Plan Your Thanksgiving Week Workouts
Next week kicks off the hectic holiday season – a time when it’s easy to let your normal fitness routine fall by the wayside. To combat this, try the following fitness plan, aimed at helping you burn 500 calories each day of Thanksgiving week (calorie counts are based on a 150-pound adult).
- Monday: Bike or hike. An outdoor workout is a perfect pre-holiday stress buster. Invite a friend for an hour of moderate bicycling outside or a 90-minute hike to burn 500 calories.
- Tuesday: Get fit in the family room. No time for the gym? Workout at home. Jump rope for five minutes, do 15 push-ups and 30 sit-ups, repeat five times. Rest for two minutes between each set. Cool down with an easy walk for three minutes.
- Wednesday: Clean away calories. If you have family coming for Thanksgiving, you can burn 500 calories by cleaning (dusting, vacuuming, etc.) for two hours. If you’re traveling to see your family, carry your running shoes and get in a 40-minute run at a 9-minute per mile pace.
- Thursday: Eat and exercise. Reduce portion sizes at your Thanksgiving feast. After the meal, gather your family for a game of flag football, which can burn up to 500 calories an hour. If you’re going to watch a game on TV instead, get off the couch and do jumping jacks during the commercials. A typical 3-hour game will have 45 minutes of commercials (you’ll burn 424 calories). A 30-minute walk at halftime will add another 85 calories.
- Friday: Move at the mall. Shopping can burn 500 calories in three to four hours. At the mall, rather than trying to find the closest parking spot to the door (good luck on Black Friday), find the farthest. Then, walk. While shopping, use the stairs instead of the escalator. If you’d rather avoid the crowds at the malls, try a new class at your gym such as kickboxing, Pilates or Zumba, which can burn up to 440 calories per hour. Blast another 100 calories with 15 minutes of weight training after class.
Talk your doctor before starting any new exercise program.
