Santa Claus is a damn fit individual. Think about it – he has to be fast enough to visit everyone’s home in less than 24 hours and lug around a huge bag full of gifts!

1. Interview with Santa: Secret Fitness Tips Revealed!
You may not know this but Santa Claus is a damn fit individual. Think about it – he has
to be fast enough to visit everyone’s home in less than 24 hours and lug around a huge
bag full of gifts!
I don’t know about you but that would definitely tire me out.
So yesterday, I had the privilege of talking with jolly old Saint Nick and probed him to
see if he could divulge his secret fitness tips to getting in such great shape.
Here’s the interview:
Yuri: Thanks for joining me Santa. I’ve been a huge fan since I was a kid and it’s just
really great to have you here with me to share your fitness secrets.
Santa: Ho, ho, ho…Yuri it’s a pleasure.
Yuri: So Santa, many people think that because you appear a bit overweight that you
must be out of shape and unhealthy. But I can see that you have radiant skin and the
fitness level of an army cadet. How do you do it?
Santa: Well Yuri, that’s a good question. I like to consider myself somewhat of an
athlete who has one yearly event that I need to train for. I may not be in the Olympics but
Christmas eve is my time to shine, and I need to be peak shape in order to do my best.
Yuri: I love that analogy!

2. Santa: To make things as straight forward as possible I will share some of my fitness
secrets with you and your readers.
My first fitness tip is that specificity is essentially. What I mean by this is that since I
carry around a big bag of gifts (usually weighing almost 100 lbs) I need to train my body
to be able to carry it. There’s no sense in me hitting the gym (yes I have a gym at my
place in the North Pole) and lifting weights.
Instead, I train by grabbing a big bag and filling with a ton of stuff to weigh me down. I
then walk for miles and even run hills with this awkward load. It’s a great way to
strengthen my legs and cardiovascular system at the same time.
Yuri: Wow! I would never have guessed that you trained that way. I’m impressed.
Santa: Thanks. My next fitness secret is that I get fast by doing interval training. Sure I
spend a few weeks going for long jogs at a light pace to build up my aerobic base, but by
Spring time I’m right into the intervals.
I need to be to my work at a very high intensity. You can imagine that visiting millions of
homes all around the world in less than 24 hours requires a fair degree of speed. That’s
why I use intervals. They allow me train at faster speeds for longer periods of time.
For instance, I’ll often Rudolph and the other reindeer over several miles. We’ll do 1
minute running as fast as possible, then recover for 1 minute, and then repeat that until
we hit the floor. As you can imagine, they usually win. And that brings me to my next
tip…
Train with someone who can push you! That’s why I use the reindeer as my training
partners. They are naturally much fitter – mainly because they’re animals who can fly! –
but they force me to bring my “A” game to eacn and every workout.
If I slack off, then they’ll leave me in their wake. But by training with them and trying to
keep up with them, I force my body to get stronger and fitter than I could on my own –
it’s truly amazing. I guess it’s like people who go running with their dogs.
Yuri: Yeah, that would be me. But the problem is that now my little dogs can’t keep up
with me so I’m forced to run slower – not a good thing!
Santa: No kidding.
Yuri: Ok, so you’ve talked about training specific to your performance goal, using
interval training to increase speed and endurance, and training with people (or animals)
that can push you more than you could on your own. Is there anything else?
Santa: I guess the last fitness tip I’ll share is the importance of consistency. Since I only
need to be in tip top shape for one night a year, it might not seem like missing a few

3. workouts here and there will make a big difference. But nothing could be further from the
truth.
Back in my early days as Santa I thought I was fit enough not to have to train as often as I
do now. I would go out and party with the elves and come home many a night after far
too many drinks. I would wake up feeling groggy and tired and unmotivated to train
consistently.
And my performances suffered. I remember a few Christmas eve’s where I missed over 1
million homes just because I was too slow! I vowed never to let that happen again. When
I thought of all the children I let down it really upset me.
Now, I’m a more focused and consistent Santa. I train 4-5 days per week – no matter
what! I know that the big part of consistency is not just the results it produces but the
momentum it creates to make working as automatic as brushing your teeth.
That could well be my most important advice. Be consistent and never give up!
Yuri: Amazing Santa. I know your words will be of great inspiration to millions of our
readers. But I think a lot of people might be wondering the same thing – if you train so
much why are you still overweight?
Santa: Well Yuri, let’s just say that I’ve had one too many cookies in my time and Mrs.
Claus’ cooking is far too delicious to turn down. Yes, I train hard but if I didn’t, I
probably wouldn’t be here talking to you right now.
I can honestly say that exercise is important – that’s for sure – but if you want to lose
belly fat, then you’ve got to be eating right. I wish I could say I was an expert in that area
as well but the proof is in the pudding. Or should I say the pudding is in my pooch?
Haha!
Yuri: Fair enough. That makes sense.
Santa, I’d like to thank you for your time and sharing your expert fitness tips with us. It’s
been an honour and I wish all the best for your busy Christmas season ahead. All the best
and Merry Christmas.
Santa: Thank you Yuri. You too!
USE THE FITNESS PROGRAM THAT SANTA WILL BE USING IN 2010!

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