Whether you’re celebrating the holidays at home or on the road, staying active is always a good idea. It’s important to celebrate little wins and give yourself grace, especially when schedules are erratic around the end of the year. As MYX coach Garner Pilat reminds us, having a healthy relationship with exercise will serve you year-round.
“It's always important to move your body to feel good but to not feel like you have to work harder because you ate X,” she explains.
Garner has designed a mini Thanksgiving Day workout just in time to kick off the holiday season. This 5-move F.E.A.S.T. circuit will get you sweating and feeling good. And the best part? There’s no equipment required, a perk that other Thanksgiving-themed workouts might not offer.
Froggers: The frogger is an intermediate exercise that works the whole body. It integrates nicely into high-intensity interval training (HIIT) or even as a warm-up exercise before a cardio session. Either way, you’re going to get your heart pumping and begin the calorie burn.
As with any move, take care to ensure you have proper form. “You want to have your feet outside your hips. People tend to lift their heels, but you want to keep your heels down and stay low,” says Garner.
Elevator Squats: This move is an effective way to target the lower body and falls under the time under tension technique, referring to an exercise where you contract a muscle for an extended time. Instead of completing the full range of motion, you’re going to break up each repetition into segments. You’ll come up halfway, go back down, come up three-quarters of the way, and then come back up to the starting position. You can add a dumbbell or kettlebell for extra resistance for what’s called an elevator goblet squat.
Alternating Kick Throughs: This total-body exercise will test your mind and body. Garner compares it to a breakdancing move. You might try completing the move at different speeds to see how it challenges your body differently.
Skaters: Skaters are a favorite of personal trainers because they’re a cardio and strength-building move that also brings stability and balance into the equation. Again, keep form in mind. “Keep your hips squared forward because a lot of people like to rotate their hips,” says Garner.
Tricep Pushups: An intermediate to advanced move, tricep push-ups are more intense than traditional push-ups as they target the upper arm muscles specifically. If you’re concerned about poor form, don’t forget you can modify by putting your knees on the ground.
Do each exercise for a minute and repeat twice or even three times. Then pat yourself on the back for completing this Thanksgiving WOD!
