Thanksgiving: Fitness + Feast

Hey everyone,

Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday (and a great chance to reflect on what we're thankful for in our lives, such as good health and family).  It's also a time of big meals - delicious things like turkey, gravy, stuffing, pumpkin pie, etc.  To maintain our health and fitness through this holiday, we put together a fun density kettlebell workout.  This fast-paced workout will rev up your metabolism, which will at least partially offset a larger holiday meal!

As a reminder, a density workout is composed of 5 minute blocks of exercise, where you alternate between 2 exercises (doing a few reps of each and taking minimal rest).  Then, following the 5 minute block of exercise you take a 2 minute rest period.  You do 5 blocks in total (i.e. a 33-minute workout). 

Tannys chose to focus her density workout on kettlebell swings (a great full body exercise).  You can duplicate this workout, modify the weights, or even modify the exercises to suit your physical capacity and fitness goals.  Here is what Tannys did:

• 16kg kettlebell swings (2-hand) + 12kg overhead kettlebell swings
• 24kg kettlebell swings + dynamic planks
• 24kg kettlebell swings + 12kg one-hand kettlebell swings
• 20kg kettlebell swings + explosive (plyometric) planks
• 16kg kettlebell swings + 12kg one-hand kettlebell swings

This workout was quite challenging and really targeted the legs, glutes and core.  It also provided a great conditioning challenge.

We also had a great Thanksgiving dinner.  Here are 5 quick tips that we use for holiday feasts, to help us navigate the temptations of abundant holiday food:

1. Make sure you include an adequate amount of lean protein in your meal (i.e. don't just fill up on carbs - make sure to have a healthy serving of turkey)
2. If you want to try a bit of everything, limit the overall portions (variety is great, but don't overload your plate)
3. Ensure you eat regular meals and snacks during the day before the holiday feast (this will help prevent you from gorging yourself due to feelings of starvation)
4. If you finish your meal and are considering having seconds, wait a few minutes to assess whether you're really still hungry (sometimes it takes your body some time to register when it is full)
5. Drink water (or other non-caloric drinks) with your meal to enhance your feelings of being full

We hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

- Tannys & Alex