The holidays get crazy busy with hectic schedules. Clients stay on the run with holiday shopping, parties, and festivities. Maybe folks don’t eat like they normally do, surrounded by gingerbread, cookies, and candy canes. And they probably don’t allow enough time for exercise either. So, here’s a little challenge to help your clients “fit in” to the 31 days of December. In addition to training sessions, or possibly, as a part of the training this can be a simple way to include a time-saving exercise.
With this challenge, your clients will go from a 10-second plank or wall-sit to exceeding four minutes. The wall-sit exercise is a viable option for clients with known or suspected core dysfunction. What makes this one different, is there’s a health-related quote to go with the daily challenge.
Plank or Wall-Sit Challenge…. with something to think about
Be sure your clients are already on point with plank (or wall-sit) form. Regress or progress as appropriate, and remind their clients that it isn’t “cheating” if they need to regress in the middle of the day’s challenge. Dropping to knees once form gives out and holding another 30 seconds will make the next day’s challenge all the easier!
Dec. 1 – 10 seconds “Those who think they have not time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness.” ~Edward Stanley
Dec. 2 – 20 seconds “Always be a work in progress.” ~Emily Lillian
Dec. 3 – 30 seconds “It is health that is the real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.” ~Mahatma Ghandi
Dec. 4 – 35 seconds “Exercise should be regarded as tribute to the heart.” ~Gene Tunney
Dec. 5 – 40 seconds “You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” ~Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Dec. 6 – 45 seconds “Remember this: your body is your slave; it works for you.” ~Jack LaLanne
Dec. 7 – rest “Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop.” ~Ovid
Dec. 8 – 50 seconds “Fitness – if it came in a bottle, everybody would have a great body.” ~Cher
Dec. 9 – 60 seconds, which is your first minute! “If you think a minute goes by really fast, you’ve never done the plank.” ~Unknown
Dec. 10 – 70 seconds “There’s always room for improvement – it’s the biggest room in the house.” ~Louise Heath Leber
Dec. 11 – 80 seconds “I ask not for a lighter burden, but for broader shoulders.” ~Jewish Proverb
Dec. 12 – 90 seconds “There’s always room for you at the starting line.” ~Kim Becknell Williams in Gym Etiquette 101
Dec. 13 – 100 seconds “Breath is the link between mind and body.” ~David Brule
Dec. 14 – rest “Time sneaks up on you like a windshield on a bug.” ~John Lithgow
Dec. 15 –110 seconds “Let us try not to be the best or the worst for others, but let us make every effort to be the best for ourselves.” ~Marcus Garvey
Dec. 16 – 120 seconds, which is 2 minutes! “You can – because you believe you can.” ~Denise Austin
Dec. 17 – 130 seconds “A river cuts through rock, not because of its power, but because of its persistence.” ~Jim Watkins
Dec. 18 – 140 seconds “My strength comes from the abdomen. It’s the center of gravity and the source of real power.” ~Bruce Lee
Dec. 19 – 150 seconds “Just like you need to strengthen your core physically with exercise, you also need to strengthen your core spiritually.” ~Anne Graham Lotz
Dec. 20 – 160 seconds “But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep.” ~Robert Frost
Dec. 21 – rest “If the ocean can calm itself, so can you. We are both salt water mixed with air.” ~Nayyirah Waheed
Dec. 22 – 170 seconds “With confidence, you have won before you have started.” ~Marcus Garvey
Dec. 23 – 180 seconds, which is 3 minutes! “You can always improve your fitness if you keep training.” ~Pastor Maldonado
Dec. 24 – 190 seconds “Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.” ~Clement Clarke Moore in the “The Night Before Christmas”
Dec. 25 – 200 seconds “Christmas is, of course, the time to be home – in heart as well as body.” ~Garry Moore
Dec. 26 – 210 seconds “It always seems impossible until it is done.” ~Nelson Mandela
Dec. 27 – 220 seconds “If it doesn’t challenge you it doesn’t change you.” ~Fred DeVito
Dec. 28 – rest “Let’s start by taking a smallish nap or two.” ~Winnie the Pooh
Dec. 29 – 230 seconds “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
Dec. 30 – 240 seconds, which is 4 minutes! “Sweat cleanses from the inside. It comes from places a shower will never reach.” Dr. George Sheehan
Dec. 31 – as long as possible “Tomorrow is the first page of a 365-page book. Write a good one.” ~Brad Paisley
Kim Becknell Williams is a freelance writer with more than ten years of personal training experience. Certified through NFPT, she is a Functional Training Specialist and holds a Master Trainer level certificate for resistance, endurance and sports nutrition. Kim has written two books including Gym Etiquette 101. She enjoys writing a variety of lifestyle articles and fitness blogs.
