group hiit fitness workout xmas dinner blog

Enjoy your Christmas dinner after these tasty workouts

Everyone looks forward to their Christmas dinner, don’t they? Succulent roast turkey, moreish roast potatoes, Yorkshire puddings, plum pudding, pigs in blankets, add in a couple of glasses of wine and you have a festive dinner table to remember. Are you aware though of how many calories you’re actually consuming? British Christmas dinner eaters will typically get through over 6,000 calories on the 25^th of December. To burn off what is two days of calories for a man, you’d need to run a half marathon, brave the freezing sea for a five hour swim or take on four hours of body squats.

If you can’t indulge at Christmas, when can you? At Xercise4Less Gyms we’re no Christmas grinches so we want to help you get dump those Xmas dinner calories but how?

Our Spirit of Christmas Fitness Session

We’re afraid that the annual Christmas Day Walk won’t quite manage to crunch those 6,000 calories so it’s just not possible to have your Xmas cake and eat it too! Instead here’s a 20 minute high intensity HIIT session to start working off your Christmas dinner. Complete these calorie-burning exercises in order and repeat four times. Work out hard for 40 seconds and recover for 20 seconds in between each set.

Christmas Belly Burpees

From a standing position squat down and place your hands flat on the floor in front of you. Kick both legs out straight behind you to be in a plank position. Bring both legs back in towards your chest placing your feet flat on the ground. Reach your arms over your head and jump upwards to complete one rep. Now you can enjoy that Yuletide log.

Little Drummer Boy Lunges

Standing with your upper body straight and your core engaged, stretch one leg in front and the other behind, lower your hips until both legs are at a 90 degree angle and push back up. Repeat on other side to offset the Christmas dinner calories.

Jolly Jumping Jacks

Stand with your legs straight and your arms to your sides. Jump up and spread your feet beyond hip-width apart while bringing your arms above your head, nearly touching. Jump again, lowering your arms and bringing your legs together. Return to your starting position and repeat to burn off the seasonal excess.

Santa Shoulder Taps

Start to work off your Christmas dinner with Santa Shoulder Taps. Start in a kneeling-plank position with your legs hip-width apart and your ankles crossed. Keeping your body straight, tap your left hand on your right shoulder before returning to start. Alternate this movement with opposite arm to finish your first rep.

Christmas High Knees Up

Stand up straight and place your feet about hip-width apart. Bring one knee up as close to your chest as possible then drop it back down and repeat on the other side. Do these Xmas High Knees with a hopping motion, staying on the balls of your feet the whole way through the exercise.

Fitness All Year Round

Now that you’ve worked off your festive over-indulgence, don’t stop. Keep moving forward on your fitness journey with the help of the inclusive Xercise4Less gym community and our fantastic gym facilities and exercise classes. Now you have no excuses not to work out the whole year round. Remember exercise isn’t just for Christmas!

On the first day of Christmas, Xercise4Less Gyms sent to you….12 days of fitness that will keep your Xmas belly at bay! Before you get bogged down in Christmas party season and all its indulgences, why not ensure that you don’t have to wear a huge Xmas jumper until New Year? We propose a bodyweight exercise routine that will give you twelve days of Christmas fitness to offset that Yuletide log or box of Quality Street. By the end of our festive days of fitness you’ll be doing 12 exercises four times in a full-body workout. Read on for our fat-burning Xmas exercise session, the Xercise4Less 12 Days of Christmas Fitness.

Here's our fitness exercises for the 12 days of Christmas.

Day 1: A Partridge Plank

On this first day of Christmas fitness you can prepare for the festive party season with a Partridge Plank for 30 seconds. Take up a push up position but keep your elbows at a 90 degree angle and leave your forearms resting on the floor. Your body should be in a straight line from your head to ankles.

Day 2: Turtle Dove Squats

The second day of our Christmas workout routine and there are no turtle doves but turtle dove squats and 12 repetitions for you to do. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart, feet pointing outwards. Bend at the knees, pushing the hips back but keeping your torso straight. Keep squatting until your thighs are parallel to the ground. Stand back up and repeat to get your Xmas season off to a healthy start.

Day 3: French Hen Push Ups

You’re not getting three French hens on this third day of Christmas but you’re adding a third component to your twelve day workout with 12 push ups. A proper festive push up means taking a plank position. Then lower your body to the ground and push back up while keeping your body as straight as possible and keeping your Christmas season on a healthy track.

Day 4: A Christmas Knees-up (to chest)

Forget four calling birds, step forward an alcohol-free knees-up as you add 12 reps of Knees-up to chest. Drive your right knee up to your chest and quickly place it back on the ground for 12 reps, then do the same with your left knee. Feeling tired? You’re not even half way through our festive fitness session yet!

Day 5: Lunges to Light Up Your Christmas

On the fifth day of our Christmas fitness season, who needs 5 golden rings when you can do 12 lunges? On each leg. Standing with your upper body straight and your core engaged, stretch one leg in front and the other behind, lower your hips until both legs are at a 90 degree angle and push back up.

Day 6: Snow-Capped Mountain Climbers

Half way through our festive fitness routine and don’t think six geese a-laying, think snow-covered mountain…climbers. Take up a push up position with your arms straight up off the ground and bring your right knee forward under your chest, with your toes just off the ground. Return to your push up position and switch legs, bringing the left knee forward. That’s a mountain climber for Christmas.

Day 7: Christmas Swan Squats

Swimming with seven swans isn’t very practical so our Christmas fitness workout now adds 12 Sumo squats. Stand with your feet slightly wider than hip-width apart with your toes pointing out to the sides. Bend your knees and sink your hips down until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Drive through your heels back to the starting position. That’s one rep to keep you fit throughout the Xmas season.

Day 8: Snowman Sit-ups

Xercise4Less Gyms may not be your true love by this eighth day of Christmas fitness but all we’re asking for is 12 more sit-ups. At least there are no maids a-milking! Lie on your back with your arms crossed over your chest and your knees slightly bent. Raise your upper body off the floor by engaging your abdominal muscles and touching your elbows to your thighs before lowering back down. It’ll make getting up from the dinner table a little easier this Christmas.

Day 9: Santa Star jumps

You won’t be dancing with any of those 9 lovely ladies but on the ninth day of Christmas fitness you will be jumping, star jumping. Start in a quarter squat position with your back flat, feet together, and palms touching the sides of your lower legs. Then jump up, raising your arms and legs out to your sides. Keep going for 12 in total.

Day 10: Festive Leg Raises

On the 10th day of Christmas our fitness lords are leaping, and we want you to take on 12 leg raises Lie on your back, legs straight and together. Keeping your legs straight, lift them up towards the ceiling until your posterior comes off the floor. Slowly lower your legs back down till they’re just above the floor. Hold for a moment. Raise your legs back up and repeat for twelve.

Day 11: Bear Crawls for Christmas

Only two more days until our festive fitness session comes to an end and then you can dive into those Christmas sweet boxes. On the 11th day of Christmas fitness, we want you to crawl like a bear. Place both hands on the ground about three feet in front of you and step forward with one hand and then forward with the opposite foot and vice versa. Crouch down with your hands in front of you shoulder-width apart and feet behind you with hips up in the air and eyes forward. Crawl forward starting with your right hand and your left foot following with the left hand and the right foot. Take four steps, then turn around and bear walk back. Just don’t let the 11 pipers piping scare your inner bear away.

Day 12: Christmas Burpees

You’ve made it to the 12th day of Christmas, no wonder those 12 drummers are drumming! Finish off our fitness festive season with 12 burpees. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, weight in your heels, and your arms at your sides. Squat down and place your hands flat on the floor in front of you. Shift your weight onto your hands and jump your feet back to land on the balls of your feet in a plank position. Jump your feet back so that they land just outside of your hands. Reach your arms over your head and jump upwards. Repeat immediately. Now you have our full permission to really enjoy Christmas!

christmas fitness workout

A tasty workout routine fit for Christmas dinner