Two major holidays are right around the corner, Thanksgiving and Christmas. While both are a great time to get together with family and friends, they also present unique challenges if you’re trying to lose or even maintain your weight over the holiday season.
The most obvious challenge comes with food. If everyone were being honest with themselves, we could agree that we’re more apt to overeat during this time of year.
A second challenge comes via a more hectic schedule. Many will be traveling which leaves little time to get to the gym and get a good workout in.
These two things alone are enough for anyone to find their pants fitting a little tighter by the end of the year.
But I want to help put a stop to that! Everyone wants to enjoy this holiday season without having to worry about what they’re eating and how their clothes are fitting.
The problem that everyone encounters is an excess of calories. Going back to the two challenges above, overeating + less exercise = a caloric surplus. A surplus of calories is the exact opposite thing you need if you want to maintain your results during this time of year.
So, what can you do about this? The solution is to change your workouts.
Now, I know I just mentioned that most find it difficult to get the gym around the holidays. But that’s mostly because a typical workout can last over an hour. That’s certainly hard to squeeze in when traveling across the country.
But that’s not what I’m recommending. The change I’m referring to is a workout that burns mountains of calories in 30 minutes or less. And that’s where density circuits come into play.
I’ve mentioned density sets and circuits before, but I think they really shine during the holidays. The reason being, you get a lot of work done in a short time without much rest. This provides a huge surge to your metabolism, making it easier to burn a lot of calories.
That, in turn, creates the perfect environment to combat the caloric surplus mentioned earlier. You’ll be able to enjoy the holidays, eat your favorite foods, and not worry about gaining some excess pounds.
As a refresher, a density circuit is a training method based around doing a pre-determined set of exercises as many times as possible in a specific amount of time.
To make these extra effective during the holidays, each workout you do will consist of two density circuits.
The rules are simple. For each circuit, set a clock for 12-15 minutes (depending on your time) and try to complete as many rounds as possible. Rest for 2 minutes between circuit 1 and circuit 2.
Here’s how you’ll set these up. Pick 5 exercises with the 1st being a lower body exercise, the 2nd and 3rd being upper body exercises, the 4th being a core exercise, and the 5th being a cardiovascular exercise (i.e. some type of conditioning exercise that gets the heart pumping).
So a sample workout would look like this.
Circuit 1:
- Goblet squat x 8
- Incline push-up x 6
- Batwing Row x 8
- Long Lever Plank x 10 breaths
- Treadmill Sprints x 1/5 of a mile
Circuit 2:
- Dumbbell Romanina Deadlift x 8
- Dumbbell Bench Press x 6
- 3 Point Row x 6/side
- Side Bridge x 5 breaths/side
- Farmer’s Carry x 80 steps
The beauty of these circuits is the variety. What I just gave you should be viewed as a template. There are hundreds of exercises you can choose between to create your own density circuits.
The key when using these is the intensity. You need to go hard during the allotted time and take rest only when absolutely necessary. That keeps them short and sweet, which is exactly what you need to ensure you get your workouts in.
When done correctly, this is a great training method to burn excess body fat and maintain lean muscle mass. And with the Thanksgiving and Christmas rapidly approaching, it’s a fantastic tool to use to stay in shape and prevent the dreaded holiday weight gain.
