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.  

If we run into each other in the next few weeks, well first of all, I’m sorry. I guess I didn’t see you standing there.

I kid, I kid.

If you do see me, there’s a good chance I’ll have my right arm in a sling. Because 15 years of baseball and softball.

My shoulder gave out on me during an exercise back in March, and it’s been bugging me ever since. I finally got it checked out and low and behold, I’ve got a tear in my labrum. Seriously, because softball.

I’ve been largely fortunate in my athletic career to avoid injuries, but as I approach 40, it’s only natural that my body is going to start showing some of the wear and tear I’ve put it through.

But does that mean I can’t train?

No. 

Is it harder?

Well, yes and no. The thing is, despite my overall easy-going, roll-with-it nature, when it comes to training I’m a little obsessive. If my coach writes me a program, I do that program with no variation. Sometimes to my detriment. I don’t treat my program like an a la carte and with good reason; my coach gives me specific exercises to achieve my goals. 

When you suddenly can't do 50% of your workout, the temptation is to throw in the towel. 

But unless you're dealing with a serious back injury or some other full body ailment, there's a good chance you can train around the problem area. You'll probably want a coach or a fitness professional to help you figure what to do, but simply knowing that you CAN continue to train is half of the battle.

I’ve got a bum right shoulder. I can’t lift my arm over my head without searing pain. I’m limited with much of what I can do, but once I stopped Eyor-ing* all over the place I realized I still had plenty of options for training. (And that took awhile. I've been battling this injury for months now). 

I can run.

I can work my left arm.

I can deadlift.

And I can train the hell out of my lower body. 

Once I got in the right mindset I got back to training. But not without a little help. There are many reasons it's great to have a coach, but when training around an injury, whether it's just nagging knee pain, lower back discomfort or a broken hand, a good trainer or coach will write you a program that is safe and effective. I've taken advantage of coaches to help me circumvent my injury.

Over the weekend I received an email from a friend who wants some help in training after a hysterectomy. I think this line of the email sums it up best: "My aunt was told to rest for three weeks for her back; it's been 40 years and she's debilitated." 

40 years. 

Don't get me wrong; there is absolutely a time and place for rest, especially when you're dealing with serious injury. But sometimes just finding a way to stay consistent with some type of training can make all of the difference when it comes to staying on track. 

*Yes I made this word up. But it so works for me. 

Last summer, I learned that in England, the time-frame leading up to the election of the Prime Minister is one month. 

One. Month. 

Without getting into politics, I think we can all agree that shortening the lead up to the Presidential Election by three years and 11 months would be awesome. 

I digress. The one think I dislike about as much as listening to political pundits and ads, is planking. 

The plank position (think push up position but with your forearms flat to the ground) is an often used core exercise, ideal for people of all fitness levels. 

And I'll tell you what, planking is about as much fun as sliding down a razor blade into a pit of salt. Because unfortunately, as useful as the exercise is to improve core strength, it can also be brutally boring. 

And when you get bored, you think about other things. And when you think about other things, you forget about form. And breathing. And when you forget about form and breathing, you hang on your lumbar spine (lower back) and eventually face plant in to the turf because you quit breathing 90 seconds ago. 

So in the interest of keeping your face and lower back happy, here are a couple of anterior core (front of your stomach) options that include the plank position, but with a little variety that might cut down on the boredom.

I won't say fun. That's overstating it. 

Or you can also try this variation, performed with sliders (or paper plates under your feet), and a couple of dumbbells. 

So how do you know if it's time to progress to one of these variations? If you are able to plank with good form (hips not too low, but not too high) for five breaths, then you're probably ready to add some variety to the exercise.