Rumor has it the average American eats around 4,500 calories on Thanksgiving. Remember that number for a moment.<\/p>\n
Let’s say you wanted to “undo” the damage of the meal. According to researchers at Southern Main, the average weight training circuit of 8 exercises completed in 8 minutes (when performed at a high-intensity with minimal rest) has the ability to burn approximately 150 to 200 calories. Not a bad 8-minute fat incinerator, but not quite up to par with your feast.<\/p>\n
But you wouldn\u2019t stop after just 8 minutes. So you keep going and target an hour-long workout following the same routine. Realistically, if you factor in fatigue every subsequent round of exercise would lower your intensity and require more rest. Using these assumptions it\u2019s safe to say that the calorie burn of each round would most likely drop. But why be negative?<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s forget about fatigue, and instead imagine a world where you maintain a blistering, superhuman pace for nearly an hour (7 rounds). At that pace you\u2019d still burn around 1400 calories\u2026or about 3,000 shy of your big T-Day Meal.<\/p>\n
While it might seem like a lost cause, this is not meant to discourage you from eating on Thanksgiving. In fact, it\u2019s just the opposite.<\/p>\n
The hypothetical fitness math should offer evidence that one day of bad eating wouldn\u2019t be cancelled out by one workout\u2026even one of Herculean proportions.<\/p>\n
That also means one massive meal (or day of eating) will not<\/i> outdo a regular lifestyle of healthy eating and consistent exercise.<\/p>\n
Which is the perfect excuse to enjoy Thanksgiving with a little more dietary freedom\u2014if that’s how you decide to celebrate it. (If you don’t love eating extras there’s obviously no reason to force it.)<\/p>\n
But just because your workout won’t burn as many calories as you eat, you still might want to find time to squeeze in a workout. A hard training session can help put some of those excess calories to good use (think building muscle), or at the very least give you some piece of mind if you choose to be gluttonous.<\/p>\n
This workout is designed to do the trick before any feast or cheat day.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s is a high-intensity \u201cdepletion\u201d workout intended to deplete your glycogen, which is a primary energy source in your body. When glycogen is filled, eating extra calories (and carbs) can play a role in making you gain weight. When it\u2019s depleted, the food you eat will go to refueling your body, restoring your energy, and helping you build muscle and repair after a tough workout.<\/p>\n
This workout functions like a big circuit. You\u2019ll perform one set of the first exercise, rest for 20 to 30 seconds, and then move to the next exercise. Follow this pattern until you complete all 11 exercises in the workout, and then rest for 2 to 3 minutes. After your break, keep the weight the same (or decrease if needed) and increase the number of reps you perform the next round. You should perform the following number of reps on each round of the circuit.<\/p>\n
First set<\/strong> = 10 reps per exercise.<\/p>\n Second set<\/strong> = 12 reps per exercise.<\/p>\n Third set<\/strong> = 15 reps per exercise.<\/p>\n Fourth (and final) set<\/strong> = 20 reps per exercise.<\/p>\nNotes and Tips<\/b><\/h2>\n