I have designed 3 free workouts you for this holiday season. I was able to do them while traveling for Thanksgiving.

Over many years, I have learned to incorporate exercise into my vacations.  A subject which I have written about in past blogs.

I think it’s an important topic to share with you because exercise is vital to me, and I have always made it a priority.

For Thanksgiving, I was in Chicago, the windy city. A fun little fact; I learned that the town is not named the windy city for its weather, but rather it is a metaphor for its politicians.

One of the greatest things about my visit to Chicago was the amount of walking I did there. I walked to stores, The Art Institute of Chicago, and restaurants.  Compared to my life in Rochester, NY, it was an increase in my daily walking.

This vacation, like others, I dedicated my mornings to exercise.  On vacations I don’t wake up super early to exercise, I simply take my time in the morning then work my way into the fitness room or space that I will be using to exercise.

Morning Routines

One morning I did a combination of biking, rowing, and weightlifting.  I spent 15 minutes on the bike then 10 minutes on the rower.

To follow up my cardio, I did:

1. Deadlifts with dumbbell rows
2. Supine chest flys
3. Dumbbell squats
4. Pushups
5. Pilates mat work
6. Reclined hamstring stretching

Yoga workout

Another day I spent practicing yoga. Below is the list of poses and sequence I did them in.

1. Childs pose
2. Cat/Cow
3. Quadruped
4. Cobra
5. Sun Salutation A (3 times)
6. Sun Salutation B (3 times)
7. Warrior 1/pyramid pose/low lunge/low lunge with torso twist (twist towards the front leg)/ proposal pose/lizard pose/runners stretch/Split
8. Vinyasa-downward dog/plank/upward dog/downward dog
9. Repeat on the other side of the body
10. Vinyasa-downward dog/plank/upward dog/downward dog
11. Warrior 2/ side angle/half moon/standing split/chair/ revolved chair/chair/ forward fold
12. Vinyasa-downward dog/plank/upward dog/downward dog
13. Repeat on the other side of the body
14. Seated forward bend
15. Boat pose/ half boat pose
16. full wheel (3 times)
17. headstand
18. Reclined twist (both sides)
19. Savasana

Another variation

Try this combo I did! I started with 15 minutes of biking then 1 mile of running at top speed (make sure you walk it out after the hard run). I spent a minute bringing my heart rate down.

Weightlifting for the morning:

1.  Supine triceps extension
2. Standing biceps curl
3. Decline situps
4. Decline torso twists
5. Supine straight arm pulldown with a medicine ball
6.  Yoga stretches for my upper body. Childs pose/Childs pose side stretch/Childs pose with a twist

These are a few suggested workouts that you can try.  If you are uncertain with the exercise vocabulary then just google it.  The images and videos of the activity will come up on your Google search.

With all the activities mentioned, you should have no problem maintaining your weight during the holidays.  Also, you don’t have to spend your whole morning exercising either.  The bottom line is to stay active.