Trend Alert: Pre-Holiday Boot Camp

By:
Sabrina Rojas Weiss

It seems like the minute fall temperatures set in and the days shorten, workouts lose their appeal. All we want to do is eat pie and stay cozy on the couch. Then along comes the holiday season and, well, you know. Holiday weight gain is no illusion. The National Institute of Health reports that adults typically gain one pound between Thanksgiving and New Year, and though that seems less than what you'd imagine, the institute found that we rarely lose that weight and just keep accumulating it every year. Sounds depressing, but Crunch gym's mad geniuses think they've found a solution: a preemptive strike called Holiday Combat, an intense 12-week cardio-sculpt class.

Beginning in October nationwide, Holiday Combat isn't the painful military butt-whipping you might expect from a "boot camp" class. Well, there is some pain, but there's a lot of holiday cheer, too. The emphasis is on positive reinforcement, including the incentive of a prize drawing for a $1,000 shopping spree at Puma at the end of the program (December 14).

It's deceptively simple. Armed with a step, a thick mat and two sets of hand weights (say, three and eight pounds), you're led through exercises in rapid succession. Most of them focus on women's typical trouble spots, the lower body and upper arms. There are lunges and dips off the step, standing leg lifts and squats, all paired with biceps and triceps curls. Sometimes the strength training is interrupted for half a minute of rapid running in place. On the floor, you'll do push-ups, some Pilates-inspired core work and butt exercises in bridge position. Meanwhile, motivational speeches are hilariously (and helpfully) thematic, suggesting that cornbread stuffing with gravy won't harm you so much if you can lift your knee just one more time.

The other element of the class that has absolutely nothing to do with eggnog's effect on your backside? "What's different about Holiday Combat is it focuses on gearing the members up for the holidays, particularly if they get stressed out with travel arrangements, Christmas gifts, cards, relatives coming in, parties, planning, all that stuff," explains Marc Santa Maria, New York City's regional director of group fitness. "We'll give the members something to do outside of the classroom. It might be to go for a walk or go dancing, or doing something specifically for the holidays, like 'Start booking your plane tickets.'"

This "homework" idea came from Crunch's Bikini Boot Camp, which Santa Maria helped create earlier this year. "We were inspired by how it unified members when they were laughing over some of the things they did outside of class," he says, and that camaraderie brought people back each week, too.

Okay, Grinches probably won't get the most out of this class (though a lot of the holiday talk is tongue-in-cheek), but there's a practical benefit to a 12-week regimen, particularly when the cheese logs and sugar cookies (mmm... cookies) start appearing at the office. "It is enough time that you can actually see some results," Santa Maria says. "If it were a month-long program, you might not see results. If it were longer, you might lose interest."

As the weeks go on, Holiday Combat will shift gears, from a sculpting class with a few fat-burning moves to an even cardio-sculpt balance. If you're not training for a sprint to get the last Elmo (or whatever the toy of the moment is this year) at Toys "R" Us, it at least ought to lessen the impact of a second helping of mashed potatoes.

Non-Crunch members shouldn't feel left out. Develop your own "12 Weeks before Christmas" calendar with a friend, and give each other assignments. The season's stresses will melt away with the pounds, and you'll be way ahead of the game come January, when everyone else is doing diet-and-exercise triage.

To find a Crunch gym in your area, go to Crunch.com.