While most people see Christmas as days to relax and do nothing, you're worried about how many workouts you'll miss because you have to travel or because there's no box near where your parents live.
We get it, relax. Say no more.
We know the drill, so we've prepared 12 original workouts you can do anywhere, with minimal equipment (a Velites Fire 2.0 is enough).
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Staying fit during the holidays
Christmas is a good time to relax and reflect on last year's training, but there's no need to slack off just because we're entering dates with closed boxes and less work.
It's important to keep working hard, commit to your goals, and stay accountable to yourself.
Is it tempting to stop for a few weeks?
Maybe, but probably not if you're serious about your training. If you do stop, January will come and you'll regret it.
We're talking about maintaining the same level of intensity, because that's what CrossFit is about. We're talking about keeping an athlete's mindset. You need to eat well, too. Enjoy yourself, but don't use Christmas as an excuse to binge on sugar.
Tip:
When possible, swap sugars and carbs for protein.
Protein keeps you fuller for longer, and helps much more to build and maintain muscle mass. It's key during this period; since you might not have the opportunity to lift heavy, try to maintain your muscle mass and use this opportunity to recover before returning to training in 2017.
If you're not the type to often gorge on unhealthy food, then no problem. It's fine if you don't start just because it's Christmas, of course.
Limit your alcohol intake, if you can.
After all, even in the short term, you're choosing between one or the other: performance or alcohol. The choice is yours, but if you're here it's likely because you value training and feeling good, so stick to it and start the year right.
We've grouped the 12 Christmas WODs into categories, but you can mix them however you like.
The benefits of bodyweight training
All these workouts use your own bodyweight as the limiting and resisting factor, which is great because it means results will depend on how much effort you're willing to put in.
Training with bodyweight is also a good way to stay in touch with your pure strength; you'll also build muscle mass while moving with speed and agility—something you can lose if all you do is train with the barbell.
At-home speed WODs
50-40-30-20-10 (cutoff time: 7 minutes)
- Double unders
- Sit-ups
In the remaining time, do as many push-ups as possible. Your score is the total number of push-ups.
Jumping for joy
100-80-60-40-20 double unders
Hold a handstand for the amount of time it took you to complete each set (e.g. if the 100 double unders took you 1:15, hold the handstand for 1:15 before starting the 80 double unders).
Boxing day
10 rounds:
- 20 seconds of high-intensity shadowboxing
- 10 burpees
Getting ready to tackle 2017 full-throttle, eh?
Wrap it up
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 (and then back up)
- Tuck jump burpees
- Sit-ups
It's in the second half, in rounds 7 to 10, where you'll really suffer.
At-home endurance WODs
Climb the walls
- 20 wall climbs
- Run 1.5 km
- 20 wall climbs
Don't be fooled by the simplicity of this workout; the second set of wall climbs is no joke.
Hold your position
- 5 rounds for time
- 60 seconds of holding a squat
- 20 burpees
Oh, you're going to feel those quadriceps on fire.
We're going lungeing
- 50 push-ups
- Run 3 km, do 20 lunges each minute
- 50 push-ups
Have you tried doing lunges while running? It's the worst. Merry Christmas
Every happy minute on the minute
40-minute EMOM:
- 30 sit-ups
- 30 air squats
- 15 handstand push-ups
- 20 back extensions
Congratulations, you've just done 150 HSPUs, 300 sit-ups, 300 squats and 200 back extensions. You've earned a bath with Epsom salts.
At-home strength WODs
Santa's little helper
Get a partner and ask them to sit on your shoulders.
- Do as many back squats as you can
- Rest 2 minutes
Do 6 rounds
If your partner is too light, or you're very strong, every 10 reps, pause at the bottom for 20–30 seconds.
Hit the limbs hard
10 rounds:
- 10 handstand push-ups
- 10 air squats
Simple but effective. Whether you go fast or not, it's going to be tough.
Slide through the snow
10 rounds:
- 100 m sprint
- 10 push-ups
- 20 double unders
The key here is to avoid blowing your lungs out.
Ornaments everywhere
As fast as possible:
- 100 double unders
- 80 push-ups
- 60 sit-ups
- 100 m bear crawl
- 80 double unders
- 40 push-ups
- 30 sit-ups
- 100 m bear crawl
You should save this one for Christmas Day, before you're too full to move.
We hope you all have a great Christmas and New Year. You can still buy your Velites Fire 2.0 in time to start 2017 at full speed.
Visit our online store to find the best gifts for your favorite crossfitter.
