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

The First Day of Christmas

The First Day of Christmas

Shaking like jelly is for Santa, not you! It's time to get moving for the holidays!

You need to work with me on this one. You know the tune...

On the first day of Christmas my trainer said to me

a plank held for thirty seconds please!

Plank
1. Lie on your stomach with your feet hip distance apart and forearms placed on the ground.
2. Lift your body off of the floor and raise up until your body forms a straight line from head to toe.
3. Suck in your gut and squeeze your butt!
4. Hold for 30 seconds.

If you read this post, you have 30 seconds to do this exercise! And, yes I know there are more than 12 days to Christmas... you're going to have so much fun you'll look forward to repeating the pattern!

Ho, ho, ho,

Carol