WEEK 136 :: What Is The Best Workout With Limited Time During The Holidays?

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* Note: How can I win? Answer all questions in the order that they are asked.

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TOPIC: What Is The Best Workout With Limited Time During The Holidays?

For the week of: 11/12 - 11/17
Monday @ Midnight Is The Final Cut (Mountain Time, US & Canada).

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Most are still trying to workout during the holidays, but with more time devoted to seeing family, while still taking care of day-to-day things, can cause unwanted problems. What's your plan?

What is the best workout with limited time during the holidays?

What is the best plan for seeing a lot of family and still get to the gym?

Do you have an escape clause (or alternate plan) if you find yourself trapped and unable to get the workout in?

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Most are still trying to workout during the holidays, but with more time devoted to seeing family, while still taking care of day-to-day things, can cause unwanted problems. What's your plan?

What is the best workout with limited time during the holidays?
I head home from college during the holidays and the weights I have at home are not enough for me to match the same intensity at my college gym. Though this is the case, remaining motivated no matter what is the key. I take about 3-5 bodyweight exercises and work each one of them to failure. Here are some that I use:

1) Chair Dips
Dips are great muscle builders for your chest and triceps allowing you to build mass.

2) Push-ups
Pushups work your upper body a great deal and help keep that core strong as can be. If you can't do a regular pushups, do the bent-knee variety.

3)Squat Thrusts
Squats are known as the single greatest exercise for your body as it stimulates your whole body. Why not combine the squat with a jump showing plyometrics at its finest level. You will be building strong, powerful legs.

Others you can use include:
Jumping Jacks
Crunches
Planks

Also, don't be scared to do cardio. You can bundle up and do cardio outside or you can jog around the house. Sometimes, I watch Denise Austin's workout show in the morning and get a great cardio workout in.

What is the best plan for seeing a lot of family and still get to the gym?

Your family is more important than working out, but how about making working out a family activity. This is a great time to inform your family of the benefits of eating healthy during holiday time where people wonder how pounds are packed on. Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas are the big 3 holidays during the fall season that make us some of the laziest creatures when it comes to working out, but so productive in shopping for candy, food, or presents. You can change this by getting the whole family on a workout plan. The easiest time for this to be accomplished is to wake up bright and early in the morning for a jog or walk. I remember back in the day my parents use to wake my brother and me up to clean up the yards on Saturday. It was a set thing, so there were no surprises. If you establish a schedule and follow it, you will have less problems to worry about. Just remember to bundle up in the cold, so you won't get sick. If you don't have weights, you still can train with your bodyweight or items around the house. A broom can be used for not only side bends, but also to do biceps curls, squats, and tricep extensions. There is always something in your house that can be of great use.

Do you have an escape clause (or alternate plan) if you find yourself trapped and unable to get the workout in?

Luckily, I have a weight set at home, but a lot of people don't. There are common things in your house you can lift or do bodyweight exercises like squats, lunges, push-ups, or anything else fitness related. You want to keep your body strong and your heart pumping at its finest.

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TOPIC: What Is The Best Workout With Limited Time During The Holidays?

Most are still trying to workout during the holidays, but with more time devoted to seeing family, while still taking care of day-to-day things, can cause unwanted problems. What's your plan?

Luckily, I have weights in my basement so working out and still seeing friends and family shouldn't be too much of a problem. However, all the weights in the world won't make a difference if you don't budget your time appropriately. I plan on getting in some short, intense workouts, focusing on supersets and minimal rest time while performing compound exercises to get the most out of the limited training time.

What is the best workout with limited time during the holidays?

In an ideal setting, one would be able to get to a local gym or YMCA closeby to squeeze in a few workouts. The best workout would be one focusing on compound lifts, such as Deadlifts, Squats, Clean and Press, Bench Press, and Barbell Rows. To make the most of your time, you can superset antagonistic exercises, i.e., one set of Bench Press, one set of Rows, repeat. This way, you can rest your chest while working your back and vice-versa. Another way to make the most of your time is to run to and from the gym. This way, you don't have to take extra time doing cardio. If you're working out at home, you can do a few sprints up and down the stairs in between sets.

For those that don't have weights at home or a gym closeby, bodyweight exercises can be used. My personal favorite are burpees - if you don't know what they are, check this out: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/rossboxing2.htm To perform a burpee,

"Begin in a squat position with hands on the floor in front of you.

Kick your feet back to a pushup position.

Immediately return your feet to the squat position.

Leap up as high as possible from the squat position."

A set of 20 or so is quite exhausting, and works on your explosive strength as well as cardio conditioning.

Another bodyweight exercise requiring no extra equipment is the pullup. This is a great exercise that works a number of big muscles. I perform pullups in my basement, as the ceiling beams are exposed. These can also be performed on sturdy doorframes - just make sure you don't pull down the house!

I also like to perform push ups with my legs elevated - resting your feet on a chair or couch adds an extra challenge to this classic exercise.

Box jumps can also be performed at home by simply substituting a chair or couch for the box - make sure you're not wearing shoes and you can get a great leg workout.

Another leg exercise you can do is a one-legged squat. Because a bodyweight squat isn't that difficult, the one-legged squat is a bit of a challenge.

Just because you don't think you have exercise equipment available doesn't mean you dont; get creative! You can perform curls and shoulder presses with milk or paint jugs, or even bench-press your younger siblings!

What is the best plan for seeing a lot of family and still get to the gym?

While I prefer working out alone or in a small group to spend less time chit-chatting and more time pumping iron, it doesn't have to be this way. Making a trip to the gym a family experience is a great idea, especially as everyone has the tendency to pig out a little bit during the holidays.

Even if your family members don't want to get big and buff, there is plenty to do at the gym - treadmills, exercise bikes, pools - all of these are great ways to burn off those extra pumpkin pie calories. However, you don't have to leave your neighborhood to do so - organize a pickup football or basketball game, or have everyone take a jog or join in walking the dog.

If it's too cold outside, take it inside. Why not make a game out of it while watching TV? For every commercial for a dessert, do a set of push ups. Used car commercial? Crank out some sit ups. You may look weird doing it, but you'll be happy how you look on the beach when summer rolls around.

Ultimately, though, the key is time management. You can always get up early and hit the gym and then see family later in the day. Or, you can have your family drop you off at the gym while they go food shopping, and pick you up on the way back.

Do you have an escape clause (or alternate plan) if you find yourself trapped and unable to get the workout in?

With weights at home, I do have a nice escape plan if I get snowed in (which has happened before). I realize not everyone has this set up, but where there's a will, there's a way - bodyweight exercises and cardio can go a long way towards keeping you fit while seeing family. And if you can't get a workout in, it's not the end of the world. Chances are most people on this site workout pretty regularly, so a week off may actually do you some good, and you'll definitely be motivated to have some killer workouts when you get back.