I’ve written only a handful of posts in December, so here is a smorgasbord of random thoughts for you on this Christmas Eve morning.

1. Doing lunges at a rest stop is weird, but not impossible

The trip from Maine to Pennsylvania begins with busy highways, three lanes of traffic, and the claustrophobic feel of the busy New England life. Gradually, as Massachusetts and Connecticut give way to New York, the exits get further apart, the highways merge to two lanes, and eventually, we’re making the final two hour drive on Interstate 80 to get to State College.

A Bonnie Raitt squat is a bodyweight squat. The rest of these exercises can be found on my YouTube Channel.

And I’m going batshit crazy because I’ve been in the car for too long. Sheila does all of the driving since she gets car sick, so I vacillate between singing Barry Manilow songs and trying not to puke in stop and go traffic.

It’s delightful.

By the time we hit a rest stop, we park far away and I lunge to the bathroom, jog back and forth a few times, and do wide stance t-spine mobilizations in front of vending machines. 

Strangers make a wide arc to go around me. “I don’t know what you’ve got,” they’re thinking. “But I hope I don’t catch it.” 

2. I travel with my grid stick

My friend John always told me to travel with a mag flashlight, as it could be used to break a window should my car get submerged, or take out a stranger at the knees, but in a pinch, a good whack with my grid stick would at least stun someone.

Both of us like to be prepared, ok?

But that’s not why I travel with it. I use my grid stick to get the blood flowing when we get to the hotel or our final destination. I can use it in the car, and it feels good to aggressively work on some of those knots when I just. can’t. Listen. To. NPR. For. one. More . minute. 

3. Something is better than nothing

Yesterday I popped into the gym with my little brother for a quick workout. I was tired, hadn’t slept well in two days, and the last thing I wanted to do was train. But we both went anyway, and I got in a solid 45 minutes of work. I only did six exercises after a brief warm up, but it got my blood flowing and improved my mood. Sometimes I struggle to train if I’m not following a specific program, so it’s good for me to remember that doing something is better than nothing.

It was also great to see my brother isn’t doing any of the program I wrote for him, so it was a good reminder that I’m not necessarily a “coach” but just someone who makes suggestions to family members when they ask and then they largely ignore them.

Cheers :-)

4. Training during the holidays helps to promote kindness

You know that I believe in kindness as a core value for everyone. Well, we’re all less likely to get in screaming matches over politics or the last piece of monkey bread Christmas morning if we’ve done a little workout to get those endorphins flowing. Or to work out aggression. Either or.

And when I say workout, I mean you can go outside and take a walk.

5. You don’t need a gym to train

Sure I practice deadlifting my dog into the car, up the stairs, and onto the couch, but even if you didn’t have to lift your 55 pound hound, you can still get a good bodyweight circuit in. Follow the circuit on the picture to get your heart rate up, your endorphins going, and make people at rest stops stare at you sideways.  

Cheers. 

Wishing you the happiest of holiday seasons.

In a few days I’m going to release my first free e-product.

Are you excited at the prospect?

Or are you wondering what the *** an e-product is?

It’s a free downloadable guide with tips on staying sane and on-track with your fitness goals during the holidays.

Rooney is a BIG fan of the holidays. Especially my annual holiday card.

But in the meantime, here are a few thoughts on managing your fitness during the holiday week.

1. Workout hard earlier in the week

Whether your traveling to family or family is coming to you, chances are Monday and Tuesday are for putting in a longer day at work and washing all of the sheets in the spare rooms.

Include a long workout one of these days.

This is your go all out, leave it all on the floor strength training session that includes a thorough 10 minute warm up (but you guys always warm up, right?), 45 minutes of strength training, and a finisher.*  This type of workout will boost your metabolism, which is what you want heading into a holiday week.

2. Get in one more workout for the week

By Wednesday you’re probably doing food-prep and I live with a chef so I’ve seen what Wednesday nights before Thanksgiving can look like. So that’s the day for a quick kettlebell workout at home or a 20 minute walk with the dog.

For a short kettlebell circuit at home, try a reverse ladder of 10 kettlebell swings and one kettlebell clean. For the next cycle do nine swings and two cleans, until you’ve made your way to one swing and 10 cleans.

On Thursday you should eat. If you like Thanksgiving dinner, just eat.

By Friday, if you’re not still in a food coma, get back on the workout wagon with a quick trip to the gym or another at home workout.

3. Keep your toe in the water

The goal for the week is to stay present with the moments you have and enjoy the family, friends and food. That’s the goal for the week. Fitness-wise, it’s about having the mindset that you’ll do what you can for the week and not judge yourself for what doesn’t happen.

Most of all, don’t let this be a week that derails you for the rest of the year. We’ve got six weeks left in 2016. You don’t have to wait until January to get back on track.  

I just returned from a trip to Western PA, where we celebrated my parent’s 70th birthdays. So if you see Mom and Dad this summer, wish them a very happy birthday.  

I also did some SnapChamping* with my niece and nephew while I was home. On a side note, this is what it looks like when I swap faces with my brother. (And consequently, what it would like like if I didn't pluck my chin hairs for a few months in a row).

Freaky right? I always knew we looked a bit alike. 

Aside from trying not to feel 110 years old while playing with technology, I also managed to get a workout in, which was an accomplishment for me.

Like many people, I struggle to workouts when I travel. I’m a creature of habit and much like my struggle to train around an injury, any kind of travel throws me completely off kilter. (And as I’ve mentioned before, kilter is where it’s at. I don't know what it is, just that I want to be there). Once you take me out of my regular gym and regular routine, I feel lost. Add the exhaustion of traveling on top, and it becomes that much more challenging to make exercise a priority.

Before your next trip, rather than bagging your training altogether, try some of these tips to help get a workout or two in the books. 

1. Set a workout goal before the trip

I’m notorious for packing workout clothes* with good intentions and then not following through. My last two trips to PA however, I changed my approach. I both packed some workout clothes and set a very specific goal of hitting a minimum of one workout. I was gone for four days this past weekend, and two of those were travel days. But my goal was one good workout, which was much more doable than three. 

I set the minimum standard of one because I knew I could do that. Had I set my goal at three, I might have realized on day two that I couldn’t possibly achieve that number, and that would have made it easier to bag all three. So for this trip, I set the bar low enough to trip over. 

And I tripped over it. Win. 

2. Choose a travel workout that you can do for your destination

At Spurling, we provide all of our clients with travel workouts upon request. Some clients are off on business trips with no idea what the hotels might be like, and others are off on beach vacations and camping trips.  

Depending on needs, we design either a bodyweight circuit, or a more advanced circuit if the client happens to own a band or a suspension training system. Speaking of which…

3. If you travel a lot, consider purchasing two pieces of equipment

My parents clothesline pole made a perfect spot for a 20 minute circuit. No, I didn't crack the cement at the base of the pole. At least I don't think so...

I take two pieces of equipment with me when I’m on the go. A Jungle Gym **(suspension training system), and a band. Both sound fancier than they are. The suspension training system is this: two handles that can be wrapped around a tree (or my parents clothesline pole), or closed in the door of a hotel room. It costs 50 bucks on Amazon. 

The band costs less than 20 bucks. 

With those two pieces of equipment I can get in a full body workout that burns calories and fries my muscles. 

4. Plan the workout routine before you travel

If you happen to have a coach, ask him or her for a workout plan before you leave. If you don’t, you can google bodyweight workout that you can do in your hotel room, on the beach, or next to the pool. Or while your dad is mowing the lawn...(If you don't know what these exercises are, head on over to my YouTube channel where you will find many of the videos for these.

A1. TRX Rows
A2. TRX Jump Squats
A3. BW Lunge with Overhead Reach
A4. Jumping Jacks
A5. TRX Bodysaws
A6. Banded push press

If you don't have any equipment you could do this routine:

A1. BW Squats
A2. Jumping Jacks
A3. Push Ups
A4. Single Leg RDL
A5. Plank
A6. Mountain Climbers

Do this routine three-five times with roughly 10-12 reps per exercise and I promise you, you’ll feel less guilty about that margarita with dinner.

And don’t feel guilty about a margarita. You’re on vacation. 

*I know it's actually SnapChat, but to be clear, that's all I know about it.. 

** TRX is a brand of suspension training system, so you'll see many exercises described as TRX, which is less of a mouthful than Jungle Gym.