Don’t Let That Hotel Room Make You Fat

There’s An App For That.

Talk about the overstatement of the year, especially when fitness and losing weight seems to be on everyone’s mind. There truly is an app for everything, including my favorite: “I travel a lot and love to eat cupcakes and drink Veuve Rose six nights a week and it’s making me fat.”

Technically, that’s not the real name of the app, but the one I’m referring to and have considered my mobile BFF throughout the country for over six months now is the Nike Training Club App (NTC). It’s a free app you can download directly from the iTunes store and has been a lifesaver during my crazy travel times.

We have enough excuses for skipping the gym, travel doesn’t need to be one anymore.

All the workouts can be done in small quarters (i.e., your hotel room) and more than half don’t need any additional equipment like mats or weights. While most hotels have gyms, not all do (or like the ones in Vegas, it’s an additional $23/day for a one-time use). We have enough excuses for skipping the gym, travel doesn’t need to be one anymore.

My favorite part about this app? The Get Focused program, which offers 14 different body-focused workouts, each lasting only 15 minutes. Even if a scheduled workout isn’t on your agenda for the day, for whatever reason, we almost always have 15 minutes to spare and NTC makes it too easy to skip.

Workout scenario

Imagine this scenario: You’ve finished your day of meetings and you have about an hour to get ready for dinner with a few co-workers. You know it takes only 40 minutes to get ready, including shaving your legs and drying your hair. Instead of logging onto Facebook or Pinterest, open your iPhone or iPad and turn on the 15 minute “Cardio Killer” app, set it to your favorite playlist or Pandora station, and get your sweat on.

Don’t worry if phrases like “alternating froggers” confuse you, there is a quick video that shows exactly how to conduct the movement in a safe and efficient manner.

No equipment is required for this workout, and in just 15 minutes (albeit hard and sweaty ones), you’ll do a minute of alternating froggers, a minute of burpees, 30 seconds of squat holds, 30 seconds of squat jumps, a minute of 2 -feet plank side hops, 30 seconds of  tuck jumps, 30 seconds to recover and repeat the sequence twice.

That’s less time than two entire Dave Matthews songs, trust me. It goes by fast. And don’t worry if phrases like “alternating froggers” confuse you, there is a quick video that shows exactly how to conduct the movement in a safe and efficient manner.

Once you’re finished, you can track and save your workouts, track progress and even get bonuses and rewards.

Custom-built workouts

NTC has more than 60 full-body custom-built workouts with 90+ multi-dimensional drills exclusively created by Rihanna’s personal trainer Ary Nunez and followed by some of the world’s best athletes, including Paula Radcliffe, Hope Solo, Alex Morgan, Kara Goucher, Shawn Johnson and many others. All of the workouts are set up interval style and can be completed in 15-, 30- and 45-minute increments.

The other great thing about NTC is that once it’s downloaded, you don’t need an Internet connection to work out (again, don’t let that additional hotel fee keep you from working out). Users can share workouts, and unlock reward content throughout milestone workouts.

For every minute of training, you get closer to exclusive rewards like personal training advice (again, this is free!) where your hard work unlocks embedded reward content as you reach training milestones and earn badges.

You can opt for a workout in one of the following categories:

Get Lean: High interval cardio drills to slim down

Get Toned: Light weights and intervals to add definition

Get Strong: Increased weights and reps to build strength

Get Focused: 15-minute workouts to target specific areas (like butts, arms, legs, back, abs and more)

The different workouts range from beginners to advanced, so the app developers (and I) firmly believe there are programs to suit every individual’s needs. According to the Nike website:

The app descriptions make workout selection an easy and intuitive process. Make sure you preview the drills for each workout before you start, so you know what to expect and what equipment you might need. Detailed instructions and videos ensure you know how to perform each drill.”

It’s literally a technological advancement that allows you to have a personal trainer in your room for free. With no invasion of your privacy.

Successful workout and fitness goals rely heavily on setting and meeting goals and NTC can help there as well. Say for the month of March you set a goal of working out 900 minutes the entire month. Sounds lofty and difficult to calculate, but not with NTC where you can set goals and track your progress each day. It’s a great way to keep yourself accountable and on track, even while out of town.

So next time you want to complain your hotel room is making you fat, just remember: There’s An App For That.

This article was featured on Culture Map, Houston’s Daily Digital Magazine in the “No Excuses/Fitness” section.