Do you travel over the holidays and have trouble sticking to your fitness regime? Holidays inevitably become an “extended cheat meal”, and the flurry of parties and holidays means our planned workouts usually get dumped in favor of a sleep in. Good news! Dave Catudal is bringing the gym to you with his holiday workout you can do anywhere. Try this workout in a hotel room, your living room or a beautiful outdoor spot.
Go through each of these 7 moves at least once. Complete a few cycles if time allows and envision your strongest self throughout.
ONE LEG HIP BRIDGE
12 REPETITIONS EACH SIDE
The toes of the foot on your chair should point towards the ceiling and you need to use your heel to push yourself upwards, working the hips, hamstrings, glutes, and your core.
ALTERNATING SIDE PLANK
12 REPETITIONS EACH SIDE
Start in a basic plank: arms shoulder width apart and your legs straight back. Roll onto the outer edge of your foot and stretch your arm up. Alternate each side. Remember to do this exercise with complete control, pausing for at least two seconds to feel each position.
ONE LEG STIFF LEG DEADLIFT
8 to 10 REPETITIONS EACH LEG
Traditionally this exercise is performed with dumbells, but you can easily substitute water bottles.
Plant your left foot and lift your right foot off the ground. Slowly lower your right hand forward, keeping your back straight and using your right leg behind you for counter-balance. As you approach your maximal stretch, feel your glutes and hamstrings, and maintain a proud, chest up posture. Use your hamstrings to pull your back upright to the top position, bringing your right arm straight to your hips.
ELBOW PLANK WITH LEG RAISE
12 REPETITIONS EACH LEG
To perform this exercise with ideal technique, raise your leg with a controlled and powerful movement upwards to the highest position possible that your natural range of motion allows. Once at the top position, hold for a full two seconds, feeling your glute and hamstring contract, and then slowly lower your leg downwards until your foot gently touches the ground. Alternate legs, and repeat.
BULGARIAN SPLIT SQUAT
8 to 10 REPETITIONS EACH LEG
Bulgarian split squats are an incredibly challenging lower body exercise. They work the entire lower body, and when you put 100 percent
focus into a perfectly controlled and stable movement, it can become a body-transforming exercise.
The key to making the most of this movement is to use very slow, controlled movements on the downwards portion of the
exercise, and alternating with a powerful, almost explosive movement upwards.
Here’s a tip for working the butt even better: use the heel of the front foot to do all the pushing- don’t let the weight shift forward
towards your toes. You should actually be able to lift your toes at all times during this exercise. Practice this technique with the
heel pushing and you’ll develop a better behind than ever before.
GLUTE KICKS WITH KNEE CRUNCH
12 TO 15 REPETITIONS EACH SIDE
This is a great exercise for increasing core strength and working the glute muscles, with the added benefit of improving hip mobility.
Here, I’m using a chair as my incline bench, and it works great to be in this angle for maximizing your hamstring and glute
activation. (If you do this with a chair at home, please put the chair against the wall so it does not slide.)
Get as much range of motion as possible to maximize this movement. Your goal is to get your knee right between your arms,
in line with your hands when you’re in the lunged-forward position, and then extend backwards and upwards as
much as possible as you press your arms straight and kick your leg behind you.
Hold the top position for at least a full second.
There you have it. An effective workout sequence for when you're on the road or pressed
with resources and time. Now all you've gotta do is start!
