The 12 Days of Christmas fitness challenge

Christmas and New Year’s holidays are the only seasons that get people overly excited. It is only during this season that many families gather, others go on vacation, and others plan epic parties, games, and activities — not to mention the foods and drinks that are always in plenty.

While the season is all about merry-making, there are two types of people: those who prepare their taste buds beforehand vowing to eat till they drop. They don’t care about adding extra flab and will only think about it in January when they realise they need to get back in shape. Then, there are those who will go the extra mile to ensure they achieve the perfect body for the holiday season. Let’s talk about the latter.

For many people, especially women, this time is a season of immense body workouts, strict diets, save for Christmas day only, and fitness challenges. All these rigorous routines are an unspoken race to achieving the perfect body before the festivities.

To them, this is the time to slay because appearances are always on display. Think about the beach vacations where people are always in beach wear, or family reunions where everyone is always ready with their smartphones taking pictures to remind them of how the holiday went down. Obviously, who would want to look bad in these photos?

The Craze

In the weeks leading up to December, gyms explode with members, queries on perfect diets to achieve a snatched body are always among the top on Google, and social media is a buzz with hashtags and challenges such as #HolidayBodyChallenges,  #BodyGoalsforChristmas, and #BeachReady et al. However, one TikTok challenge has gained traction worldwide – the 12 or 21 Days of Christmas Fitness Challenge.

The 12 Days of Christmas fitness challenge is inspired by the popular Christmas song, The 12 Days of Christmas.” It entails performing a new exercise every day, expanding on the ones you did the day before, until the 12th day when you have finished 12 exercises. Every day, you also increase the amount of repetitions or duration of the workout

Similarly, the 21 Days of Christmas fitness challenge is designed to last for 21 days just around the holiday season.
The goal is to stay fit during the holiday season and maintain a perfect body as you navigate the potential holiday indulgence.

Fitness trainers on TikTok have also hopped into this challenge encouraging and showing their followers and viewers to try some challenges that will ensure quick results for the sake of Christmas.

Mich, for instance, a fitness trainer on TikTok, @liftsandgains, has for the past two weeks been on a Christmas fitness challenge, encouraging people to try the challenge and achieve their desired Christmas body.

“There’s 24 days till the festivities start. For the next three weeks, I will be dropping a workout four times a week. Don’t wait till January 1st to give the best of you… let’s start this December,” she said in her posts for the Christmas fitness challenge.  

She has since been posting different exercises for quick results including full-body workouts, lower body, and upper body among others.

Another Fitness trainer, Lynne Ward (@lynne_fit) also joined in the challenge saying “12 Day Christmas Challenge Starts Monday!”
And it’s not just fitness trainers who are into this challenge, nutritionists too have prepared customised meal plans to help people achieve their Christmas body.

“Do you want to look and feel AMAZING by the time the holidays roll around? Join our 6-Week Weight Loss Challenge and get in shape with a powerful combo of Keto & Exercise!” read another different post on TikTok.

In a similar vein, Instagram reels are also overflowing with “21-day fitness challenges” and detox regimens, many of which promise unrealistic outcomes.

Because the holidays are a socially intense period, people are feeling the pressure to look attractive and appealing in public. There is a certain increased urgency to look a certain way, majorly fuelled by social media, which has become a breeding ground for diets exercises, and cosmetic beauty standards.

According to Peter Ngunjiri, a seasoned and certified trainer at Flash Gym in Roysambu, there is an influx of new members around this time for many reasons, but all geared towards having that perfect body.

“During this time, many people want to get in shape to avoid potential weight gain because of indulging in festive foods. They want to maintain or be in good shape before indulging. Additionally, they want to achieve their New Year resolutions early enough. They’ve signed up as early as December as they prepare for their fitness goals for next year,” he says.

Peter further highlights that the reason for the influx is that some are taking advantage of the holiday promotions as many gyms offer subsidized packages during this time.

Lastly, he also attributes the influx to less tight schedules. “Due to tight work schedules, some people only find time during the holiday season to work out. Business and offices break for holidays, and they take advantage of this,” he further notes.

When it comes to exercise trends that are being highly embraced during this season to achieve quick results, Peter says High-intensity Interval Training (HIIT) workouts, which include sprints, sit-ups, burpees, mountain climbers, and push-ups, which involve a lot of body weight are effective.

Besides the gym, many people are also engaging in home workouts with their home equipment such as dumbells and resistance bands, in addition to outdoor activities like walking, cycling, and running, as well as mind-body activities like yoga.

“To ensure people achieve quick results in line with the holiday fitness challenge, we ensure they do short and effective workouts, consistency, nutrition guidance and then we try to track their progress,” says Peter in ending.