The Sneaky Grind of the 12 Days of Christmas Workout

Every year on the day before Christmas, my gym programs a “12 Days of Christmas” workout.

Here’s an example of the workout:

The first year I did this workout at my gym, I saw the list of 12 movements with escalating reps for each movement, and thought: that doesn’t look too hard.

That’s because I thought each round of the workout was just the new movement.

Then I learned that this workout is performed as in the 12 Days of Christmas song.

It’s an endurance battle that goes for 12 rounds. Each round adds a new movement, each new movement is an additional rep over the previous movement, and in each round you do the new movement and all the previous movements.

Slightly different stimulus.

So it looks like a pyramid: 1
2 – 1
3 – 2 – 1

and so on.

I made a pretty chart for you:

This actually turned out to be one of my favorite workouts.

It’s not only a physical challenge; it’s also a cognitive challenge. I had to focus to keep from messing up and doing extra reps or skipping a step — especially in the beginning.

But once I got into it, it started to flow. It was hard and fun.

The Obvious Slog

There are many versions of a 12 Days of Christmas WOD floating around the internet.

One thing every version has in common: it’s a grind.

The first few rounds fly by, but once you’re mid-way through this turns into a slog.

Each round gets exponentially longer, the reps start adding up, and going into each round you’re increasingly more fatigued.

This chart shows the number of reps in each round, so you can see visually how each round gets longer than the previous round:

This chart shows the cumulative reps you’ve racked up at the end of each round, showing how your effort starts to compound on itself:

Also, because this workout involves 12 different movements, you’re inevitably going to work your entire body and you’ll feel it everywhere.

But the part that is going to get you isn’t what you think.

Where Everyone Gets Psyched Out

The first place most people focus on when they look at a 12 Days of Christmas WOD is the last few rounds. Those movements are usually the ones that are the hardest, and by the time you get to those last few rounds you’re already fatigued — making it a double-whammy.

In the version my gym did in 2023 and 2024, the last 3 rounds were

• 10 burpees
• 11 overhead plate lunges
• 12 devil’s press (a burpee with dumbbell snatch, both arms at once)

Personally, I look at that and think I do not want to do burpees and devil’s press.

Especially not 12 devil’s press. It’s a LOT.

But while those rounds are hard, they’re also contained. You’re not doing many sets of each movement.

Where the Real Grind Is

If you do some simple math, you’ll quickly realize that the first movement and the last movement are the same total number of reps across the workout.

Across all rounds of the workout, the total number of reps per movement form a bell curve.

The total number of reps of the first movement is actually the same as the number of reps you do of the last movement, just apportioned differently. Same goes for the 2nd movement and the 11th movement, the 3rd and 10th, 4th and 9th, 5th and 8th, and 6th and 7th.

The real fatigue of this workout comes from the movements in the middle of the pack.

Those movements have more rounds and more reps, giving the highest totals.

Here’s a visual:

But here’s the thing: depending on how you structure the workout, those movements might be the most fun. In the version we did at our gym, I generally liked those movements and found it easy to get flow there. I wasn’t anticipating those rounds with dread.

That mindset makes a huge difference when you get into the workout.

Lesson: Don’t Psych Yourself Out Early

The 12 Days of Christmas workout is a good reminder that what looks hardest on paper may be more manageable than you think.

If you psych yourself out too early, it’s harder to implement and you’ll never get the satisfaction of completing the challenge.