Coach’s Corner: 12 Workouts of Christmas
by James Scott
Let me guess… You have the turkey blues. The tryptophan is still running rabid through your blood stream. You can barely keep your eyes open long enough to read this article. There is at least a slice or two of pumpkin pie hiding somewhere deep in your refrigerator. It is December now and you know what that means: the holiday season complete with its cold weather, movie nights and tons of junk food. Most likely, you will either be travelling or having guests at your house. Then there is shopping, preparing holiday treats and tying up loose ends before the year ends. Working out? Ha! No way! You don’t have time for that, right? What turned out to be a day off from the gym near the end of November is turning into a bottomless pit of missed workouts. December is upon us folks and the wrath of the holiday season is wreaking havoc on your fitness level. Stop this madness and take this challenge. Burn fat, build muscle and stay in shape. You can do the workouts anywhere, and they don’t take longer than 20 minutes to complete.
Day 1: Do 500 jumping jacks. Take as many breaks as you need, but complete the 500 as fast as possible.
Day 2: Tabata push-ups and planks. This is 16 sets (eight pushups & eight planks) of 20 seconds of work, followed by 10 seconds of rest. Alternate sets between the push-ups and the planks.
Day 3: Run for two minutes. Do 10 burpees. Run for two minutes. Do 20 sit-ups. Run for two minutes. Do 30 squats. Repeat this circuit one more time!
Day 4: Walk 50 flights of stairs. You don’t have to do these all at one time, but get 50 in throughout the day.
Day 5: Do five rounds of a one minute wall sit. Then do 15 push-ups and 20 sit-ups.
Day 6: Do 500 steps of walking lunges (250 on each leg).
Day 7: Do 100 burpees.
Day 8: Complete as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of: 25 jumping jacks, 20 squats, 15 sit-ups, 10 push-ups and five burpees.
Day 9: Do a five minute wall sit, then a five minute plank. Stop the clock when you rest. Use as many sets as you need to complete the five minutes for each exercise.
Day 10: Go for a 20 minute jog. Pace yourself and try to stay moving (running or walking) for the entire 20 minutes.
Day 11: Max out. Perform one set each of as many push-ups, squats, plank holds and jumping jacks as you can without taking a break. When you break, the exercise is complete. Count time for the plank hold and reps for all other exercises.
Day 12: Do burpees on the minute. With a continuously running clock do one burpee the first minute, two burpees the second minute, three burpees the third minute... continuing as long as you are able. Use as many sets each minute as needed.
James Scott is the Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Shanghai Sharks. If you have a fitness question you’d like him to answer in a future column, please email him at [email protected].
