What would you do if you had access to barbells only twice a week?

That is the question that has been constantly on my mind for the past several days. It's almost a year away, but travel season looms ahead, and I don't want to repeat the headaches of this past one. I had to drive up to an hour to get to a gym sometimes, and often I had to pay as much as $11 for the privelege of lifting heavy things off the floor and putting them overhead. With that in mind, I have been thinking of ways to train in the hotel room, and I have also been going over the different ways to maximize my two days a week with access to barbells. Obviously I need to pick the exercises that give me the best training effect without replicating movement patterns that I can do without a barbell. For this reason, overhead pressing is out, because HSPUs are an extremely effective way to improve overhead strength. Right now I am thinking of a workout I used to do once a week or so that had me working power cleans and deadlifts on the same day. I would do 5x5 power cleans, increasing the weight each set, then add still more weight and do the same with deadlifts. I would like to start these days off with overhead squats. It would be high volume training, but as the rest of the week would be devoted to bodyweight, kettlebell and dumbbell single limb stuff, etc, I think it is within reason. If I remember right, the routine outlined in Starting Strength (I'm too lazy to run upstairs and look at my copy to be sure, I must be turning into a powerlifter) has trainees working power cleans and deads after heavy back squats, so it's certainly doable. If this is my Friday workout, then perhaps the Saturday workout would consist of weighted pull-ups and squats with chains or box squats.

The rest of the days would be devoted to skill practice, KB work, and bodyweight drills. I will bring my 53# KBs on the road, as well as my rings, and any day I can hang the rings I will do so for some muscle-ups.

So, the program might look like this:


Monday:
-Planche practice
-Pistols- work up to a single with 106#
-TGU
-KB snatches and swings


Tuesday:
-Short bending
-Planch practice
-One arm push-ups
-KB clean and press

Wednesday:
-HSPU
-Planche practice
-Pistols or sprinting

Friday:
-Fighter pull-ups
-OHS
-Power clean
-Deadlift


Saturday:
-Squat with chains or box squat
-Weighted pull-ups

Obviously this is not an ideal program, and I might have some ideas to improve it over the next several months, but it is a start, and I think it will help me make the most of the circumstances. I will keep posting about this as my ideas evolve.