Heartfelt Holiday Fitness: A Love-Infused Total Gym Workout

Maria Sollon, MS, CSCS, PES

‘Tis the season to be merry, loving, and joyous, while we embrace peace and harmony of the festive season.

The holidays arrive in a rush and pass so quickly that we often tend to lose track of the true meaning behind the festive season, which also results in a lack of prioritizing time to our own self-healing and development. Therefore, to honor the holiday season and yourself, this four-part blog series focuses on “mindful movements” that are expressed through different heartfelt holiday routines performed on your Total Gym.

HEARTFELT SERIES OVERVIEW

This special holiday series contains four blogs for you to embrace and enjoy. Each blog focuses on a word that correlate with a specific type of workout. The words are an acronym for your intention behind the movements of your Total Gym routine. The purpose is to allow your mind and body to connect and integrate with a purposeful movement flow.

Prior to each workout, you will focus on what this word means to you and set your intention. Then, perform the exercises in the workout with the intention you’ve set to lead your moves!

The workouts in this mindful movement series include:

Part 1: LOVE | STRENGTH
Part 2: JOY | CARDIO
Part 3: PEACE | PILATES
Part 4: HARMONY | RECOVERY

By the end of this 4-part holiday blog series, you will have a special program to perform on your Total Gym. This will challenge your mind and body, while also lifting your spirits during the holiday season, and into the new year!

This workout is designed to be efficient yet effective, ensuring you stay consistent during the busy holiday season. Whether you have 10 minutes or longer, a workout on the Total Gym is a gift to your body and mind. The best gift you can give yourself is the commitment to a routine that keeps you moving.

Get ready to deck the halls with festive workouts that have meaning behind your movements!

WORKOUT #1: STRENGTH infused with L.O.V.E.

We kick off our festive fitness series with the guiding force of LOVE. Love is the thread that binds us – to ourselves, our families, and the world. To embrace the essence of L.O.V.E. you will infuse it into a powerful and festive strength-based workout.

Intention: Focus on the word LOVE.

Set Up: Low level | hand weights

Directions:
• Determine in your heart, what LOVE means to you. Make this your intention for the workout.
• Perform each exercise in circuit format, (all four exercises consecutively with little rest in between)
• Aim for 10-15 reps / exercise
• Repeat as many rounds as your time permits.

EXERCISES
L: lunges + lat raises
O: oblique pikes
V: v-ups
E: extensions

L: Lunges + Lat Raises (L)
• Visualize: Picture yourself lunging gracefully, the rhythm of your heart aligning with the smooth extension of your limbs. Add lat raises, and suddenly, you’re lifting not just weights but the spirits of the season.

O: Oblique Pikes (O)
• Visualize: Oblique pikes invite you to sway like branches in the winter wind, engaging your core with every uplifting move. It’s not just about sculpting; it’s about feeling the love in each twist.

V: V-Ups (V)
• Visualize: V-ups form the letter of victory, inviting you to rise and meet the challenge. As you extend into a V shape, feel the love radiating through every inch of your being.

E: Extensions (E)
• Visualize: Extend your limbs, extend your gratitude. Extensions are more than a workout; they are a mindful embrace of the strength within, a nod to the love that fuels your journey.

Be sure to check out the video to see a demonstration of how these exercises are performed on your Total Gym.

Remember that LOVE is all you need for your mind, body, and soul. There’s magic in every movement, so stay tuned for Part 2 for where we will keep unwrapping the gift of JOY through an exhilarating cardio session that’ll have you dancing through the snow.

Love Always,
Maria

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