Housebound Holiday Workouts

by Sarah

Can you believe that Christmas week is upon us?? Even if you don’t celebrate the holiday, the kids are out of school and chances are your workout schedule is going to be disrupted. What to do? Skip it? Nah, I’m here to help – here’s a roundup of great sites and free no or low-equipment workouts for you to do while you’re housebound for the holidays!

This first one’s a real quickie, made up by my distance-trainer, Tamara Grand a.k.a. “fitknitchick.” (hint – click on the graphic to make it larger) Perfect for squeezing in when you feel like you have “no time to exercise.” 10 minutes is ALWAYS better than zero minutes, peeps! If you’re in the mood for something longer, visit Tamara’s site, where you’ll find lots of other great free workouts to choose from, many of them with video. Psst – you still have time to get in on her 10-week Female 40+ on-line group training program which starts in January!

If you’re hooked on HIIT workouts, Melissa Bender’s your gal. Her site’s chock full of workout vids, and she is a workout-at-home maven – heck, she even trained for a bikini competition COMPLETELY AT HOME. There are some bodyweight-only workouts and most have minimal equipment. Get your sweat on and reap the stress-reducing benefits of working out while you’re on holiday.

Bodyweight workouts are Ray Pelekas’ specialty – I trained here for a while and LOVED it. Rayfit introduced me to some of my all-time favorite moves, which I incorporate into my workouts all the time: burpees, t-pushups, ball slams – I jacked my heart rate up so high – all with no jumping (’cause remember, this arthritic mama don’t jump so much). Check out this killer bodyweight workout featuring Ray himself. Or consider adding this 5 minute “ab blast” workout as a finisher for your cardio routine.

Caitlin over at Fabfitcities has great printable workouts for you. This little 15 minute fat burner will get your juices flowing fast. If you have more time, I LOVE her Tank Top Arms 1 and 2 workouts – I do these back-to-back, 3x through and am feeling it the next day! Likewise, her Short Shorts workout is terrific on legs – all bodyweight!

And last, but not least, my very own full-body HIIT workout for your sweaty enjoyment!