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I don’t know about you but the Christmas cookies are ABUNDANT over here. I think I’ve averaged somewhere between 2-5 cookies every day for the last week!

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I mean, seriously…between what I’ve been baking for gifts and get togethers and what I’ve been gifted by friends and clients, it’s been a sugar extravaganza. I’m probably going to go into withdrawal in January with cold sweats. 😛

One of the best ways I find to combat extra holiday treats is to stay committed to my workouts.  I usually don’t have hours to spend at the gym this time of year (or…ever…) so I’m all about quick, efficient, effective and intense workouts. I programmed a “Christmas Cookie Crusher” workout to get myself and my clients through the holidays.

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I was texting with one of my small groups about scheduling for this week and promised them the Cookie Crusher workout. They agreed to be the guinea pigs before I posted the workout on the blog.

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They showed up at 5:30 a.m. ready to tackle the workout and did a great job! The verdict?

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My clients loved the Cookie Crusher and reported that they wouldn’t change anything about the workout. And because I’m the best trainer ever…I brought all of my clients this morning my no-bake chocolate peanut butter balls for making it through the Cookie Crusher workout. We’ll call them “healthy” because they use natural peanut butter, cocoa and coconut oil. 🙂

And here’s your 2014 Cookie Crusher Workout!

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The gym version features mixture of bodyweight and weighted exercises. You’ve seen all of these movements on the blog before. The only thing I think you might have questions about is the man maker. It’s a push up to a single arm row on both sides. You can check out a video of me doing a man maker complex. Note, the variation I’m asking you to do here is what you see in the first 10 seconds of the video. Ignore the thruster part of the complex.

The workout took my clients anywhere from 15-25 minutes to complete this morning. The important thing about chipper style workouts is to pace yourself. Don’t sprint in the beginning and use up all of your gas. Work hard but pace your effort so you can keep moving steadily throughout.

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And here is the home/travel variation featuring bodyweight exercises only.

As always, let me know if you have questions or feedback. Happy sweating!

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