1 WORKOUT WONDERLAND
“Take your training up a notch over Christmas and get into fighting-fit condition by mixing up some cardio when you can grab time away from work,” suggests Sol Gilbert, health expert at Tanita and director at Underground Gym (underground-gym.com).“Find a piece of cardio equipment, grab yourself a set of dumbbells, a slam ball and smash out this 20-minute workout.”
Warm-up
- Start off by stretching all major muscle groups.
- Then begin to mobilise your body with a gentle warm-up: perhaps a 5-min jog on the treadmill at a steady pace.
Main event
Set your timer to 20 mins and see how many rounds of the below circuit you can complete:
- 60 secs of high-knee sprinting as fast as you can
- 15 x ball slams
- 10 x dumbbell thrusters
- 5 x burpees
- 30 secs rest
2 BOXING DAYS
“Exercise is scientifically proven to reduce stress, and my favourite stress-busting workout is boxing,” says Marc McLaren, PureGym strength and conditioning trainer. “You could get yourself in front of a heavy bag, set the timer for two-minute intervals and then release that tension. As it’s the Christmas period, keep everything time-specific. Get to the gym with the intention of getting in and out.”
- Set warm-up and cool-down times that are challenging but specific (e.g. 3k run to be completed between both warm-up and cool down).
- Boxing session one should be pre-planned and interval-based for intensity: 2 mins jump rope, 1 min shadow boxing (hold 1kg dumbbells in each hand for extra resistance).
- Boxing session two: 2 mins of bag or pad work, 1 min lateral jumps over a bar.
“Both sessions should be completed for as many rounds as time or fitness levels allow, for a maximum of ten rounds,” adds McLaren.
This story is from the January 2020 edition of Men's Fitness.
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This story is from the January 2020 edition of Men's Fitness.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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