The Twelfth Day Is Here!

We're going retro for the 12th day!  Good old fashioned jumping jacks
-- no explanation needed.  However, if you don't like to jump or
jumping bothers your knees/feet/bladder (!), you may walk through the
sequence -- arms up, right leg out, return to start, arms up, left leg
out, return to start (that counts as one).

Have fun!

On the twelfth day of Christmas my trainer said to me

twelve jumping jacks

eleven prisoner squats

ten front lunges

nine side lunges

eight side iso-abs

seven quad arm leg raises

six superman poses

five puuuush-ups

four sets (4/5) of bicycle crunches

three sets (3/10) of vertical leg crunches

two sets (2/12) of floor bridges

and a plank held for thirty seconds please!

Hope all is calm, all is bright and you sleep in heavenly peace knowing
you've done your exercises!



Carol

Already Eleven!

You are on the final stretch!  Of course then we'll begin repeating
the sequence ... and having some fun with a few other ideas....?!

A friend of mine is worried that if she got great abs for Christmas,
what would she do for a New Year's resolution?  No need to fret.  I'll
think of something!

So...

On the eleventh day of Christmas my trainer said to me

eleven prisoner squats

ten front lunges

nine side lunges

eight side iso-abs

seven quad arm leg raises

six superman poses

five puuuush-ups

four sets (4/5) of bicycle crunches

three sets (3/10) of vertical leg crunches

two sets (2/12) of floor bridges

and a plank held for thirty seconds please!

Prisoner Squats
Start
1. Stand with feet straight and shoulder-width apart, knees bent, hands
behind ears.
Movement
2. Squat, bending knees and keeping feet straight.  Knees do not extend
beyond toes.
3. Keep chest up; squeeze butt muscles and press through heels to
return to start, fully extend legs.  

Hark!  Is there an angel singing?

Hark the Herald Angels sing, look how good that girl's abs are....

Rejoice!

Carol

It's Day Ten

One of my friends was hoping the Grinch stole days 10-12.  No such luck!

She's a mean one, Mrs. Grinch.  Oops, wrong song.

Here we go...

On the tenth day of Christmas my trainer said to me

ten front lunges

nine side lunges

eight side iso-abs

seven quad arm leg raises

six superman poses

five puuuush-ups

four sets (4/5) of bicycle crunches

three sets (3/10) of vertical leg crunches

two sets (2/12) of floor bridges

and a plank held for thirty seconds please!

Front lunge to balance

Start
1.  Stand with your feet pointed straight ahead and placed
shoulder-width apart.
2.  Lift your chest, tuck in your chin and place your hands on your
hips.
Movement
3.  Contract your glutes and lunge forward.  Bend your front and back
knees 90-degrees with your front foot placed flat on the ground and
your back heel lifted.
4.  Push off the heel of your front foot, straighten your leg and lift
your opposite leg until your hip and knee are flexed 90-degrees.
5.  Hold for a few seconds and then return to the starting position.
6.  Repeat 10 times on each leg.

That's all from Whoville!

Carol

On the ninth day

Balance is very important as we get older and since you've been working
your core quite hard, it's time to change our focus a little.

Be sure to sing along!

On the ninth day of Christmas my trainer said to me

nine side lunges

eight side iso-abs

seven quad arm leg raises

six superman poses

five puuuush-ups

four sets (4/5) of bicycle crunches

three sets (3/10) of vertical leg crunches

two sets (2/12) of floor bridges

and a plank held for thirty seconds please!

Side Lunge to Balance

Start
1. Stand with your feet pointed straight ahead, placed shoulder-width
apart.
2. Lift your chest, tuck-in your chin and place your hands on your
hips.
Movement
3. Contract your glutes and lunge sideways with one leg.
4. Keep the lunge foot straight with the knee bent and directly in line
with the foot.
5. Your opposite leg should remain straight with the foot staying flat
on the ground.
6. Push off your bent leg into a balanced standing position.
7. Repeat eight times to the right, then eight times to the left.

Comet and Cupid (and Carol) commend your efforts!

It's Day Eight... Celebrate!

Can you believe we're up to the 8th day?!  Hope you are feeling good,
and fit... and guilty if you laugh at these emails but continue to sit
on the couch... ouch!

On the eighth day of Christmas my trainer said to me

eight side iso-abs

seven quad arm leg raises

six superman poses

five puuuush-ups

four sets (4/5) of bicycle crunches

three sets (3/10) of vertical leg crunches

two sets (2/12) of floor bridges

and a plank held for thirty seconds please!

Side Iso-abs

Start

1. Lie on your side with your feet and legs placed on top of each
other.

2. Place your forearm on the ground with your elbow located directly
under your shoulder.

Movement

3. Draw-in your navel and contract your glutes.

4. Lift your hips and legs off the ground until your body forms a
straight line from head to toe, keeping your weight placed on your
forearm and feet.

5. Hold the top position for a few seconds then slowly lower your body
to the ground.

6. Repeat eight times on each side.


Fa la la la la, la la la la

Carol

On the seventh day

On the seventh day of Christmas my trainer said to me

seven quad arm leg raises

six superman poses

five puuuush-ups

four sets (4/5) of bicycle crunches

three sets (3/10) of vertical leg crunches

two sets (2/12) of floor bridges

and a plank held for thirty seconds please!

Quad Arm Leg Raises
Start
1.  Position yourself on your hands and knees.
2.  Slowly draw-in your navel up towards your spine and tuck in your
chin.
Movement
3.  Raise your arm with your thumb up and extend your opposite leg
behind you remembering to keep your back flat.
4.  Keep your arm and leg straight lifting both up until they are
in-line with your back.
5.  Hold the top position for a five seconds and slowly return to the
starting position.  Repeat with the opposite arm and leg, alternating
sides.
6. "One" equals one time on each side.  Do seven times -- i.e. 14 total.

Dasher and Dancer are darn proud of you!  Keep you the good work!

Carol

And on the sixth day

Before you begin, a comment about "sets."  You may rest between sets
and between exercises as necessary.  Stretch your arms, legs, back,
neck, etc.  Keep the break to 15-30 seconds. You should not, however,
rest days between your sets as suggested by my friend Dayne!


On the sixth day of Christmas my trainer said to me

six superman poses

five puuuush-ups

four sets (4/5) of bicycle crunches

three sets (3/10) of vertical leg crunches

two sets (2/12) of floor bridges

and a plank held for thirty seconds please!

Superman Pose (Thumbs up, optional!)
Start
1.  Lay flat on your stomach with your arms straight out in front of
you and your legs straight out behind you.
2.  Keep your arms and legs shoulder-width apart for the duration of
the exercise.
Movement
3.  Lift your legs and arms simultaneously at least six inches off the
ground. Contract your glutes as well as your abs to maintain proper
posture. Keep your head in line with your spine.
4.  Hold pose for 15 seconds.  Repeat six times.

Rally for Rudolph!

Love,

Carol

Just what you've been hoping for

On the fifth day of Christmas my trainer said to me

five puuuush-ups

four sets (4/5) of bicycle crunches

three sets (3/10) of vertical leg crunches

two sets (2/12) of floor bridges

and a plank held for thirty seconds please!

Get it?  Five puuuush-ups. That's so if you are musically inclined --
and we all know some of you  are certainly singing -- you
can continue to sing your exercise song!

Push-up  (The key here is to keep your body in line.  Try to do
"standard" push-ups -- no knees on the ground.  I know you can do this!)
Start
1. Begin in push-up position with feet together and toes on floor;
hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
2. Draw-in belly button (aka suck in your gut) and squeeze butt muscles.
Movement
3. With flat back, slowly lower body toward floor, lowering and
squeezing shoulder blades.
4. Push up to starting position - do not jut head forward.
5. Repeat five times.

Remember, Santa's watching you!

Carol

Day Four Already!

Time flies when you are having fun!

And now....

On the fourth day of Christmas my trainer said to me

four sets (4/5) of bicycle crunches

three sets (3/10) of vertical leg crunches

two sets (2/12) of floor bridges

and a plank held for thirty seconds please!

I included the set rep in parentheses. No need to include that when you
sing the song!

Bicycle Crunch -- slow is the key
Start
1. Lie flat on the floor with your lower back pressed to the ground.
2. Put your hands behind your head.
Movement
3. Bring your knees up to about a 45-degree angle and slowly go through
a bicycle pedal motion.
4. Touch your left elbow to your right knee, then your right elbow to
your left knee.
5. The slower, the better.
6. Do four sets of 5.

The stars in the sky are looking down where you lay...
no sleeping in the hay!

Carol

It's the Third Day

I hope you aren't tired of me yet!  There is so much fun to come!

The exercises take only a couple minutes right now -- but
don't rush, enjoy the experience, your abs will thank you!  

You can do this!

On the third day of Christmas my trainer said to me

three sets of vertical leg crunches

two sets of floor bridges

and a plank held for thirty seconds please!

Vertical Leg Crunches
Start
1. Lie on your back on the floor and extend the legs straight up with
knees crossed.
2. Arms behind your head, supporting your neck.  Eyes toward the
ceiling looking forward.
Movement
3. Contract the abs to lift the shoulder blades off the floor, as
though reaching your chest towards your feet.
4. Keep the legs in a fixed position and imagine bringing your belly
button towards your spine at the top of the movement.
5. Lower and repeat for 3 sets of 10 reps.

XXOO,

Jolly Ole St. Carol


P.S.  Best comment so far.... "Just whack me over the head with a plank...it will be 

faster and less painful!"  Thank you Sharon!

On the Second Day

On the second day of Christmas  my trainer said to me

two sets of floor bridges

and a plank held for 30 seconds please!


Floor Bridge

Start

1. Lie on back with knees bent, feet flat and shoulder-width apart.

Movement

1. Draw-in belly button and squeeze butt muscles.

2. Lift pelvis off floor until knees, hips and shoulders are in line, pushing
through heels.

3. Lower pelvis to almost floor level and then lift again. 
4. Repeat for two sets of 12.


Merry, merry!

Carol