Trim Those Holiday Pounds in Just 20 Minutes!
Dec. 29, 2009 — -- For holiday weight gain, Santa really is the gold standard. All those cookies and milk, with little exercise aside from scooching down chimneys for one night -- who wouldn't fill out that hefty red suit?
But for the rest of us, the onslaught of office parties, cakes, big family meals and candy can make the holiday season prime time for unsightly weight gain.
Many women report gaining about 10 pounds during the December holidays, and given the winter season, it's an especially hard time to get to the gym to work them off.
But Brava Body founders Diana Nyad, 60, and Bonnie Stoll, 57, dropped by "Good Morning America" to show how you can battle the annual weight gain with 20 minutes of exercise in addition to 20 minutes of any kind of cardiovascular exercise.
Amid shopping and visiting family, it's sometimes difficult to find time for exercise. But you only need 20 minutes a day for a solid workout, Nyad and Stoll said.
The key, they said, is to keep your metabolism revving even after eating huge holiday meals. To do so, participants don't need to use big weights and develop large muscles. Rather, they'll work on muscle tone and burning a little fat.
Exercise 1: The Crab
You may have seen your kids do this while playing at home. The crab is an exercise in which you face the ceiling with your hands and feet holding you up so that your body is in the shape of a table.
What's happens is almost all of the body is in contraction to maintain the position -- triceps, shoulders, thighs and calves. Hold this position for 30 seconds. If you can't do it for all 30 seconds at first, try doing it for 15 and work your way up.
Exercise 2: The Tricep Plank
The tricep plank combines exercise and balance in a single motion set. You grab two very light dumbbells, like 5 pounds, and use them like handles as you assume the pushup position.
Rather than doing a pushup, however, you leave one hand on the ground and pull the other up with the weight, straightening the arm so it runs along the side of your body.
Throughout the exercise, your buttocks, lower back and entire back and stomach will be flexed and the arm motion will work you triceps. After you finish one arm, switch to the other.
