Fighters Guide: Thanksgiving Workout Plan and Nutrition Plan

[sociallocker id=”3538″]

Written by Mike Caulo ISSA Master Trainer

Ahh Thanksgiving, for me that means one thing…. PUMPKIN PIE! Anyone that knows me knows I have no problem downing a full pumpkin pie with some chocolate milk. You may be asking yourself well how can he eat so much and not get fat, right. The beauty of studying the body is you learn hacks that allow you to manipulate your body and nutritional habits so that you can have your pie and eat it too.

One important factor is that I make sure I time my workout and pie eating very calculated so that my muscles will be utilizing that pumpkin pie and not my fat cells.

This is why I decided to put together my “Fighters Guide” on Healthy Thanksgiving hacks. As mentioned before, the workout and nutrition timing play a key role as well as what kind of workout we are going to do. The goal here is the execute a total body energy depleting workout that will drain our glycogen storage’s in our muscles so that when we take down that pumpkin pie the sugar will get delivered to the muscles as oppose to being turned into fat. – Reference

‎

If you really want to eat, and you want to ensure that you will be utilizing as much as the carbs you plan on taking in today then you are going to want to follow our 2 a day workout routine. However if you plan on gorging a bit but not taking out an entire pumpkin pie like myself then you will be good with picking either one of the workouts below depending on if your gym is open, or you are working out at home.

As mentioned before we are looking to drain the bodies glycogen storage with exercise whether it be weight training, HIIT, or a combo of both. So not only is it key to drain the glycogen storage but then it is also crucial to know how to refuel these muscle glycogen storage’s. For our thanksgiving meal plan we will be loading up on nutrient rich fruits and veggies in the morning, then load up with a great carb, and protein dense meal 4 hours before the workout, so if your day alters at all from the template I am using just adjust by making sure meal #2 is taking place 4 hours prior to the workout. Next about an hour before our workout we will have a pre workout power salad. This power salad is loaded with beets and celery, two veggies that increase vaso dilation. Basically meaning your blood vessels can hold more blood, nutrients, oxygen and get you pumped for this holiday swell sess.

During our workout we want to drink only water or calorie free fluids because we want our body to pull all the energy it can from our glycogen storage’s, so every calorie burned will be crucial here. Again it does not matter which workout you do but if possible both will be able to deplete your storages the most.

So post workout that is where the food frenzy and fun begin. We have laid out a FULL holiday spread under our 8 Amazing Thanksgiving Recipes Article that has everything from Roasted Butternut Squash with Cranberries & Glazed Pecans to Pumpkin pie and so much more awesomeness to be had.

With todays plan we are going to condense our nutritional habits and stradegies from a weekly or monthly approach into a daily approach. So normally we will adhere to our guidelines 80% to 90% of the week or month depending on our goal and how we react to everything. However this we are scalling it down we are going to break down our “clean eating” by the meals on thanksgiving only. So as part of our plan we are eating 5 meals each eaten relatively 2-4 hours apart and making sure all the other guidelines are met. So if we eat 80% clean that leaves us 1 meal where we can “cheat” and break the rules. Personally this is where I throw down a pumpkin pie, maybe some peanut butter on top with some cool whip if I am feeling fancy and a cold glass of chocolate milk to wash it down. Preferably I have this right after my workout so that I utilize as much of the carbs I am taking in as possible.

Nutritional Guidelines that will make or break your Healthy Lifestyle

DON’T DRINK CALORIES.
Stay Hydrated. Drink at least 50% of your body weight in fluid ounces so 200lbs person drinks 100 ounces of water

Eat protein with every meal (Click Here for Portion Guide)
Eat within 60 minutes after waking up & Do Not Eat within 60 minutes of going to sleep.
Eat within 60 minutes post workout.
Time Feeding Opportunities- Every 2-4 hours.
Keep a Ratio of at least 3 Vegetables for every piece of Fruit.
No Trans Fat, PERIOD.
Portion out Snacks to avoid overeating.
Eat at least 85% Clean. If you eat 6 times a day, that’s 42 Meals a week allowing for 7 “Cheat Meals”

Meal Plan

Workout – Make sure you eat Pre workout salad 1-2 hours prior to workout and post workout meal with 1-2 hours post workout

Meal 4 – Post workout

Thanksgiving Dinner

Meal 5 – Dessert

Pumpkin Pie

I figured this would be a good time to drop some more food knowledge, the topic since it is thanksgiving and all is…. Turkey.

Give thanks to those pilgrims for starting the wonderful tradition of Thanksgiving turkey. It just so happens that this health food disguised as meat is good year-round for weight control. A four-ounce serving of roasted white meat turkey has 177 calories and dark meat has 211. Sadly, many folks are still unaware of the versatility and flavor of ground turkey. Anything hamburger can do, ground turkey can do at least as well, from conventional burgers to spaghetti sauce to meat loaf. Some ground turkey contains skin which slightly increases the fat content. If you want to keep it really lean, opt for ground breast meat. But since this has no added fat, you’ll need to add filler to make burgers or meat loaf hold together.

Four ounces of ground turkey has approximately 170 calories and nine grams of fat –about what you’d find in 2.5 teaspoons of butter or margarine. Incredibly, the same amount of regular ground beef (21% fat) has 298 calories and 23 grams of fat. Buying turkey has become easy. It’s no longer necessary to buy a whole bird unless you want to. Ground turkey is available fresh or frozen, as are individual parts of the bird, including drumsticks, thighs, breasts and cutlets.

Now onto the fun…

Thanksgiving Workout Plan

Resistance Training For Men

The gameplan for the men is using a multi joint, compound lift to tax the glycogen storage as much as possible so we can refuel with delicious thanks giving goodness post workout. We have incorporated the dead-lift because it not only depletes glycogen but helps increase testosterone, as well as burn more calories and strengthen our PKC aka Posterior Kinetic Chain which is involved in basically everything we do.

Below this plan will be the Womens Resistance Training Plan and then the HIIT plan will follow for both men and women.

Flexibility – Foam Roll

Foam Roll: Upper-Mid Back

Sets

Reps

N/A

Duration

30 sec

Intensity
N/A

Tempo

N/A

Rest

N/A

Start
1. Lie on floor with foam roll behind upper back.
2. Lock hands behind head for support.

Movement
1. Raise hips off floor; slowly roll back and forth; apply pressure on tender spots for 30 seconds.

Foam Roll: Hip Rotators

Sets

Reps

N/A

Duration

30 sec

Intensity

N/A

Tempo

N/A

Rest

N/A

Start
1. Sit with foam roll on back of hip.
2. Cross same foot to opposite knee to increase pressure (optional).

Movement
1. Slowly roll back of hip; apply pressure on tender spots for 30 seconds.

Flexibility – Static Stretch

Hip Rotator Stretch

Sets

Reps

N/A

Duration

30 sec

Intensity

N/A

Tempo

N/A

Rest

N/A

Start
1. Lie on back with foot placed over opposite thigh.

Movement
1. Place hand on knee and pull to opposite shoulder until stretch is felt in back of hip.
3. Hold 30 seconds.

Standing Lat Stretch

Sets

Reps

N/A

Duration

30 sec

Intensity

N/A

Tempo

N/A

Rest

N/A

Start
1. Place feet shoulder-width apart, with one arm raised above head holding stable object.

Movement
1. Lower hips toward ground until stretch felt alongside torso and into lower back; hold 30 seconds.

Core

Ball Side Sit-Up with Rotation

Sets

Reps

Duration

N/A

Intensity

N/A

Tempo

Medium

Rest

60 sec

Start
1. Lie with ball under hips; feet anchored to wall.
2. Extend legs in staggered-stance position – bottom foot forward.
3. Place hands behind ears.
Movement
1. Draw-in belly button, squeeze butt muscles and tuck chin.
2. Bend sideways at waist.
3. Raise upper body, while rotating chest toward ceiling into side crunch position.
4. Return to start position.

Medicine Ball Lift

Sets

Reps

Duration

N/A

Intensity

N/A

Tempo

Medium

Rest

60 sec

Start
1. Stand in semi-squat position; feet straight and shoulder-width apart; chest up.
2. Hold medicine ball with both hands at level of knees; arms fully extended.
Movement
1. Draw-in belly button, squeeze butt muscles and tuck chin.
2. With arms extended, lift medicine ball diagonally and rotate body, pivoting on back foot.
3. Lift until medicine ball reaches eye level.
4. Return to start.

Resistance

Legs & Back

Deadlift

Sets

Reps

Duration

N/A

Intensity

80%

Tempo

Medium

Rest

60 sec

Start
1. Stand with feet straight and shoulder-width apart.
2. Barbell on floor.

Movement
1. Squat and grab barbell with hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
2. Squeeze butt muscles, drive through heels and lift barbell with straight arms until fully upright.
3. Return to start position.

Chest

Incline Dumbbell Chest Press

Sets

Reps

Duration

N/A

Intensity

80%

Tempo

Medium

Rest

60 sec

Start
1. Lie on incline bench, feet straight and flat on floor.
2. Hold dumbbell in each hand, at chest level, slightly outside of body with elbows flexed.

Movement
1. Press both dumbbells up and together, fully extending arms; hold.
2. Return to start position.

Back

Machine Pulldown

Sets

Reps

Duration

N/A

Intensity

80%

Tempo

Medium

Rest

60 sec

Start
1. Select desired weight, grab both handles and sit upright; do not shrug shoulders.

Movement
1. Pull handles toward body, squeeze shoulder blades together; do not arch back or jut head forward.
2. Hold; return weight to start position.

Shoulders

Shoulder Press Machine

Sets

Reps

Duration

N/A

Intensity

80%

Tempo

Medium

Rest

60 sec

Start
1. Adjust seat settings and select desired weight.

Movement
1. With chin tucked, press weight overhead, fully extending arms; do not shrug shoulders or jut head forward.
2. Hold; return weight to start position.

Biceps

Seated Bicep Curl

Sets

Reps

Duration

N/A

Intensity

80%

Tempo

Medium

Rest

60 sec

Start
1. Sit with feet straight and flat; dumbbell in each hand; arms extended at sides of body.

Movement
1. Curl hands toward chest; do not shrug shoulders or jut head forward.
2. Reverse movement to return to start position.

Triceps

Standing Triceps Pushdown

Sets

Reps

Duration

N/A

Intensity

80%

Tempo

Medium

Rest

60 sec

Start
1. Stand with feet straight and shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent.
2. Grab handle with both hands, elbows flexed at 90 degree angle.

Movement
1. Draw-in belly button and push hands toward floor, fully extending arms in front of body.
2. Hold; reverse movement to return to start position.

Resistance Training For Women

For our womens plan we again took our typical female clients goals into mind. We focus on strengthening and lengthening the core while building the leg muscles, and making sure those arms stay tone.