Fast, furious... family? Your holiday workout.

'tis the season for family home workouts!

For those of you in unknown turf – visiting friends or relatives, for instance – and uncertain where you can work out in the midst of holiday feasting, fear not!

From the CrossFit group of Workouts Of the Day, here are 10 quickies that you can do with just no equipment, just a little space and some gravity. You should be able to find both in your relatives' den, basement or garage, or, if the temperature is reasonable, their backyard, side street, or park.

Each workout is short, but doing it repeatedly, and fast, makes it hurt; then the next time you do it, you try to beat your old time. So the speed is up to you, though the idea is to make it short but intensive.

Good news: if you can get through it this week, it's very likely you'll do better next time!!

Make it fast, and you might get your family to join in. Note to CrossFit fans: no vomiting when staying at Grandma's house.

it's one way to get your workout
and still be the life of the party
image: CrossFitEasternHills

It's probably not proper CrossFit protocol, but if you are like me and enjoy variety, you can mix and match these instead of completing the suggest number of reps. If the workout is fun, you and I will be more likely to do it!

Have a go at some of these below or a few more from this mega- list of WODs, from CrossFit. You'll thank me when dinner time comes around.


"Rounds for time" means you time yourself from the beginning to the end of the workout, completing all the rounds as quickly as possible, and air squats are squats* without holding a weight (my favorite type!).

1. 3 rounds for time: Run 800 meters + 50 air squats
(Measure out 800 m ahead of time if you’re running down a street, or use a treadmill)

2. 10 rounds for time: 10 pushups + 10 sit-ups +10 air squats

3. For time: 200 air squats

4. 21-15-9 air squats + pushups
(Do 21 reps of each air squats and pushups, then 15 of each, then 9.)

5. 8 rounds for time: 10 situps + 10 burpees

6. 10 rounds for time: 10 pushups, 10 squats, 10 tuck jumps
(Lift knees as high as possible when you jump, ‘tucking’ into your chest)

7. 3 rounds: 50 sit-ups + 400 m run

8. For time: 100 jumping jacks + 75 air squats + 50 pushups + 25 burpees

9. 5 rounds for time: ten vertical jumps (jump as high as you can) + 10 pushups

10. For time: Run 1 mile, stopping to do 10 pushups for every minute that elapses during the run

(these 10 compiled by K. Martinko @ TreeHugger)

* Here's a quick video demonstrating proper squat technique, and here are some dos and don'ts for doing some basic CrossFit moves correctly, with and without weights.

* Here's an endless stream of quick-change WODs, with a timer, for an instant workout.