Hi I’m Ian and would like to introduce myself as the Fitness and Wellbeing Coach on HomeHub. If I look familiar, it’s because I used to be a chef at the university before starting my personal training business. I’m looking forward to helping you reach your fitness goals throughout the year with regular exercise advice, tips and activities, as well as supporting our university Lincoln 10k team in April.

If you’ve seen any of my health and fitness articles in the Lincolnshire Life, you’ll know that I have a little help (and he really is little help) from my dachshund Harvey. Keeping with the Christmas theme, I thought we would set ourselves a musical challenge, so what better way than to do a festive workout where you can sing along (that’s if you can get your breath after the exercises!)? I’ll explain some of exercises once you all know the words, and if there’s any you haven’t come across before, drop me a line. Altogether now:

On the first day of Christmas, my exercise will be;
A jump squat and a burpee.

On the second day of Christmas, my exercise will be;
Two dirty dogs, a jump squat and a burpee.

On the third day of Christmas my exercise will be;
Three touch-toes, two dirty dogs, a jump squat and a burpee.

On the fourth day of Christmas my exercise will be;
Four deep squats, three touch-toes, two dirty dogs, a jump squat and a burpee.

On the fifth day of Christmas my exercise will be;
Five hip swings [deep breath!], four deep squats, three touch-toes, two dirty dogs, a jump squat and a burpee.

…you know the drill by now, for each day, add the following, for an increasingly challenging workout!

• Six kneeling press-ups
• Seven core crunches
• Eight lunging pulses
• Nine mountain climbers
• Ten jacks a jumping
• Eleven flutter kicks
• Twelve high knees

Jump-Squat and Burpee

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, hold your arms at your side and stand with your knees straight. Bend at your hips and knees to lower yourself into a squatting position. Continue to lower yourself gently and in a controlled way, until you can touch the floor with your hands. Place both hands on the floor in front of you, roughly shoulder-width apart. Once you feel steady, quickly kick both of your feet back, so that your body is straight, and you are in the plank position. Hold this for a few seconds, then jump to return your feet to the original position, keeping your hands on the floor. Once your feet are back under your body, jump straight upwards, lifting your hands and arms above your head as high as you can.

Dirty Dog

This is an excellent exercise for improving mobility and range of motion in your hips, and when done correctly it also allows you to fire up your core muscles, making this an excellent choice for an abdominal workout.

Begin with your hands and knees on the floor, hands directly beneath your shoulders and knees under your hips. Lift your right leg away from your body, keeping your knee flexed at a 90° angle, moving the away from the body approximately 45° or as high as flexibility allows. You’ll see why this exercise gets its name, but don’t feel you need to be near a lamp-post when you perform it! Keep your upper body and pelvis still, as the movement should stay restricted to your hips. Do not allow your waist to drop. Hold this for 3-5 seconds, then reverse the movement by slowly lowering your knee back towards the floor, pausing briefly, and repeating before going on to the other side.

Mountain Climbers

Get into the plank position by lying on the floor face-down, extending your legs out behind you and balancing on the balls of your toes, whilst placing your hands directly under your shoulders and holding yourself up, keeping your body straight. Hold your arms strong and straight, but don’t lock your elbows. Then lift one foot and bring your knee up towards your mid-section in one smooth motion, between the front of your body and the floor, before returning your foot the starting position. Repeat on the other foot and keep alternating, making sure you always keep one foot on the floor.

If you’re unclear on any of the exercises, please drop me a line; I’d like to interact with you as much as possible and respond to the things you’d like to know more about, so we can build this resource into a really useful hub of information and support.

In the meantime, Happy Christmas everyone – and see you in the New Year, for some healthy resolutions!