You have about million things to do for the holiday season,with only a fraction of the time you need.

This is dangerous. How?

Dangerous, because it is EASY to skip your workouts.

EASY to start making poor food choices.

It is a huge mistake to put your precious lean muscle tissue at risk. Whetheryou are just starting a new fitness program or you've been working at it allyear, there is no reason to start fooling around with that valuable muscle youare now trying so hard to protect.

Why is lean muscle tissue so important? Simple. You lose muscle, you lower yourresting metabolic rate, which typically accounts for about 60-75% of your totaldaily calorie burn. This means that everyday you will be burning less and lesscalories which will put you on the fast track for packing on ugly, unwantedbody fat during the holidays.

So let's look at it like this. There are a number of ways to maintain or evenincrease the number of calories your body will naturally burn each day, bothfrom exercise and from your normal daily activities.

The result? Your body becomes a much stronger, lean, fat-burning machine. Usethe simple strategies below to maintain and even increase your current amountof lean muscle mass, maximizing your daily calorie burn. In the end, you'llfeel a lot better than one of those "holiday food hangovers".

1.) Perform at least one intense strength training session per week.

It has been proven that even ONE intense, well structured total body workoutper week is an effective way to maintain current fitness levels when you can'texercise during really busy times (like the holiday season). So, to bestmaintain your strength and lean muscle mass, shoot for at least one,concentrated strength training workout during the week to keep strong andprevent unwanted fat from catching up. If time allows, perform up to threetotal body strength workouts per week with three cardio interval workouts on thenon strength training days for total body fat domination.

2.) Score the Magic Numbers.

No offense, but your body is a moron. In other words, it cannot differentiatebetween 100 lunges performed in a row versus 100 total lunges performed in aday.

When you honestly cannot find a five to 20-minute time slot to complete aneffective total body workout, look for hidden chunks of time during the day toget in a certain number of daily repetitions for a certain number of exercisesthat work your entire body.

Got a free moment before bringing the kids to band practice?

Great, crank out 10 push-ups, 10 rows, and 20 squats.

Using this method throughout the day will lead to big numbers by the end of theday that will burn the same amount of calories in addition to creating similarmuscle building effects as if you did all of the exercises at once during asingle workout.

It is important to note that this "Score the Magic Numbers" routine is merely apreventative back-up option to an ideal 20-minute interval training workoutswhich are scientifically proven to burn nine times more fat than ordinaryexercise (like the ones we use in our boot camp program).

Short rest periods between exercises create the optimal hormonal environmentfor rapid fire fat loss and lean muscle gains, as opposed to taking much longerrest periods between exercises. So, be sure to get score your numbers thisholiday season!

"What exercises are most effective?" Glad you asked.

Make sure to pick multi-joint, compound movements that hit as much of yourbody's major muscle groups in the shortest amount of time possible (e.g.squats, lunges, push-ups, rows, etc.). Use the plan below as guide to buildyour own "Score the Magic Numbers" workout. Adjust the repetition rangesaccordingly based on your current strength levels. The only thing you need isyour body weight and adjustable dumbbells and/or resistance bands. Perform thisplan up to three times per week, resting a day between workouts.

Make sure to alternate between Plan A and Plan B for more variety. You caneither hit your magic numbers by doing one exercise first (e.g. performpush-ups rest-pausing as needed until you get 100 total), or by simply employcircuit style training (e.g. 20 squats, 10 push-ups, 10 rows, repeat 10x throughoutthe day to hit your totals).

"Score the Magic Numbers" Holiday Workout Mixer

Plan A- Body weight Squats or Double Leg Hip Extensions: 100-200 total

Push-ups: 50-100 total (knee pushups ok)

DB/Band Rows: 50-100 total

Plan B- Body weight Lunges or Single-Leg Hip Extensions: 50-100/total per leg

Off Chair/Couch Dips: 50-100 total

DB/Band Curls: 50-100 total (feel free to swap pull-ups or pull-downs here ifyou have access to the equipment)

3.) Rage Against Those Pesky Machines

Machines have made us an incredibly lazy, out of shape and overweight society.This holiday season make it a point to not use them! Now I don't mean to saythat you cannot drive to the mall during the holidays. However, when you get tothe mall, don't sit there and wait for the spot right next to the door. Parkdown the isle and briskly walk the rest of the way. Skip the escalator, takethe stairs. Little changes with all those extra steps will add up quick andburn the calories.

4.) Get moving, get outside and get fit!

I remember growing up in North Dakota,snowdrifts, igloos and snowball fights. Running up snow covered hills with yourfeet sinking into the snow with every step…it's was fun, but exhausting! Now, Iknow unless you are in the high country, Phoenixdoesn't get to see a whole lot of snowdrifts. But, you can still enjoy thepristine, cool outdoor air by hustling up CamelbackMountain or follow the paved trail up North Mountain.Point is…shut the TV off, grab the family, get some fresh air and have some outdoorfun!

Enjoy this time, everyone...it only comes once a year! ;)

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