I wouldn’t even need a gym.

That’s why I preach about helpful programs like Movement 20XX or Athlete 20XX which are very conducive to the idea of ‘hotel workouts.’ They require little equipment, are mostly bodyweight-oriented, and can be anywhere and anytime.

This helped tremendously with the overwhelm.

I also accepted that the routine of working out is what’s truly important, not how heavy the weights are right away. It’s more important to build a positive habit than to try to hit it hard right away and burn out. Like everything else I talk about on this blog, I want to adopt these things for life, not just a brief period of time.

So I renewed a gym membership that I previously had and started going very often. I would go and do the simplest workouts: push ups, pull ups, squats, lunges, stair step-ups for my legs, wall sits, farmer’s carries, balancing on one foot on a Bosu Ball, tricep dips, and peddling on a stationary bike. Incredibly simple.

These are basically all things I could do any day, anytime, anywhere, etc. It has come in handy lately when I won’t have time to go to my gym, so I just use a few of my trusted workouts while I’m at home or at my parents’ house.

Last week, I was in a time crunch while at my parents’ house, but I still wanted to get some kind of workout in. I knew I kept a kettlebell in the basement, so I went down there and just did 3 or 4 long sets of kettlebell swings.

This is not like the old me to do this, but I feel 100 times better. I am more proactive, much more consistent, and my results are better than they’re ever been. Good work gets rewarded.

Now I have a habit of working out locked into my life. The best part is that I want to go because I love how it makes me feel.

It’s so locked in, that everyone I talk to assumes I’m going every single day and if they’re taking up a chunk of my time, they’ll say things like,

“Are you sure you can? I don’t want to keep you from going to the gym, I know you love going.”

That’s how you know the routine is locked in.