Ah the holidays, a time for family and friends to get together and … EAT! Yes, we all do it; we binge during the holidays, even though we say we won’t. It’s hard to avoid all of the extra sweets and starchy foods hanging around. If you find yourself having an extra tough time holding back, you can implement some of these higher intensity triathlon workouts to help burn a few extra calories.
1. Treadmill Turkey Burner
3 minute warm up at conversational pace
Increase the grade to 7.0
Run 10K pace for 30 seconds then jump your feet to the sides (straddle the belt)
Rest for 30 seconds, increase the speed by 0.5 MPH
Jump back on and run for another 30 seconds
Repeat the process above until you can’t run any faster to complete a full 30 seconds
Give yourself a 5 minute cool down jog
Remember, you can always push a little bit harder…that’s the only way to help get rid of the mashed potatoes!
2. Bike Trainer Belly Buster
On your bike trainer (or outside) warm up for 10 minutes
Gear your bike into a heavier resistance and pedal hard for 2 minutes
Take a 2 minute recovery spin
Repeat the 2 x 2 ten times through
Allow for a 10 minute easy spinning cool down
3. Say Goodbye to Calories Swim
Warm up with an easy 10 minutes of swimming laps
Grab a kickboard and kick one lap fast and hard, rest for 30 seconds and repeat this kick set 6 times through
Ditch the kickboard and swim one lap as fast and hard, rest for 20 seconds and repeat this set 6 times through
Repeat the kickboard set one more time and repeat the swim set one more time
Warm down with an easy 10 minutes of swimming laps
4. Cookie Calorie Burning at the Track
Take your run to the track and start with a mile warm up jog and some dynamic stretches
Run 4 x 30 second strides
4 x 400 at mile race pace with easy 200 jog in between
Cool down with a mile jog
5. Spin the Sugar Out Cycling Intervals
Warm up on your bike for 15 minutes keeping the revolutions (RPMs) high
Cycle at high RPMs for 5 minutes fast
Recover with easy spinning for 2 minutes
Keeping the RPMs high, repeat the above 7 times through
Cool down for 10 minutes
Beth is a running and triathlon coach from Florida who began her journey through health and fitness as a high school swimmer. After leading an unhealthy lifestyle while in college she made changes to get back in shape. Since then, she's completed numerous marathons and triathlons and finished her first full Ironman in 2014. She's also a freelance fitness writer and blogger. Her passion is fitness in all forms, though she enjoys running and swimming the most, and she believes in doing what makes you happy and healthy.
Main Photo Credit: Lucky Business/shutterstock.com
