HOLIDAY TRAINING
By Jason Rhymer
NOTE: This and all content in Faith & Fitness Magazine is for information only. You should consult with your own health care provider, personal trainer or other professional for all your health and fitness
“On the first day of fitness, my trainer gave to me an exercise called a burpee! On the second day of fitness, my trainer gave to me: Two Turkish get-ups, and an exercise called a burpee!”
Are you singing the tune yet? The Christmas season is a good time to add something new and different to your exercise routine. This holiday training program is a deceivingly tough workout that I love doing with bootcamps during the Christmas season. Get ready for 12 different exercises that are performed just like the song. Keep adding a new exercise as the rep number increases, but remember you have to go back down the list to the first exercise every time. By the end of the session, you have performed 78 sets and 376 reps (the 12th day has 12 bonus reps for you math whizzes). But don’t let the numbers scare you. You should be able to knock this out in forty-five minutes to an hour.
It’s the holiday season so be thankful for your healthy body, jump in with both feet (burpee joke) and have fun!
Here’s the concise run-down of 12 exercises for those of you “making a list and checking it twice”:
THE 12 DAYS OF FITNESS – EXERCISES
1. Burpee, 2. Turkish Get-ups (1 each side), 3. Pull-ups, 4. Pistols, 5. Push-ups, 6. Lunges (3 each leg), 7. Shoulder Press, 8. Kettlebell Swings, 9. Jumping Jacks, 10. One-arm row (5 each side), 11. Romanian Deadlifts (RDL), 12. Biceps Curls + Triceps Extensions
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
Start with 1 burpee and you are off and running. Next, hit 1 perfect Turkish Get-up on each side, and 1 burpee. Next, you perform 3 pull-ups, 2 Turkish Get-ups, and 1 burpee. This will be the sequence through all 12 challenges. Want to take this holiday training to the ultimate level? Do it 12 days in a row!
Up for the workout? Print the list of all 12 exercises, take ‘em to the gym and get to it. Do them with your “true love”, your trainer or a friend that you invite to exercise with you during this holiday season. Don’t have any of those people with you at the gym? Then if you see someone watching and wondering what you are doing, consider it your invitation to tell her or him and extend a friendly, “Why don’t you join me!”
12 Days Of Fitness – Exercise #1 – BURPEE
Burpees are also called “squat thrusts”. Squat low in a “frog” position. Kick your feet out behind you so that you are in the top of a push-up position. Jump your feet back under you to the “frog” position. Now jump straight up with arms overhead.
Low-Impact Version Squat and put your hands on a step or other secure object, walk your feet out, and walk them back in close to your hands, then just stand up rather than jump.
Advanced Version Rather than jumping straight up, you can jump side to side, or do a spinning jump 180 or 360 degrees. You could also add a push-up in the middle of the movement when you are in that position.
12 Days Of Fitness – Exercise #2 – TURKISH GET-UP
A Turkish Get-up is my favorite exercise of all time. Lay down flat and extend one arm overhead. If you are new to this exercise, just try it with no weight first, then you can add an appropriate dumbbell or kettlebell like in the pictures below. The main rule for the extended arm is the elbow stays locked out and perpendicular to the ground at all times. Bend the same side leg as the extended arm and keep the heel engaged with the ground. The opposite arm is flat on the ground.
Use your abs, arm on the ground, and heel on the bent leg to get to a seated position. The next move will determine your success with this exercise. Bridge your hips off the ground using the hand on the ground and the opposite foot (weight in the heel).
Bring the “straight” leg back to the plant hand and put your knee on the ground by the hand. Remember that the whole time this is happening, the “working” arm has to remain locked out at the elbow and perpendicular to the ground. Now, you are in a lunge position. Get your hand off the ground and “cleanup” your posture. Drive off that front heel to a standing position.
That’s half the rep (ha, ha!… evil trainer laugh)! Now, reverse everything and get back to a lying-flat position. Move the opposite leg from the hand that is overhead, behind you and down so that the knee touches (reverse lunge). Put your same-side hand beside it. Here’s the bridge again…use your hand and heel of the front leg to hold you so that you can “clear” the other leg, back to a straight and laying down position. You should be sitting on your bottom at this point, so use your abs, and plant arm to return to the start position (laying flat with the working arm extend perpendicular to the ground). Pay close attention to the pictures. You can also watch an online video demonstration of me doing this tricky but amazing exercise.
Low-Impact Version If you have shoulder or hip issues, you can simply lie down and stand up the easiest way possible. Perform two reps and you figure out the technique right for you.
12 Days Of Fitness – Exercise #3 – PULL-UPS
Pull-ups are an upper body compound pulling exercise where the body is suspended by extended arms, gripping a fixed bar, then pulled up until the elbows are bent and the head is higher than the hands, utilizing an overhand (pronated) grip. Focus on getting the elbows by your side and activating your shoulder blades rather than focusing your arms doing the work.
In the pictures, you notice one of the many variations to make these possible. Kirsten is using a band to support part of her body-weight. Your gym might offer a machine version of this variation called a Gravitron or Assisted Pull-up Machine. You can also substitute the pull-up with heavy lat-pulldowns on a cable machine if there are no other options. You are only performing 3 perfect reps, so you need to keep it heavy.
12 Days Of Fitness – Exercise #4 – PISTOLS
Pistols (Assisted) is basically a single-leg squat while holding on and lightly assisting with the upper body. The focus is extreme range of motion (notice how low Kirsten is getting…sit on your heel if possible). Return to a standing position by driving your heel through the ground, keep the spine long, and only pull with your arms as needed.
Not every knee is made for this movement. But I recommend trying it and see if you can at least get the thigh (femur) to parallel to the ground. Make sure your plant foot is in-line with your hands and you push your hips back with the weight on your heel as you lower into the pistol. The non-working leg stays extended forward.
12 Days Of Fitness – Exercise #5 – PUSH-UPS
If you are still singing the song then you are at the, “5 golden rings” part of this exercise. Be sure to do 5 push-ups every time.
Push-ups are a classic upper body strength exercise that you can do off of a counter top, chair, or the ground depending on your fitness level. Hands should be shoulder-width apart and don’t let the elbows flare out during the lowering phase. Other common pitfalls include placing your hands even with your collarbones rather than your chest, raising your hips too high, and letting your head fall forward. There should be a straight line from your heels to the crown of your head.
Notice the 3 levels of difficulty in the pictures below. Incline (hands higher than feet) are easier to do than the standard flat/level on the ground, and decline (hands lower than feet) are more difficult.
12 Days Of Fitness – Exercise #6 – LUNGE
For this part of your holiday training do 3 lunges with each leg. Take a long stride step and focus on lowering “through” the front heel. Your back leg is for balance and the front leg is for work. Lower the torso straight down between the two feet in the long stride position. Focus also on maintaining a long spine. You can stay stationary or walk the lunges around your workout area, alternating for 3 reps with each leg.
Avoid the risk of injury. Don’t “Lock-out” the Joint with hyperextension and keep the front knee over the ankle, with your body weight toward your heel, not sliding forward to the front of your foot. Shifting forward transfers your body weight through your knee joint, instead of keeping it on your leg muscles.
12 Days Of Fitness – Exercise #7 – SHOULDER PRESS
The shoulder press can be done with any implement. I have pictures of a thick band and a set of kettlebells. The way I teach this now is different from years ago. I am most concerned now with bone stacking. Think about taking your humerus (bone from the elbow to the shoulder) and “stacking” it on top of the shoulder the most efficient way possible.
Be aware of elbows flaring out during the movement. Focus on the rhythm of the elbow and shoulder working together and the contraction of the lats (the back area around the shoulder blades) as you lower the weight.
12 Days Of Fitness – Exercise #8 – KETTLEBELL SWING
For the kettlebell Swing I realize you may not have access to a kettlebell. If that is the case, you can do this same exercise with dumbbells (even a filled household plastic bottle with a handle – like a gallon milk bottle). However I highly recommend you use kettlebells. Invest in some for your personal home gym.
Stand with the kettlebell in both hands at waist level. The kettlebell swing starts with a slightly wider than hip width stance and weight in the heels. Flex the hips into a quarter-squat position and allow the kettlebell to float behind you, through your legs. Push the heels into the ground and quickly extend the hips, swinging the kettlebell up and out (Picture 2). The saying to remember is “hips drive and arms guide.” This is not as much of a shoulder exercise as it looks. The power comes from your hips, glutes, and hamstrings. If performing with dumbbells, go for a single-arm swing and do 8 reps on each side with the appropriate weight.
12 Days Of Fitness – Exercise #9 – JUMPING JACK
The good news about doing jumping jacks in this holiday training regimen is that this is a rest set before your last 3 big sets. Hopefully, you have been doing jumping jacks since you were 8 and the pictures will tell you all you need to know about this classic fat burner.
Low-Impact Version Step instead of jump and keep arms even with the chest as they move.
Advanced Version Rotate while you jump and see if you can make your rotations as big as possible. For example, see if you can jump 360 degrees in 2 or 3 jumping jacks, then change directions.
You want to do 9 complete reps. Breath well. You are getting close!
12 Days Of Fitness – Exercise #10 – ONE-ARM ROW
To do the one-arm Row as your tenth exercise do 5 on each side (each arm). – I like to tweak this great strength move a bit so that you get more core involvement.
Keep both feet even on the ground (other versions have you put one knee on a bench), and reach onto a bench or other secure object. The goal is to get the back flat and parallel to the ground. Grab a dumbbell or other implement with the other hand and pull it to your side, getting your elbow as high as possible.
12 Days Of Fitness – Exercise #11 – ROMANIAN DEADLIFT
The Romanian deadlift is quite a mouthful. Call it RDL for short. Stand with a barbell, dumbbells, sandbag, or other implement in front of you with arms extended (Picture 1). Slightly bend the knees, but don’t bend them once you start the next part of the movement.
Push your hips behind you and keep the weight in your heels. Keep the spine long and allow the bar to lower to or below the knees. Everyone’s range of motion will be different. The key indicator of how low to go is watch the spine. Once the middle of the back rounds, that is the end of the motion.
Reverse the action and rise back up to a standing position by activating the glutes and hamstrings.
12 Days Of Fitness – Exercise #12 – BICEP CURL + TRICEP EXTENSION
You made it to the final exercise of this holiday training program. Time to do some biceps curls and Triceps Extensions. Do the curls (each arm) first. Then do the triceps extensions (each arm). They are your 12 bonus reps.
Any implement will do. There are a lot of great variations on these basic movements. A common mistake with curls is not fully extending the arm at the bottom of the curl. A common mistake with overhead triceps extensions is not fully extending the arms. Locking out the elbows fully is the only way to fully engage the triceps.
DO THIS TRAINING WITH A FAMILY MEMBER OR FRIEND
Also remember that this is a great workout routine any time of the year. So, for example, it’s a fun way to celebrate “Christmas in July”.
