Maintain Muscle Mass & Tone Over the Holiday
When you think about the holidays, what comes to mind? Some of our biggest associations with the holiday season have to do with food and drinking, from Halloween candy to a Thanksgiving spread. Not to mention Christmas cookies, latkes, and eggnog! While celebrating with friends and family over traditional holiday food is amazing, that doesn’t mean you have to let your entire fitness routine go for the next month or so. And you don’t have to bench press for a few hours every day while celebrating with family either; a quick workout will get your blood flowing nicely! Stay on top of your fitness routine during the holidays this year. Your body will thank you!
Muscle Mass & Tone Exercises
If you are looking to indulge without losing your tone, try to focus on muscle mass when you have some downtime and can fit in a quick toning workout. Resistance bands are inexpensive, easy to use, and can be tucked away in a drawer when you’re not using them. There are many great resistance band workouts that you can find online, including short ones that fit every holiday schedule!
HeroStrength® Fit Bands provide workouts that are perfect for personal training, physical therapy, and home gyms. Band exercises are popular due to the controlled movements and resistance training that they provide.
You can easily take the bands with you anywhere and have a cost (and space) effective workout at your fingertips. HeroStrength® Fit Bands work your arms, back, legs, and gluteal muscles without needing to purchase expensive equipment or a long-term gym membership. HeroStrength® Fit Bands come in 8 different colors and sizes.
- A space-effective workout you can take on on the go. Slips easily in your suitcase for a travel workout at your hotel
- Latex material is durable enough to withstand the most advanced strength workout
- Effective for those beginning band workout training
- Use for pilates, yoga, physical therapy, or rehabilitation
- Bands are popular and easily accessible workout items
Burn Fat Over the Holidays
The holidays can be a magical time, but they can also be stressful. There are lots of social commitments, and stress eating is also very common during the holiday season. When we are stressed, we produce a hormone called cortisol. This can affect our metabolism and make it challenging to maintain gains.
Higher long-term cortisol levels are strongly related to abdominal obesity. However, not all people with obesity have high cortisol levels. Short-term stress can cause belly issues – and cause weight gain around your middle. The best way to beat stress (and prevent fat from resting around your core) is to fit in a HIIT workout when you are feeling like pulling your hair out after a trip to the mall for a last-minute gift.
Low Impact HIIT Exercises
Jumping rope is old school, but the look doesn’t have to be. Jumping rope is a great cardio activity that activates your entire body. It improves coordination, builds muscle, and burns calories. It requires you to move multiple body parts, which improves coordination. It’s a quick and easy workout for a cardio blast like no other.
Our speed rope is easy to tuck away in a drawer or keep in your car for any last-minute park workouts that can be fit in over a lunch hour. The Hero Strength Speed Rope has a sleek new look with a steel rope and ultralight aluminum handles with knurling and a laser engraved logo. It’s the ideal rope to perfect double-unders due to its roller-bearing handles. Jump roping has proven to be one of the most effective cardio exercises. In one study, a group of participants who jumped rope for 10 minutes a day showed the same cardiovascular improvements as someone who jogged 30 minutes a day. They are very affordable, and you can jump rope almost anywhere!
20-Minute Holiday Workouts
Fitting in a quick 20-minute workout can beat stress AND blast calories! If you aren’t a runner (or it’s too cold to hit the streets for a run), jumping rope for 20 minutes will give you a great cardio workout in your home.
You could also do a quick round of resistance bands or take out all your anger at the mall parking lot by doing some slam balls back home in your garage! Lifting dumbbells for 20 minutes can be a very effective strength training session that doesn’t take long and can target certain muscle groups as well.
20-Minute Exercises
Resistance bands provide workouts that are perfect for personal training, physical therapy, and home gyms. Because of their controlled movements, band exercises can spot tone and target muscles in ways that just a pair of dumbbells cannot always do. You can easily take the bands with you anywhere, and they’re low-cost as well as space-effective.
Our Hero Strength Fit Bands come in 8 different colors and sizes. They provide a quick workout that you can take on the go! You can even slip them into your suitcase for a travel workout at your hotel. Our latex material is durable enough to withstand the most advanced strength workouts, but these are also very effective for beginners looking to start their band workout training. These can be used for Pilates, yoga, physical therapy, or rehabilitation!
Banded Front Squat:
- Stand in the middle of the resistance band with feet hip-width apart, holding one end of the band in both hands.
- Bend arms to bring hands up next to ears, and lift elbows up until triceps are parallel to the floor and narrow. This is your starting position.
- Keeping arms still, engage core and bend at knees to sink hips back and down until thighs are parallel to floor.
- Press through feet to extend legs and return to standing. That’s one rep.
Lateral Walk:
- Wrap a resistance band around thighs, and slowly sink your seat into a half-squat position.
- Lift right foot and take one step to the right, followed by the left foot.
- Then, reverse the movement to return to the starting position. That’s one rep.
Banded Squat:
- Start standing with a resistance band wrapped just below knees, feet under hips, and hands clasped in front of the chest.
- Take a big step to the right, then bend your knees, sit back, and lower until thighs are parallel to the floor.
- Engage glutes and press back up through heels to the starting position.
- Repeat on the other side. That’s one rep.
Mobile Gym Exercises
You can take several pieces of equipment in your car or bring them into the office for a workout on the go. Resistance bands can be tucked away in your desk at work, a pair of dumbbells in the trunk of your car, or a kettlebell kept at home ready for any time you get the urge for a quick HIIT workout.
Surprising and shocking your body is a great way to achieve your weight loss goals, and Kettlebells get the job done every time! There are so many different exercises that you can do with kettlebells that allow several muscle groups to be utilized at once.
Additionally, with kettlebells, the bursts of repetitive energy allow for a fantastic cardio workout that can pack the same punch as a brisk walk, run, or even kickboxing.
On-the-Go Full Body Workout
Mobility workouts improve your range of motion and help stretch sore muscles or reduce the aches from previous workouts. They can be simple workouts incorporated into your daily routine, improving joint health and speeding up recovery.
Our Hero Focus Mat is the best one on the market. Whether doing sit-ups or downward-facing dogs, our mat has enough cushion to create a surface for the best possible floor workout. Our Hero Focus mat is the perfect take-anywhere mat for stretching and floor exercises.
It measures 72″ long by 27″ wide with a laser-engraved polyurethane top and rubber base. And, at a full 5mm thick, it provides a durable and secure cushion that won’t slip for your strength training mat exercises. This mat is available in a medium shade of blue, which is laser engraved with our Hero Strength logo and comes with a black over-the-shoulder carrying case that brings a classic feel to your home and gym space. Just roll it up and go!
Here are a few mobility exercises to try on our Hero Focus Mat over the holidays:
Spider-Man Lunges:
- Start in a push up/high plank position.
- Bend one knee up toward your armpit and place your foot outside of your hand.
- Keep your back leg straight as you push your hips down.
- Hold for 2-3 seconds before returning to the starting position and switching legs.
Cat Cows:
- Start on your hands and knees with hands shoulder-width apart and knees directly below hips.
- Inhale as you pull your belly button to your spine and curve your lower back. Hold this “cow” position for 2-3 seconds.
- Slowly transition to the “cat” position by arching your back and looking up to the sky. Hold the “cat” position for 2-3 seconds.
Spine Rotations:
- Start on hands and knees with hands shoulder-width apart and knees directly below your hips.
- Straighten the right leg out to the side, then sit back on the heel of your bent knee.
- Reach your right arm under your left arm and try to touch the back of your right shoulder to the ground. Hold for 3-5 seconds.
- Put your right hand to your right ear and rotate your upper body as you point your elbow straight up to the ceiling (shift your gaze to the ceiling too).
- Return to the starting position and repeat on the left side with your left leg extended.
Fitting in some holiday workouts will make the transition into all of your New Year Fitness Resolutions so much easier! Stay in tune with your body while lugging all of those presents around the mall or carrying your tree out to the garbage once the holidays are over.
To help you stay motivated, Hampton offers many fitness equipment pieces you can keep at home that will make it easy to stick to the routine and keep up with your workouts over the holidays. You’ll never regret fitting in a quick workout!
