Workouts for small spaces
It's always a good idea to have a "small space" workout for when you're visiting friends or travelling.
A resistance band is a handy bit of kit for this as it takes up less room than your pyjamas and many moves can be done without jumping up and down or knocking the pictures off the hotel walls.
Here's a quick routine you can download to your smartphone and complete with nothing more than a resistance band and a door handle. Logistics tip: make sure the door handle you lodge your band into is outward opening to prevent you flying across the room if someone enters unexpectedly. You have been warned!
Okay, so what is a resistance band? It's a stretchy length of material, often latex/rubber and sometimes with handles attached. In Pilates recently we've been using Sveltus bands which have loops all the way through them so you can transition between exercises swiftly and smoothly. The benefit of bands is that you have to control both aspects of the move. If you look at the picture of the man completing his bicep curl, he'll have to work to raise his hand and then gently return it back to the straightened position. This means that his muscles work against the resistance both while contracting and lengthening.
As ever, good technique takes care and attention so if you're unsure book in for a 1:1 and I'll show you how to get the best out of these tiny and wonderful gadgets.
If you have a band at home, though, why not give this plan a try?
