Bodyweight Shoulder Exercises Travel-Friendly Workout

4 bodyweight shoulder exercises in a 10-minute workout to get your shoulders sculpted, sexy, and toned without any equipment. Perfect for home, travel, vacation, or hotel workouts.

This post may contain affiliate links.

Bodyweight shoulder exercises

Shoulders are pretty much my favorite muscle group to exercise. First, they’re not quite as grueling as legs. And second, I tend to see improved muscle definition in my shoulders much more quickly than other muscle groups (hello legs and booty!) so it’s way more motivating to continue to put in the work.

But unlike legs, it’s are little more difficult to think of bodyweight shoulder exercises you can do while traveling or anytime you don’t have access to weights, bands, or other gym equipment. So I put together a little shoulder workout you can do that doesn’t require ANY equipment at all.

The perfect vacation shoulder workout

Now first, let me just say that you should not feel obligated to exercise on vacation. One week off from lifting weights is not going to set you back. It takes several weeks of muscle inactivity to lose a significant amount of muscle.

Vacations are meant to be fun, relaxing, and enjoyable. And if trying to sqeeze workouts is more stressful, don’t do it! In fact, taking a week of heavy lifting can be a good thing and it’s even recommended to include a deload week in your exercise regimen every couple months.

Deloading to improve your fitness

Deloading is reducing the workout volume or intensity or taking a break from resistance training altogether to prevent overtraining. By backing off on your workouts, you’ll regain energy, reduce the risk of injury, alleviate neurologic and hormonal disturbances, and reduce burnout.

Even though it sounds counterintuitive, but backing off your workouts for a week can actually help you improve your fitness over time. So relax, rest, or do a simpler and lower intensity workout and allow your vacation to re-energize your body and your mind.

Workout for healthy travel

But if you have plenty of time and thrive on routine, then this is the perfect little workout of bodyweight shoulder exercises to add in to keep your shoulders sculpted and toned while on the go.

Pair it with a lot of walking while site-seeing, a hike, or a quick jog around a local park to still get some exercise in without sacrificing your vacation experience.

One of my favorite ways to stay fit while traveling is to try local boutique fitness classes. In my experience the instructors have always been very welcoming and I’ve even gotten some great restaurant and activity recommendations from the locals!

I know it can seem intimidating to try something new, but just walk into studios you stumble upon and ask about drop-in rates. Don’t see any gyms or fitness studios? Check out ClassPass to what’s available nearby for some very affordable classes.

By the way, if you haven’t tried ClassPass, it’s a great way to try boutique studio classes at a huge discount from the outrageously overpriced drop-in rates! And you can get $30 off any ClassPass plan with this link!

Do you prefer to use bands for more resistance with travel workouts? Try this Travel-Friendly Resistance Band Shoulder Workout instead (I like the inexpensive medium Spri resistance band for this workout).

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Tracy (@fit.and.fulfilled)

And when you get home or back to the gym, try this Sculpted Shoulders Workout in 15 Minutes.

Shop My Look!

I’m wearing my absolute favorite Lululemon Align leggings. They’re so buttery soft with a comfortable high waist band for a totally smooth look that never pinches in! I’m also wearing a GapFit Breathe Open-Back tank that I especially love to wear when running outside. I’m pretty sure I own about 6 colors of these if that’s any indication of how great they are!

Need to refresh your workout wardrobe with some more affordable pieces? Check out some my affordable activewear finds from my Amazon Workout Clothing Haul!

The Workout

Complete the workout as a circuit, moving immediately to the next exercise with minimal rest.

Do 15-20 reps of all 4 exercises.
On the alternating exercises, one right and one left equals 1 rep.
After completely one circuit, rest for 30-60 seconds before starting the circuit again.

Complete the entire circuit 3 times.

Bodyweight Shoulder Exercises

Plank arm front reach
Pike push up
Plank shoulder taps
Arm circles

1. Plank Arm Front Reach

Start in a high plank position with hands directly under shoulders, head and neck neutral, and back straight (not arched or with butt up).
Reach your right arm straight out in front until arm is parallel to the floor then return to the plank position.
Next, reach out with your left arm and continue to alternate arms while keeping your core engaged to minimize rocking from side to side.

2. Pike Push Up

Stand with your heels together and toes facing out about 45 degrees (V position). Raise up onto the balls of your feet, keeping your heels high and knees facing 45 degrees out (without going past the toes). Keep your spine neutral and your ears, shoulders, and hips aligned.
Lower/Lift x 20 seconds, Pulse x 20 seconds, Tuck x 20 seconds

3. Plank Shoulder Taps

Start In a plank position with hands directly under shoulders, head and neck neutral, and back straight.
Keeping your core engaged to prevent rotating your body, shift your weight to your left hand as you bring your right hand to your left shoulder.
Return to the plank position and repeat on the other side, tapping your right shoulder with your left hand.
Continue alternating right and left shoulders.

4. Arm Circles

- Stand with your arms extended out to the sides and parallel to the floor.
- Circle your arms forward using small and controlled motions.
- After 15-20 small circles forward, repeat the small circles backward.
- Next, repeat the forward circles, this time making larger arm movements.
- Then repeat the large arm circles backward.
- Finally, finish with small pulses of your arms (up/down then forward/backward)