Holiday Workout Blast For The Gym Junkie Blues

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One of the easiest things to find during the end of the year holidays, is a meal.  Every place you go, someone is trying to give you free food, and send you home with a plate of leftover.  And you being the kindhearted seminarian that you are, accepts the foil wrapped goodies with a smile, and a thank you!  After all, who actually has the willpower to turn down grandma, or grandma’s famous apple pie.  Knowing you can’t say no, makes it so much easier to say yes.

The holiday season for many of us is the busiest time of the year, but because we are so busy, we end up making choice that fit into our current high pace lifestyle, like eating fast food, and missing out on our workouts.  So to combat for the lack of time and the over indulgence, I’ve put together a proven kick-ass workout that can be utilized when time in crunched, and willpower is being challenged.

Bathroom Door Challenge 

Put a reminder by the bathroom door, that every time you go to the restroom, the cost for entry is a set number of repetitions of a specific exercise.  For me, it is my chin-up bar staring me down, reminding me, I’ve got 7 pull-ups or chin-ups every time I move in the direction of the bathroom.  By the end of the day, I’ve completed at least 56 pull-ups or chin-ups.  Which is awesome for me, because I wouldn’t have done 56 pull-ups or chin-ups in my time spent at the gym.

The reminder keeps you conscious about what your trying to achieve.  Keep in mind, that it doesn’t have to be the chin-up bar, it can be a piece of paper with the word push-ups on it, squats, jumping jacks, lunges, mountain climbers etc..  Preferably if you are going to do an exercise that requires less intensity, increase the number of repetitions, and vice versa, if you need more intensity, increase the number of repetitions.  Below you will find suggestions, but with the understanding that everyone is different, so tailor your numbers to fit your needs, but make sure that you are also challenging yourself.

Chin-ups 5-10 reps

Burpees 10-15 reps

Push-ups 10-20 reps

Squats 15-25 reps

Lunges 10-20 reps per leg

Jumping Jacks 20-50 reps

Pike Push-ups 10-15

Walkout Push-ups 7-15

TV Workout 

30 minutes of watching television, has an average of eight minutes of commercial breaks.  We as a society love our televisions.  It has become as normal in our lives as brushing our teeth, and this can be an extreme advantage for us television consumptionist.  Lets face it, we aren’t turning off our televisions anytime soon, so why not make the most of this time, by plugging into our workout during the commercial breaks.  As soon as they attempt to sell you something you don’t really need, mentally and physically plug in.  two minutes will challenge you, but will also be done before you know it.

The one piece of equipment I would suggest is a timer, your cell phone usually has that functionality.  If that isn’t available, when the commercial changes, so does the exercise.  Set your timer at 30 or 40 seconds.  If you set it at 30 seconds you should be able to fit in four exercises per commercial break, and if you set it at 40 seconds, three exercises per break.  If the break is longer then two minutes, restart the circuit.  Example below:

30 Second Slot Four Exercise

  1. Push-ups
  2. Mountain Climbers
  3. Body Saw Planks
  4. Side Plank with an Underdog

Be creative with your four slots, but you also want your four exercise to challenge you.  You’ve only got two minute, so make the most of it, but also try and make it challenging and fun.

40 Second Slot Three Exercise

  1. Jump Squats
  2. Walkout Push-ups
  3. Burpees

Remember to adjust your workout to match your fitness level.

15 Minute Holiday Blast 

You’ve been shopping and eating like normal people do during the holiday season, and you’ve manage to carve out 15 minutes between mash potatoes, visiting grandma, watching football games, and sleeping on the sidewalk for Black Friday sales.  So, delete the distractions, crank up the intensity for the 15 minutes you’ve set aside for your workout.  This workout is called The Count Down.  Your going to pick five of your favorite exercise, and put them in any order that makes sense to you.  Each exercise will be done separately, but each round consecutively with a short amount of rest, subtracting one repetition every round.

For example:  The exercise is push-ups, the number of repetitions is 10, and then you get to rest for 10 seconds before you start the second round of nine repetitions, nine seconds rest, eight repetitions , eight seconds rest, counting down until  you get to one repetition.  Rest for one minutes, and then start your next set of repetitions with the next exercise.  Move through all five exercises counting down from 10 to one.  To get the most out of this workout, utilize compound exercises:  push-ups, burpees, chin-ups, dips, overhead press, jump squats etc..

You will definitely feel the burn.  There it is, three ways to make the most of your time when you are pressed for time during the holidays.

Do you have any pointers or tips?    Do you have a story to share about your fitness experience, want to answer the fitness question of the week, or just want to encourage other?  Please go to OMFIT, we want to hear from real people, and share real stories.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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