Hiya! I'm an aspiring bodybuilding (read: scrawny little thing who wants to put on some muscle) and want to do some good workouts whilst 'on the road'.The hotels used by my firm don't have gym facilities (don't ask!), so I need suggestions for bodyweight exercises or any other way of getting a good full-body workout.Any ideas guys?

you can get everything you need from situps/pressups, just do as many as you can then the next night try to beat it.If you are in a city/major town there will be a number of training facilities where you won't need membership to attend. Local sports centres are pay as you attend and they will do a variety of fitness sessions, just choose what you fancy.

Mmmmm.... I appreciate the advice, however I'm not sure that situps/pressups alone will give a full body workout (how will they develop my quads/upper leg muscles for instance?)The 'pay as you go' gym idea is a good one, although in my experience they invariably require you to first attend some kind of pre-booked induction meeting or pay some nominal yearly charge (e.g. £25).

Easy way of getting round the gym induction is to become a qualified fitness instructor, not only will you be able to use any gym without an induction, but you will be able to invent your own hotel room exercises. e.g. 'bed' bench press etc...

Well, becoming qualified is a good idea... would be motivational in its own right so I think I'll give that a go.Not sure about trying to lift up the hotel bed as improvised weights though....!

Simple - you get yourself a bullworker.www.bullworker.co.uk

you could do worse than joining fitness first. It's cheap (even more so if you join one out of london) and while it's not the best in terms of facilities, it's got most things, and there's hundreds of then. so whatever redneck, hick town you unlucky enough to be working in, you should find one locally,

bull worker? the campest marketing i've seen this side of old compton street

one more thing... If you're weak and scrawny like me, i'd avoid the bullworker, i tried it and ended up totally brutally disillusioned, by my feebleness. It's the spawn of the devil that thing

had the same challenge over the last few years trying to stay fit for rugby.Legs: 1 leg squats. 2 sets of 10. depending on your level of fitness you may not manage 1 rep first time round so use a wall to guide you.Hamstring curls: kneel forward wedge heels under bed etc and control your 'fall' forward.normal squats with rucksack/computer bag.pull ups: I used to carry a telescopic bar to wedge in doorways but you can always find things for pull ups!Tricep dips leaning back on edge of chairPress up - but slow (2 seconds up,3 down)close arm press uphand stand press up - use a wall to balanceusual core stuff - crunch, side bridge etc etcarm curl with computer bag stuffed full of heavy stuff.to be honest not much point unless nutrition is right - that is the hardest bit for proper gains. eating 6 times a day (not chocolate!) etc etc.

the bullworker definitely works - try it, follow it properly and you wont be disappointed. Read the scentific research (dont fall for the OTT marketing bull).Its much more fun to use and you can measure your gains that simply doing push-ups and free squats (which is what I do as well).

Thanks AcnSM... out of interest, how do you do squats with the bull worker though?

Arnold, if you want to build mass you need to lift heavy weight and eat everything in sight - eat every 2 hours, and top it up with Cyclone or such products which will combine both creatine to maintain your energy levels and whey protein for muscle repair. Working out in the hotel room just wont cut it as you need to be lifting weight you can manage no more that 6 - 8 reps per set. I suspect you'll need to start with gym weights machines to build your stabilising muscles first - you wont see big gains from these but you need them before going on to free weights. You should be able to complete a full body work out in 45 minutes to 1 hour, allowing only 1 - 2 minutes of rest between sets. Get to a gym 3 times a week and eat protein rich foods every 2 or 3 hours, plus a protein shake after your workout. You will not build mass with anything less, so it's up to you to commit to it, and if that means paying to use a gym then you pay for the gains. Don't waste money on bullworkers or other such gimmick devices. There is only 1 way to mass and that is to lift heavy free weights and eat enough to fuel your muscular development.

they might work fror some people but I'm not comfortable pumping myself full of synthetic proteins.Swimming is a great workout and a swimmer's body is a hit with the ladies (or so I'm told!)A structured swim training programme can be downloaded from t'internet and all towns have a municipal pool with lane sessions you can use for a few quid. If you're not confident, swim lessons are very reasonable, either individual or in groups. And it's definitely better for you than creatine.

Sadly, I think Mars is right. What I really want to do is eat decent amounts of protein (which is good - I can continue doing this whilst 'on the road' just by carrying around a tub of protein shake) and lift heavy free weights so I can do compound exercises like squats, bench press, deadlifts etc. The problem I have is that the hotels I have to stay at don't have gyms and getting to/from one during the week will be v. difficult for me. Surely there has to be some kind of bodyweight programme I can do, which doesn't rely on heavy weights? Although I agree 100% that the ideal situation is to have access to a decent gym with free weights.

As ive mentioned on here before, a little knowledge is a very dangerous thing. Start off with don’t touch creatine (google why!)When you say bodybuilding, what do you actually mean? Unless you have been training regularly for 6 months+ (which I assume you havn’t if you call yourself a scrawny little thing) don’t even start to think about bodybuilding.I assume you mean become a bit more muscular and aim for a physique like a gymnasts? If so, then try exactly what John said and you will start getting the figure you want.Finally, if you do choose to take protein shakes (note: not creatine based) then make sure you take it regularly i.e. twice everyday and not just when you train. Also, use Reflex as most of the other stuff is crap and it actually tastes ok.Ps. Try joining a gym near your home off-peak and you can do 2/3 of your training in there.Hope this helps?