Warmup Do each for for one minute, as fast as you can: Jumping jacks Squat jumps (jump out into a squat, about halfway down, then jump back up to standing) High knees Jump rope side to side (use an imaginary rope, moving both feet together, jumping side to side about 1-2 feet) Out & in (jump both feet out, then back in, knees slightly bent)

Resistance Training, SET 1

Sliding squats (20 each side) - use a paper plate on carpeted surfaces or a paper towel on tile/hardwood Dumbbell around the world (20 each direction) Lunge pulse (10 sets of 8 on each side) - step out into a lunge position and pulse up and down 8 times before switching to the other leg (challenge yourself by jumping to the opposite lunge position) Alternating bicep curls/reverse curls (20 of each) Cardio, SET 1

Do each for for one minute, as fast as you can: Sprint in place Side to side floor hops Squat jacks Plank half circles - from a plank position, walk your feet to one side, creating a half circle, then come back the other side (you'll have to adjust your hand placement, but keep them in the same general location) Speed skaters

Resistance Training, SET 2 Narrow squats  (40 total) Tricep side push ups (20 on each side) Moving lunges (4 sets of 8 alternating lunges) - with or without dumbbells Alternating crab reach (20 on each side)

Cardio, SET 2

Do each for for one minute, as fast as you can: Heisman 1-2-3 Mountain climbers 180 jump squats Suicide jumps High knees

Challenge

Core

Hip lifts (20) - try to lift your hips up vertically, and not back towards your head Moving plank (8 sets of 4 'steps') Snow angels (2 sets of 30 seconds) Alternating leg drop (15 each side)

Stretch

Cardio - 14 minutes

Choose your favorite cardio workout: running walking on an incline power walking spinning rowing stair climbing

The '14's

Push ups

Squats

Squat jumps

Tuck Jumps

Lunges - 14 on each side

Death by burpees

With a continuously running clock: 1st minute - 1 burpee 2nd minute - 2 burpees 3rd minute - 3 burpees Continue as long as you are able! Don't be deceived by the first few (easier) minutes - as the minutes go by, you have more burpees to do and less recovery time.  I was able to get through the 11th minute with a few seconds to spare.  I probably could have kept going at least one more minute, but it was time to start getting ready (and I was spent)!  Take the FitYaf challenge - start with pushup burpees and when you can't continue with them, switch to regular burpees!

My partnership with FitMapped

All good things come in threes, but be warned: P90X3 is far from a trilogy. No, P90X3 is NOT the kid sister workout. It’s the workout that took notes from it’s siblings, then condensed, and accelerated to become the most dynamic and fastest workout yet. The ultimate excuse buster Time is the biggest excuse. P90X3 solves that. Every workout is 30 minutes and the clock starts the minute you push play. Before you can say “drop and give me 10,” it’s over and you are one workout closer to the six-pack of your dreams.

The P90X3 Facts:

P90X3 Base Kit

P90X3 Challenge Pack

P90X3 Deluxe Kit

P90X3 Ultimate Kit

​If you've been following me on Instagram, you may have noticed a new hashtag I'm using - #elf4health.  This hashtag is part of a four week challenge that is running from the Monday Nov 25- Sunday Dec 22, 2013.  There are daily tasks, daily winners, prizes, weekly newsletters, and a Facebook group for support - pretty awesome, right? The challenge is split up into 2 week sessions, so if you haven't joined yet, it's not too late to join for the second half! Yesterday's challenge was to workout with a buddy, which isn't much of a challenge for me, since I teach group fitness classes.  I'm ALWAYS working out with buddies!  Some of the elves who couldn't find a workout buddy participated in a virtual buddy workout, where they were all doing the same workout at home.  The workout looked awesome, I can't wait to try, and now you can too!  Check it out below!

Check out my awesome workout buddies from last night!

Elf4Health Buddy Workout

50 second plank

Turkey - 20 minute run or 30 minute walk PER SERVING

Sweet Potato Casserole - 4 minute jump squat tabata A tabata workout alternates periods of work with period of rest.  When you're doing the 20 seconds of jump squats - give it everything you have, then enjoy your 10 seconds of rest. Stuffing - 50 squats Mashed Potatoes - 50 alternating forward lunges 25 forward lunges on each side

Cranberry Sauce - 25 push ups On your knees or on your toes, but get 25 good ones in! Green Bean Casserole - 1 minute plank Pie - 25 burpees 25 burpees PER SLICE of pie!  If you sampled them all, you've got a lot of burpees to do!

We like the music loud

And I mean LOUD!  In a perfect world, the music would be so loud that you couldn't hear me, even with the mic - you would be able to read my mind to know what we're doing next.  I may have the music taste of a 12 year old girl (cue the Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift), but I like my music loud.  It gives me energy.  Some people drink Red Bull, I listen to my music loudly!

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We have bad days too

We are not impressed by all the weight you can lift or pushups you can do if you don't have good form

We put a lot of time into putting together a challenging workout for you.  We aren't keeping track of your weight, so don't try to impress us.  We will notice and correct you if you aren't using proper form though - we don't want you to get hurt!  You want to put a ton of weight on your bar for the bicep track in Bodypump and then do bicep rows the whole track?  Oh, that's nice, but we're curling over here.  We're not impressed.

We love it when you smile

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Just like loud music, smiling and happy faces give us energy.  We're not comedians, and I know most of the time our jokes aren't funny, but humor us and give us a chuckle.  It lets us know you're paying attention!

We might not know you're name, but we know your capabilities, potential and preferred brand of sneaker

We encourage feedback (good or bad)

We would rather you didn't bring your cell phone to class

We take other instructors' classes

We sometimes prefer to workout on our own

You make our day!

I've said it before and I'll say it again - one of the best part about teaching group exercise classes is the connections we make with other people.  We watch people struggle, reach goals, smile, grunt - really every emotion comes out during our classes, and we're there for it all.  This hour is often the best part of our day, and YOU are the reason why!

Why is it important to strength train?