Jet-Lagged Hotel Gym Workout and Buffet Abuse

Date: Wednesday 13th October, 4.50 am
Location: Royal Sonesta Hotel Gym, Boston.

Workout - 60 seconds rest between sets
Dumbbell Chest Press - 15@50lbs, 13@50lbs, 6@50lbs - failure on last two sets.
Upright Row with Dumbbells - 3 x 10 @40lbs
Pulley Ab Crunches - 3 x 20 @58lbs
Dumbbell Shoulder Press 10@35lbs, 7@35lbs, 6@35lb - nearly failure on each set.
Push Ups - 11, slow, high quality

3 minutes of mobility work to finish.

Time: 28 minutes

Nutrition (according to my Leangains experiment)
10g BCAA 10 minutes before session
10g BCAA 1 hour after
10g BCAA 2 hours after
Brunch @10am - buffet abuse - 500g smoked Salmon, 4 eggs and various fruit
Late Lunch @ 5.30pm - two portions of broccoli and chicken - I picked off the bread coating
Late Dinner @9pm - 12oz steak, salad and a glass of red wine.

I hit the heath and fitness centre before 5am, clutching goggles and a towel, naively assuming that the 24-hour opening would include the pool. Alas, it was closed.

I had intended to rest from weights for longer (more like 10 days) but the allure of the fitness room was too much, especially given that compared to the usual rubbish you find in hotels, the equipment was actually okay.

The dumbbells only went up to 50lbs, so I had to adjust my reps accordingly, but I started to fail surprisingly early on the chest press after an initial 15-rep glory set.

The whole session was pretty random and intense. There was a lot of grunting and shirt removal. When you are the only person awake in the whole hotel you can pretty much do what you like. It was nice to get medieval with the dumbbell upright row - I had forgotten how much aggression you can put into those once you get the rhythm going.

Later, after my 16-hour fasting window was over, I hit the breakfast buffet. Smoked salmon, boiled eggs and fruit were the only things I could eat from the display, so I made it my business to eat a lot. I could see the manager eyeing me nervously from the behind the bar as I repeatedly spooned the delicately rolled salmon pieces onto my plate and asked the waitress to get more boiled eggs. He knew a pro when he saw one.