2024 Secret Santa Workout Gift Exchange

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

Amazing work again this year on all of the gifts, Santa Bees! The care and creativity everyone puts into them is a wonderful reminder of how awesome this community is!

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

Finisher: Dance for as long as you want!

This could be a very long workout!


Thank you, Santa!

And thank you for inviting Shelby to the party too! It means a lot to me to have her there, and I know she will be so happy to see all of her Bee friends! (Plus Cooper, of course! And Bennie and Ollie. Shelby will make friends with the kitties too, if they are willing.)

 

[Saffity]

Gift for @Saffity :

The Most Adventurous of Them All

It had been a long and hard year in Southern Ontario, and Saffity really, really needed a vacation! Carrying her little Bees up and down, rocking them to sleep, chasing them around the house, starting a new job, and all the other challenges that life threw at her could not be managed just with micro workouts and a standing desk. This year she really needed to get away from it all!

But of course, going away needs more than wishful thinking… or does it? Hmmm… the Hive is a magical place after all, and when the Bees decide that magic can happen, then by all means it will happen! Saffity read about a magical Hive-land where fevers did not exist, everyone slept through the night, and lots of deliciously healthy food dripped from trees. This was her destination for sure! And how could she get there? By building a rainbow road, of course! That way she could take her little Bees with her, and all the other Bees of the Hive could use the rainbow to go on vacation too.

To build a rainbow road one doesn’t need bricks and mortar, but a song, a dance, some sprinkles, and just putting one foot in front of the other! So Saffity went to work:

20 march steps
10 bridges – hold long enough for a little Bee to crawl under
20 side leg raises
20 butt kicks
10 baby squats – every time you go down you need to high-five Munchie and Biggie
20 back leg raises

Filler: In between each exercise you need to dance one round of the Macarena with Munchie and Biggie

3 sets=level 1
5 sets=level 2
7 sets=level 3

The more sets done, the bigger the rainbow road and the more Bees will be able to use it to travel to the magical Hive-land. Go for the max!

With the help of her little Bees Saffity enjoyed her rainbow road building activities and suddenly it was there! She could already see the magical Hive-land shimmering at the end of her rainbow!

It’s party time! Let all the Bees dance the Macarena!

Santa, I don't know who you are yet, I haven't had a chance to check, but I just howled laughing at my desk. We LOVE LOVE LOVE DJ Raphi in our house, and the adventure to build a rainbow road is epic. We are all going to love doing this together, and since my Dad and his Wife (Papa and GK) are in town, they will be mighty entertained too.

A more perfect adventure and workout could not have been written for us!

 

[Maegaranthelas]

Oh goodness, I hope you and the whole family enjoy that workout @Saffity

I might see if I can rope partner into doing mine with me.
It won't be this evening though, since there's an impromptu Valheim stream and if our friends are in the chat it may be a loooot of squats to do xD
We make them do squats for every death in Helldivers, maybe they will make us do squats for every death in Valheim... That would add up

 

[graoumia]

thank you so much to my Santa, and thanks to all the team who contributed to this wonderfull event. This workout is perfect, i will test it asap. Merry Christmas bees

 

[NancyTree]

I'm having so much fun with all the gifts!

 

[Saffity]

I am attempting to figure out who is who's Santa from just the few days, but it's tough... @Syrius was the insanely good detective last year and figured everyone out. We have a few days left to get our workouts done, so I'm going to try and find mine before she does

 

[Syrius]

I do already have my spreadsheet going. I've got a few suspicions already, but no guesses on mine just yet. I'm still investigating.

 

[heeropotter]

I recently returned from the mountain, excited to share my transformative getaway gala, which turned out to be a bit longer than planned. However, I can assure you that I’ve been diligently exercising. I embraced the challenge and pushed myself for extra credit, all while cleverly concealing my identity as a Secret Santa.

**December 24:** I energized my day with an impressive routine: 300 push-ups, 350 mountain climbers, 5 minutes of punches, a challenging 120-second side star plank hold, 200 jumping jacks, 50 lunges, and 100 leg swings. Each exercise was more than just a workout; it was an opportunity to enjoy the journey and truly feel the burn.

**December 25:** I maintained the momentum with 300 push-ups, 120 arm scissors (a personal favorite), 4 minutes of marching steps, and 200 jumping jacks.

**December 26:** I took it up a notch with 300 push-ups, 120 flutter kicks, 90 plank rolls, 250 arm scissors (yet again, my favorite), a rewarding hour of hiking up and down the mountain, and once at the top, I connected with nature through 5 minutes of tree pose for each leg, followed by 50 lunges and a thrilling 45-minute bumpy motorbike ride.

**December 27:** Being resourceful while away from home, I got creative with my workout: 300 push-ups, 100 squats, and shoulder presses using my backpacks, plus 120 scissor chops, 5 minutes of punches, and an invigorating hour-long walk to the communal ranch.

**December 28:** My workout that day included 300 push-ups, 30 side bridges, 3 minutes of high knees, 160 side leg raises, 5 minutes of toe touches, 80 up-and-down planks, and dancing to "Macarena."

**December 29:** I concluded my week with exercises that truly bring me joy: 300 push-ups, 30 burpees (except for this one hahaha!), 200 arm raises, 200 back leg raises, 200 hops on the spot, and 200 jumping jacks.

While I don’t usually incorporate one specific exercise into my routine, I find it incredibly enjoyable and effective. It's a high-intensity routine that really gets my heart pumping and significantly boosts my aerobic performance, so I ensure it’s part of every workout.

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

Happy New Year, Santa Bees!

Reminder: We've all got 5 days left in which to complete both the gift we gave and the one we received, and post about them in our check-in threads. (You don't need to explicitly state which gift you did for the one you gave. Vagueness and hint-dropping are encouraged. And for those Santas who are disguising themselves by doing all the gifts, go you! That is awesome!)

I will drop one hint here for the Santa Sleuths (not so much a hint really as simply full disclosure, in the interest of fairness, since I deviated a wee bit from the exchange rules this year): one of the gifts was created by two people, and two of the gifts were created by the same person. (This is probably a dead giveaway of something to the expert sleuths, but I didn't think it would be fair not to tell you.)