'Unstuff the Turkey' Workout

Good morning! Yesterday, I did a fun little workout before we headed north to see family for Thanksgiving dinner. I thought it would be fun to share in case anyone else is having a case of the "I ate too many pieces of pie/mounds of mashed potatoes."

So, if you're looking to get in a good workout and have some fun, join me on a little 'Unstuff the Turkey' workout!

It was 30 degrees when I got up so I wasted some time by hopping on our bike trainer at home for 30 minutes before heading outside for my run. While I had already done a little exercise, I wanted to get in a run since I haven't been able to run much these days.

Here's what I did:

Run easy for 1 mile (get the legs warmed up and just enjoy). 

At the 1 mile mark (or every 5 or 10 minutes or so if you don't have a GPS device), stop your watch and do 20 jumping jacks, 10 walking lunges, 10 alternating jumping lunges, and 10 push ups.

Start running again for another mile or so. For the middle two miles, I threw in some speed work just for fun. Thursdays are usually speed work for me. Plus, it breaks up the monotony of running when you're tired or not super motivated.

I ended up doing 4 x :30 speed intervals and 3 x 1:00 intervals (AKA just run HARD) with some easy running in between). 

At mile 2, find a nearby park bench, picnic table, stairs or railing and do 25 dips (legs straight out resting on heels for a challenge, or knees bent to modify), then 10 step ups on the left side and 10 step ups on the right side, and finally 10 jump squats. Feel the burn!

Continue running again. Your legs may feel a little dead for the first 15 minutes or so (mine did), but it should go away. 

At first, I thought I'd run 3 miles, then my dead lead legs went away and I decided on 4...

At mile 3, you could decide to be done with running, but try to knock out one more round of strength/cardio fun! A few fun options are: 10 triangle pushups (hands together to make a triangle), 10 burpees, and 50 mt climbers (focus on your core w/ these).

From here, I decided to run home, finishing with 4.7 miles of running plus some extra fun strength and cardio thrown in. 

Word of warning: I was wearing gloves thanks to the cold temps, otherwise, I might have been sketched out to put my hands on the cement in some places. 

Stretching afterward probably isn't a bad idea either...

And as always, listen to your body and do what works for you. You could swap out another cardio option (like spinning or walking) for running if that's more your style. 

And for the record, I'm also totally okay if you have no plans for working off yesterday's turkey, stuffing, yams, or pumpkin pie. Sitting on the couch in PJ's, drinking hot cider, watching holiday movies and doing some online shopping sounds pretty perfect to me! :)