By David Tepera, December 23, 2025

Earlier this year, right before the summer, this jolly old man came into our gym because he heard we specialize weight training older people. I told him “yes sir, we do. What’s your name, and the goals you are needing?”.

The happy old guy replied “my name is Kris Kringle, and I need to be as strong as possible by the end of December. You see, there are lots of good girls and boys around the world that I need to deliver Christmas gifts”. I had to admit, that name sounded familiar.

I put a weight training program together for Mr. Kringle and we got to work. For some reason, he insisted I call him Santa.

Just know, in-order-to carry heavy bags of toys, there are three important powerlifting exercises needed. To my surprise, after months of training, Santa could bench press over 300 pounds, squat 400, and deadlift almost 500 pounds.

Also, during the summer, Santa had a whole bunch of short fellas weight training with us. He wanted them stronger, so they could build and assemble gifts for all the young kiddos. We were impressed how dedicated these little fellas were. Eventually, those pointy ear guys were throwing some serious weight in the gym. They were the happiest people to be around, even with those funny little curly shoes. It was interesting because instead of kettle bells, they wanted to train with jingle bells.

Now, Santa did ask for advice on how to get his reindeer in shape to pull such a heavy sleigh. He told me there was a leader in the North Pole to coach all the deer to get them conditioned. It was someone named Rudolph, who had a big, shinny, red nose. Their workout consisted lots of wind sprints utilizing hurdles on two or four legs, plus much more.

To our surprise, Santa’s wife came to visit on the last day of training the Elf’s and Santa. She went by the name of Mrs. Clause, and brought fresh baked cookies to all of us at Ageless Muscle Fitness Center. These were the best cookies we’ve ever had. The buttery sugar just melted in our tummy.

It was a joyous time for all of us knowing that Santa, Elf’s, and the reindeer are ready to make this another amazing Christmas to all the girls and boys around the world. Remember, let kids be kids while they’re kids.

From my good ole buddy St. Nick “Ho-Ho-Ho, and Merry Christmas to all”.