HEALTH

Lesson 1: Limber up

Get your joints moving by rolling your head in slow circles, bouncing your shoulders and rotating your wrists and ankles. Then bend at the waist, sweeping your arms to the floor. Slowly let the movement of your arms swinging upwards pull your body up in one fluid motion.

Lesson 2: Get warm

Hitting the ice cold is a definite no-no. Grab a jump rope and clock 4 minutes of constant skipping. You want to be breaking a sweat, but not panting along just to keep up.

Lesson 3: Catch your breath

Toss the rope, slow down for a sec and find a step. Step up with both feet and put your hand on a rail to stay balance. Wiggle yourself off so just the balls of your feet remain on the step, then drop your heels down until you can feel a stretch in your Achilles tendon. Hold for five seconds, then lift yourself back up. Repeat 15 times. This move will help strengthen your ankles, helpin’ you stay in your boots and on the ice longer.

Lesson 4: Get your jump on

Crank up the cardio with a flight of stairs. Run your way up, taking the steps two at a time. When you get to the top, neatly pivot on the balls of your feet and carefully run back down, pulling your knees up high. Repeat 10 times.

Lesson 5: Kick back

Stretch out on your back on the floor with your legs straight out in front of you and your arms at your sides. Breath in deeply and then exhale through your nose, pressing your tummy to the ground. Using just your abs, lift your legs a few inches off the floor. Hold in the air for a slow count to five, then lower them, using your core to control the speed. Inhale and exhale slowly and deeply, then repeat 15 times. To challenge yourself, lift your legs higher.

Lesson 6: Lunge lady

From the last rep of the preceding lesson, roll over onto your stomach and lift yourself into push-up position. Do a push-up, then jump your feet forward so that you’re crouching on the floor. Jump again, this time straight upward into a standing position. Bring your right leg forward into a lunge, then step it back and drop down into push-up position. Continue from the beginning, alternating lunging legs, 10 times.

by Brittany Taylor | 2/1/2016