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Fitness

I May Be Getting Bigger, But You’re Not – 2 Quick Holiday Workouts

My pregnancy is going great and my belly is getting bigger. But I'm still committed to YOU not getting bigger this holiday season. Try these two workouts guaranteed to fit in your schedule.

Written by Zen Gray Last updated on December 18, 2012

My pregnancy continues to go well. I had to take it easy for a few days after the CVS procedure, but now I’m back to my workouts and I feel great. No complications so far! But I will say that it’s really strange to coach people on their exercise and eating these days while my belly is getting bigger.

As it’s the holidays, I dispense with my usual “don’t worry about that cookie, just get back on the treadmill and let it go.” Now I have to start threatening my clients with, “If you don’t get in your extra cardio and you eat sugar at another holiday party this week, I promise I will work you so hard you’ll puke.” It’s crunch time and my clients need a little pressure to keep them on track or binge eating could last the entire month. Clients with prior sugar addictions (which is almost all of them), need extra focus and incentive during this “eat, drink and be merry” time of year.

I notice there are fewer people in the gym overall and I know that Christmas parties and shopping take time. So what’s the answer when you’ve got less time for a workout? Make it intense and make it count.

You’d be amazed at how hard four 1-minute sets can be of whole-body, high-intensity exercises. You don’t necessarily need equipment. Hell, you don’t even need to change into your gym clothes. If your only time to workout lately is during your lunch hour, just kick off your work shoes and try this:

1 minute each:

  • Jumping Jacks
  • Pushups
  • Plank (straight arm or on elbows)
  • Deep Squats

Repeat as many times as you can – or for as much time as you have. Even a pregnant lady like myself can do this routine.

If you’re feeling a little more hardcore and you’ve got some equipment around, try this:

1 minute each:

  • Burpees with Dumbbells (10lbs each should do)
  • Straight-arm Plank with Alternating Single Arm Row
  • Mountain Climbers
  • Squat with a Dumbbell Shoulder Press

Again, repeat as many times as you can – or for as much time as you have.

To get the most bang for your buck: Do these routines around ninety minutes after you eat so any sugar in your blood stream will get forced into your muscles to be used as fuel instead of being stored as fat. (For more info about this strategy, see my previous feature: What is the Minimum Effective Dose?)

Happy Holidays!

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

About Zen Gray

An ACE Certified Personal Trainer and Group Fitness Instructor, Zen has spent over twenty years helping thousands of people get fit around the country: from showcasing her coaching talents on Season One and Season Two ofWORKOUT - Bravo TV's docu-drama about the lives of personal trainers, to writing and hostingThe Skinny - amusing and easy health tips for the newbie exerciser on ExerciseTV (Time Warner's online and video-on-demand exercise site), to teaching hundreds of conditioning classes from Chicago to Los Angeles.

Zen’s blog, Love and Fat, discusses the relationship between love and body weight, personal struggles and triumphs in the quest for a healthier and happier life, and suggestions on how to keep the love…but lose the love handles. With an extensive business background, Zen also relates to the diet and fitness pitfalls of working in corporate America.

It’s no coincidence that Zen enjoys motivating her clients with playful routines and humor as she’s also performed stand-up comedy for over ten years and frequently studies techniques from the masters of motivation like Tony Robbins. Have you ever done a 14-foot fire walk? That takes powerful focus…and Zen’s done it twice.

With a healthy respect for Western medicine, Zen also encourages people to take control of their own health through holistic choices and explore lifestyle changes to include unprocessed and organic foods as well as natural remedies. She’s a huge fan of nutrition and devours the latest studies in diet choices that help people lose weight.

Zen teaches others to stay curious about their limits and to push through their comfort zones. In sticking with that philosophy, she’s raced one marathon, two triathlons, and she just published her first ebook, From Flab to Fit.

To see video of Zen’s training style, fitness tips, and public appearances, please check out: www.zengray.com.

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