Special Holiday Tip: Delux Edition

The Holiday season is great. Great food (tasting, anyway), great gifts, and great acts of kindness. As welcome as this time of year is, however, it often interupts our normal daily routines, most notably GAINZ-making time. Some of you may be traveling to spend the holidays with family and no longer have access or time to visit a gym. Others may be taking the whole week off of work, only it so happens that their gym is at work. And still others may just be too darn busy fixin the fixins, cleaning for the house, and finishing the gift-shopping to make those ever-elusive GAINZ.

We here at the cafe realize that your logistics can be screwy this time of the year, so here's some scripture that doesn't require weights or bulky equipment that is usually only found at the gym.

Yoga: I'm suspecting many of you have yet to try yoga, but I could be wrong. I know its gaining momentum in the world of GAINZ. If you haven't tried it, go get yourself a yoga video from Target or wherever else (they're sold everywhere). Give it a try, it'll really limber you up. After all that weight-lifting its good to reset your body by stretching and finding your "chi." I can personally recommend Rodney Yee's "Yoga for Athletes," he's got many other videos. Rodney's gentle voice will guide you through the movements, and the only piece of equipment you need is a chair. You can do it right in your living room......GET AFTER IT!

(look at Rodney getting ill on the mat)

Jogging: Self-explanatory. Add in a clever twist by taking a different route than usual (but be sure to get familiar with the area beforehand).

Jump Rope: This is another thing many of you probably haven't tried yet, or at least within the last decade. Jump roping is a great aerobic exercise that really gets your heart rate going. I honestly don't know why more people don't do it. I could be wrong, but I'm willing to bet jumping roping burns more calories than jogging. Talk about shedding those ANTI-GAINZ! Also, performing this exercise more often will keep you light on your feet and improve your agility......now you're totally gonna dominate your office softball and basketball leagues!

Swiss Ball: These are sold everywhere and don't cost much. Its a great thing to have at your house because you can always pull it out and get in a great workout when you're in a bind. The swiss ball usually comes with an exercise sheet so you can get some ideas of what to do off that. There is also this thing called the Internet. Al Gore created it; I'm quite sure you've heard of it. Anyhow, there are swiss ball exercises online (for instance, this took me all of 10 seconds to find). Get cozy with you're new friend: Swiss J. Ball!

Balance Board: While your out getting your swiss ball, you may as well pick up a balance board. Basically, a balance board is an unstable surface that you stand on. It improves balance and ankle strength. It comes with exercises. Check it out.

Park Course: Find your local park, course, or park-course and do the whole thing. Attack it with an intensity never before seen by man. Seriously, sprint from station to station like the ANTI-GAINZ Man (he's sorta like the boogie man) is out to get you. Don't pay attention to the people watching and thinking, "this guy/lady is unreal.......he's/she's attacking the park course with an intensity never before seen by man." Then perform as many reps as you can at each individual station. BURN THE HECK OUT. Sounds pretty fun actually.

Push-ups, Pull-ups, Dips: You dont need a gym to do these, so why not make a workout out of it? Do half the number of reps you think you can do in one set. Then do it again. Then do it again. If you're not burning by the third set, you totally under-estimated your GAINZ and/or you're a FREAK! Both of which are awesome. I'm pretty sure 99% of us will be burning by the third set. Change grips and widths to isolated different parts of your body. Then do some swiss ball work to top it off. Then get yourself a small milkshake, you deserve it!

Track Workout: Hit up your local track and do a "track workout." High schools usually have tracks. Me and Johnny used to do these quite a bit and we can both attest to its legitness. Plan what you're going to do before starting, then attack it with fury. A typical cafeGAINZ track workout consisted of warm ups, 10 100-meter sprints, 2 400-meter sprints, then a mile run. We changed it up constantly though. If you go at this hardcore, you will be sore throughout the legs, but also in the chest in biceps. Sprinting really is a totally body workout.

One-Legged Squat: Stand on a sturdy bench or chair. Make sure the outside of your right foot near is near the edge. Take your right foot off the chair, balance on your left foot, then lower yourself with your left leg until the heel of your right foot touches the floor. Then use your left leg to push yourself back up. Peform 6-12 reps, then do your right leg. This is a pretty tough exercise, but requires no weights at all. Do it.

Be Creative: Yes. Try something new; now's a great time. Do some reseach online to come up with new ideas. Do something that you haven't done since you were a kid (e.g. jump rope, play a sport with family/friends). Get some aerobic bands to provide resistance. The list goes on. GAINZ can be made no matter the situation.

We hope you can use this scripture to make some solid Holiday GAINZ. Leave a comment to share with others if you have other ideas. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!