Holiday Damage Control Workout!

Hiya, Friends!  Well, it was inevitable that I'd bring this up, so don't be mad, and don't look so surprised.  Christmas, which is actually a Major Eating Holiday in disguise, is six days away, and so we have what, four?  five days to do a little Damage Control? 

We'd better get crackalackin', Friends!  Don't worry.  I'll be with ya every step of the way.  Every side-step, double-step, step-touch, and step-step cha-cha-cha. 

What I'm sayin' is we're all in this together, Friends!  Now, let's start our Holiday Damage Control Workout!  Put on your favorite music and LET'S GO!

A warmup gets your heart rate up!

1.  The first thing you're gonna wanna do is do a little warm-up, all to yourself.  March around your area for a coupla minutes.  Jog in place.  Nothing too strenuous.  You're just warmin' up!  Okay, ready, go, Friends!  Come on!  I'll stand here waiting for you, since I already did my warm-up!

Warmups are a really important part of our workout, Friends. Don't skip it!  Warmups are the part that gets your heart rate up, and warms up your muscles, so you won't hafta worry so much about injuring yourself.

Think about a rubber band!  When it's all cold, and you try to stretch it, it'll SNAP!  Imagine if that were your hammy!

No!  Don't use the fear of snapping a cold muscle and hurting yourself as your excuse not to work out!  Just warm yourself up properly!

There!  I think that oughtta be just about right.  Let's move on!

Put your hands up in the air! It feels great!

2.   Okay.  You should be warmed up now, so let's get right into our Holiday Damage Control Workout!  We're gonna keep it simple, so exercisers of all levels can keep up, mmmmkay?  Step side to side and clap your hands.  Just let yourself go.  Really get into it. 

Now, we're gonna ramp up the intensity, just a little bit.  You know how we've just been stepping side to side and clapping?  Well, now, you're gonna take two steps to the left, and two steps to the right.  Do that for a little while! It's lotsa fun!

When you get that part down, you can start throwing your hands in the air at the end of each two steps to the left and two steps to the right.  If you're countin' your steps, it'll go Step-together-Step *hands up in the air!*

You can even add in a little bounce, jump, or if you're advanced, a JUMPING JACK!

Gotchya Squats'll getchya in shape!

3.  Guess what!  It's time to do some Gotchya Squats!  These are great for firin' up your glutes and hammies- your glutes are the muscles in your hiney!  And they're the biggest muscles in your whole entire body! The more fired-up they are, the more eggnog you can have at Christmas!  How about that?!

Pretend that you're playin' tag with a little kid- you can pretend that little kid is me, if ya wanna!  And just as you're gonna catch me, ya squat down!  "Gotchya!"  That's how these squats got their name!

We're gonna do twenty-four.  If ya need to hold onto the back of a sturdy piece of furniture for balance, do it, and only squat down as far as you can without straining your knees!  Keep your weight back in your heels, not in your toes!  If your weight's in your toes, you're workin' your quads, and that's cool, but I wantchya to focus on your hiney muscles right now.

If you're advanced, pretend that you're sitting back into a little-kid chair, because I've invited you to a teaparty, and my chairs are really tiny, and you can't say that you don't wanna sit in my little tiny chairs, because if you do, I'll cry.  And what kind of a Big Person makes a Little Kid cry like that?  Come on!  Down ya go!  Feel the burn!

No, you can't just do the last four reps. That doesn't work.

4.  Woo!  Twenty-four Gotchya Squats!  I'm proud of ya, Big People!   But we're not done.  I went and mentioned the quads, which are the muscles on the fronts of your legs.  They're pretty big muscles, too.  They burn a lot of eggnog and fudge if they're cookin', too, so we'd better work 'em.  Grab your chair for balance again, and do the Gotchya Squats again, slower this time, with the weight in your toes.  Don't let your knees jut out too far forward, or else you'll put unnecessary strain on your knees, and we definitely don't wanna do that. Stick your butt back, just like with the Gotchya Squats we just did, just make sure your weight is shifted toward your toes of your feet insteadda your heels!

I know you're feelin' like ya wanna quit, Friends, but remember that the last four reps are the ones that really make a difference.  Don't quit.  Don't be defeated.  You can DO this! Keep good form!

Stretchin' is like the dessert after your workout!  It feels GREAT!

5.  There.  Friends, I am so proud of you.  You got through our Holiday Damage Control Workout, and now it's time to stretch a little bit.  Nothing crazy.  Nothing that's gonna make ya feel like a pretzel, unless you wanna feel like a pretzel. Some people are into that.  I just want ya to stretch those muscles we worked a little bit.  Stretch until you're comfortably uncomfortable, not until you're in pain. 

If it helps ya, think about seein' your muscle fibers stretching while you're stretching them.  This is what they mean when they say "mind-muscle connection."  It might help ya stretch just a little bit deeper. 

Breathe, breathe, breathe, and feel your heart calm right down.

That's something you're gonna wanna remember to do in these days leadin' up to Christmas, Friends.  Remember to breathe.  It'll calm ya down when people are annoying you.  Go to another room and take some nice, deep breaths, and it'll make the stress go away a little bit.

I'm proud of you, Friends, and I love ya!  I'll see ya tomorrow!  Muah!