Good morning! I don’t think I’m surprising anyone when I say that I love themed workouts. And I especially love them when you need a little motivation to workout. Thanksgiving is often a day of high indulgences and little movement (hello, turkey coma!), but it doesn’t have to be! I love working out on days where I know I’ll be eating and drinking to my hearts content because it makes me feel a little better about it. #earnyourtreats, as I like to say.

This workout is great because it doesn’t have to take you a long time, which is key on a day where you may not have much time because ovens are calling your name instead. This year, I challenge you to get up and give yourself 20 minutes for YOU, because I know it will make you feel so much better and so much more ready to tackle the day of hosting and cooking and, well, eating 😉

All you need is yourself, a mat and a timer. You’ll complete 10 reps of each exercise and you’ll see how many rounds you can complete in 20 minutes. Easy enough, right?!

My friend JP helped me with some of these fun names last year, so I need to give him credit!

Here are some explanations if you’re thrown off by my dorky names:

• Pilgrim Push-ups- nothing fancy here! Just regular ol’ push-ups, either on your knees or feet. If you want a little extra, throw in a knee to chest after each push-up
• Gobble, Gobble Squats- In other words, squats. Focus on form and range of motion. Looking for extra? Add in a weight for goblet squats OR do jump squats instead of regular squats.
• Turkey Toe-Touches- lying on your back with your legs fully extended towards the ceiling, engage your core, lift your shoulder blades off the ground and try to touch your fingers to your toes.
• Basting Burpees- Burpees- any kind you want
• Stuffing Sit-Ups- standard sit-ups. Looking for more? Try adding in a weight and reaching your hands to the ceiling as you sit up. You can also keep your legs extended out straight instead of bent.
• 10 Pumpkin-Popovers- lots of different variations for this one. You can do a standard donkey-kick or you can put your hands on a coffee table or step and jump right to left, kicking your feet to your butt as if you were trying to pop over a bench.

Let me know if you try this- remember, it’s important to take some time for yourself. Be thankful for the fact that you have the ability to move and sweat and even if it’s not at your regular level of intensity because of injuries or something else, be thankful you can do SOMETHING. It’s a lot more than most can or choose to do.

Here’s another Thanksgiving themed workout you can try if you’re looking for more. I did this one last year and it was killer!

The “I’m Thankful” Workout

Questions for you: Do you like to workout before big days of eating and celebrations? Are you running any sort of themed run?