Christmas is over. We’ve eaten everything in the house. We haven’t left the house in almost 48 hours. Our bodies feel like sludge.
The best way to shake off that inevitable festive funk is to tear yourself away from the TV and get your blood pumping – even for just half an hour.
Head down to the gym, or brace the cold in your local park for a quick, energising session. It’s also the perfect respite from the family members who are probably starting to annoy you.
Steven Virtue, fitness content and programming manager at Total Fitness, has created a Christmas-themed workout to help you kill some time in the no-man’s-land between the 25th and New Year.
The exercises work all of your key muscle groups to give you a head start on your New Year’s fitness resolutions.
Carry out each exercise for 45 seconds, then rest for 15 seconds before moving onto the next. Repeat the five-minute circuit as many times as you like.
Reindeer runs
A great way to warm up is to give yourself a quick blast of cardio in the form of high-knees (or reindeer runs).
To complete this simple, cardio-intensive exercise, start from standing a position and run on the spot as fast as you can, raising each knee so it’s on a 90 degree angle to the floor.
This exercise engages the core and works the leg muscles whilst getting your heart rate up.
Snow angels
Strengthen your lower back and abs with snow angels – more commonly known as superman pose.
Start by lying on your front with your arms and legs extended away from you.
Raise your arms and legs off the floor simultaneously and engage your core to lift your chest off the floor a little.
Hold for a few seconds before returning to your start position.
For a more advanced exercise, whilst in the hold position, move your limbs in criss-cross motion as though making a snow angel.
Jingle bell swings
For this exercise you’ll need a kettlebell or a similar weighted object that you can swing safely.
Kettlebell swings (or jingle bell swings as we like to call them around Christmas) are a great all-round exercise, targeting your glutes, hips, hamstrings, shoulders and lats.
To perform this exercise, hold your kettlebell or weighted object firmly with both hands.
With feet slightly more than hip-width apart – and keeping your back and arms straight – bend your knees slightly and hinge forwards into a deadlift position.
As you drive back up to a standing position swing the kettlebell up so your arms are parallel to the floor, squeezing your glutes.
As the kettlebell swings back down, bend your knees and allow the kettlebell to swing through your legs a little – like a pendulum – before repeating the action in one continuous motion.
Holly climbers
Better known as hill climbers, this killer exercise is a great full body workout that exercises almost every muscle group, whilst getting your heart rate up.
To perform a hill climber, get into a plank position and raise one knee up to your chest at a time, ensuring your back remains straight at all times.
Perform the action one leg after the other and as fast as you can.
Chestnut press
Chest press is a great workout for your arms, shoulders and upper chest as it targets triceps, deltoids and pectorals.
Lie back on a bench with your feet firmly on the floor and a dumbbell (or similar weighted object) in each hand just to the side of your shoulders.
Push the weights upward, straightening your arms so they are perpendicular to the floor, with your palms facing up.
Then gently slowly lower the dumbbells back down until they are beside your shoulders again.
Bauble slams
The original ball slam is a great way to elevate the heart rate quickly whilst developing core strength.
Stand with your feet hip-width apart, squat down keeping your back straight, drive the ball upwards with your arms fully extended and the ball overhead, then accelerate downwards back into the squat position slamming the ball into the ground on the way down.
Try and catch the ball on the bounce and keep it fast paced for a great cardio and strength workout.
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