Face it, during the holiday season we can get so wrapped up in the shopping, cooking, prepping, organizing and wrapping that there’s hardly a fighting chance that folks make the time for their full-on workouts. This time of year is big for more than snow flakes. In fact, flaking out on fitness and bumping working out to the bottom of the barrel on the priority scale is more common than not this time of year. After all when you think of the holidays you don’t think of push-ups and squats. Thoughts of food, family, fun and travel are on the agenda instead. However, I was so excited to see Beyonce’s trainer Marco Borges share an easy no-equipment needed workout with US Weekly magazine. His little workout is a great example of what I truly believe and so want to share with folks, that “staying healthy and in shape doesn’t have to be complicated or ultra time consuming”. Don’t get me wrong, you have to set aside the time and make the commitment to your well being, but in general it doesn’t have to be rocket science and you don’t have to get caught up in the minutia of all of the spinney crazy programs put out there by well meaning coaches and trainers.
So what I wanted to do is share his quick little workout with you that I modified a bit (I’ve substituted one of the exercises) and given it the CC (Cellulite Circuits) flair. There’s only five moves plus I added 3 cardio burst exercises that will help keep you toned, inject a little feel good buzz into your brain and give you a little metabolic boost before your guests arrive. Run through each exercise in a circuit fashion for 30 seconds each. Then rest about a minute and repeat the circuit once or twice if you have time. The full 8 exercise circuit should take you about 4 minutes each round.
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1.) Jumping Plies ( I call them Jump Squats)
2.) Reverse Lunges
3.) Jumping Jacks
4.) Push-Ups
5.) Jumping Jacks
6.) Prisoner Squats ( *I replaced bench dips – bad for the shoulders…see below)
7.) Jumping Jacks
8.) Side Planks
*I substituted prisoner squats for the chair or bench dips because that particular exercise can place the shoulder joint in a bad angle and place unnecessary stress on a very fragile area the rotator cuff (the muscles and tendons that stabalize the shoulder joint).