The Twelve Days-of-Christmas.

Shape-Up

The Twelve Days of Christmas was written in the sixteenth-century when Catholics in England were prohibited from practicing their faith. To the government of the day, the words seemed like nonsense, but as you can see from our decoded version, the carol had real meaning for Catholics. "The Twelve Days of Christmas" salutes the Nativity which opens on Christmas and ends 12 days later on the Epiphany. "My true love" is God. "Me" is each Catholic. Read on for the rest of our decoded carol then join Flakey Snowman and work out to our brand-new version following the exercises on this page.

Twelve drummers drumming (12 beliefs of the Church)

Eleven pipers piping (12 Apostle minus Judas!)

Ten lords a-leaping (10 commandments)

Nine ladies dancing (9 choirs of angels)

Eight maids a-milking (8 beatitudes)

Seven swans a-swimming (7 sacraments)

Six geese a-laying (6 days of creation)

Five golden rings (5 books of the Old Testament - Law)

Four calling birds (4 Gospels)

Three French hens (3 gifts of the Wise Men)

Two turtle doves (2 Testaments)

A partridge in a pear tree (1 Jesus Himself)

1 Warm Up/Cool Down

2 Thigh Squats

3 Quad Stretches

4 Hamstring Curls

5 Hamstring Stretches

6 Straight Leg Push-Ups

7 Chest Stretches

8 Seated Rows

9 High Back Stretches

10 Ab Crunches

11 Torso Stretches

12 Back Extension

But don't overdo it!

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