Good morning! We’re in the thick of the holiday season, so I thought another themed newsletter would be appropriate. While I considered a “12 Days of Christmas” workout, that’s been done before, and you can certainly find some online. I remember doing one in CrossFit one year that nearly made me *covers Whoville children’s ears* hate Christmas.

I thought we’d zoom out a bit and go bigger picture. Let’s actually do 12 days of healthy activities! 

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"The 12 days of Fitness" Challenge

While technically the 12 days of Christmas don’t start until Christmas itself, today just so happens to be 12 days until Christmas.

• So if you’d like to start today and finish on Christmas Eve, go right ahead.

• If you want to wait till Santa’s delivered his presents to start, go for it.

• If you wanna do your own schedule, be my guest. Regardless, I’m excited for this challenge!

It works like the actual 12 Days of Christmas song; you start with #1 on day 1; then #2 and 1 on day 2; then 3, 2, & 1 on the third day, all the way up to the 12th day when you’ll do them all.

I’ll provide a little more description below, but without further ado, here’s the list! (Start at the bottom if you’d like to sing it down from 12 to 1.)

• 1 mile walk outside around trees

• 2 flights of stairs

• 3 high-protein meals

• 4 fruits & veggies

• 5 golden minutes (of sunlight)

• 6 chair squats

• 7 mindful minutes

• 8 hours of sleeping

• 9 glasses of water

• 10 incline pushups 

• 11 second stretches

• 12 walking lunges

And yes, it actually works if you sing it to the tune of the song!

Now here’s a brief breakdown about each point.

1. “A mile walk outside around trees.” It sounds lovely. You can accomplish it in ~20–30 minutes. Regular, daily movement is the foundation of Move to Improve, so that’s why we’ll be doing it all 12 days! You can break it up if needed, but the point is to get up and moving (ideally outside) in this sedentary time of year.

2. “Flights of stairs.” If you’ve got a flight of stairs in your home/apartment, perfect! Climb them twice. If you don’t, surely you’ve got a spot with a single step or two. If that’s the case, do ~16–20 alternating step-ups on them! It’s like our daily walking, but with a little more oomph.

3. “High-protein meals.” You’ve built in your daily movement. Now ensure an easy but incredibly impactful win in your nutrition. For the next 10 days, ensure you eat 3 daily meals with at least 20 (ideally 30–50) grams of protein. This will keep you satiated and strong through the holidays.

4. “Fruits & veggies.” Another simple yet powerful goal. Eat four servings of fruits or vegetables every day. I know sweets and snacks are all around. But if you can prioritize protein and a fruit/vegetable or two at every meal, your body will be so much healthier than it otherwise would’ve been come January!

5. “GOLDEN MINUTES (of sunlight).” I hope you shouted this one like the song. Sunlight is vital to setting our bodies’ rhythms every day. Morning sunlight in particular sets our internal clock up just right to have a restful night’s sleep and start the following day off right. Aim for at least five minutes every morning in the beautiful December sun (even if it’s cloudy 🌨️ ).

6. “Chair squats.” Back to fitness, and a little bit harder than the stairs, perhaps. But certainly not too much to ask for. At some point during your day, rise and sit back into your chair six times. It’s not much, but it’s enough to keep your blood flowing and your quads ready to carry even the heaviest of presents down a chimney.

7. “Mindful minutes.” I chose this name carefully. This can look like a meditative practice, prayer, journaling, gratitude reflection, or just sitting in silence. Regardless, find a simple seven minutes of time to just absorb peace, so you can exude it to your loved ones this holiday season.

8. “Hours of sleeping.” I know, I know. Maybe it’s tough for you, or maybe this is no problem at all. But the habits you’ve incorporated over the previous 7 days are actually going to make this one a bit easier! Set reminders for bedtime if you have to. Nothing makes one Grinchier around the holidays than sleep deprivation. It’s a cornerstone of good health!

9. “Glasses of water.” Hopefully you haven’t been neglecting hydration, but if you have, here’s your reminder to keep drinking something other than eggnog through the holidays. Drink at least 72 oz. of water a day. It’ll keep you sharp, energized, and feeling fresh.

10. “Incline pushups.” The syllables worked out to call these incline pushups, but you can just do them on the ground if you prefer. Thus far, we’ve only targeted the lower body with strength work. For these final three days, put your hands on the floor, a stable table/chair, or even the wall, and drop and give me 10. For extra credit, count them down by naming each reindeer + Santa. 🦌🎅 

11. “Second stretches.” It was hard to put a time on this, but remembering to pause in your tense day for an 11-second stretch—regardless of the body part—will help you relax and limber up. May I suggest your mid-back (lean back over a chair), chest (reach your arms out wide), or hips (couch stretch or pigeon stretch). Hey, it’s better than 11 pipers piping.

12. “Walking lunges.” I knowww your legs are tired by now, but it’s the last day, and you’re looking strong as ever! Simply knock out 12 walking lunges and check off the other 11 tasks today, and you’ve completed the 12 Days of Fitness Challenge!

I thoroughly hope you enjoy this challenge. I plan to!

• Favorite/screenshot this email or save the list in your notes so you can easily come back to it.

• If helpful, set reminders on your phone/calendar for any tasks for which you need a nudge.

If you want to post on social media or tag me in a story, feel free to hashtag #12daysoffitness and #movetoimprove and tag @drewhowerton94 & @_movetoimprove. I’ll share!

✅ Take Action

Every newsletter's Take Action section will invite you to take small steps to improve your health. Recognizing that we all have different capabilities, I'll offer three different levels of action you can choose to take.

Level 1: Join for at least a couple days. Pick several you like and stick with them!

Level 2: Follow along for all 12 days.

Level 3: Complete all 12 days, post on social media, and tag me!

This newsletter is brought to you by… me!

Interested in becoming a sponsor? Know someone else who might be? I’d love to get to know you and/or your business and see how we can partner together. Reply to this email!

✍️ Drew's Picks:

• Holly Jolly Jam: If you just can’t get enough Christmas music and want to bring it to the gym, enjoy this playlist I made with fast-paced certified holiday bops to keep you movin’ and groovin’!

• Unrelated, but helpful: This podcast about decluttering from Life Kit gave me some healthy perspective in this clutter-filled time of year.

See you all next week! It may be a shorter edition, and I’m most likely taking the following week off writing for Christmas.

But I won’t take off from the 12 Days of Fitness Challenge! Join me!

Keep moving,

Drew

The content in Move to Improve is meant to be informative in nature, but it should not be taken as medical advice. It is always a good idea to consult with a trusted health professional before making any major lifestyle changes that could have a significant impact on your health. This is not a medical resource, and any opinions and articles are not intended for use as diagnosis, prevention, and/or treatment of health problems. They are not substitutes for consulting a qualified medical professional. Please think critically and take what I say with a grain of salt (aka don’t sue me).