Staying Fit This Holiday Season
The holiday season may very well be fitness’ worst enemy. The weather gets cold, so you’re less likely to want to go outside and exercise. And big dinners mean that there’s plenty of chance to gain plenty of weight. But that doesn’t mean these pitfalls have to stop you or hinder your fitness progress. With the right program in place, you can easily maintain your fitness levels while still enjoying the season. Here are some tips from an article I found on “Men’s Fitness” to help you stay on track during these difficult months:
Plan ahead: While you should normally plan out your training for at least a month in advance, this is particularly important when vacations and family trips are so frequent during this season. Schedule out weeks of training surrounding travel plans. If you know you’ll be out of the gym for a few days, use those days as recovery and amp up your training before and after. Instead of leaving your schedule up to chance, set aside time dedicated to hitting the gym.
Go early: While work commitments aren’t as stringent over the holidays, family commitments are. Change up your schedule to hit the gym earlier and get in a workout before anybody wakes up.
Partner up: It might be hard to motivate yourself to get going on cold mornings, but it’s easier if you aren’t alone. Find a workout partner during the holiday season to help you stay motivated, and make a pact to hold each other accountable. Since this is a time of the year that you share with your family, you can involve everybody by playing games that involve physical activity.
Use bodyweight: Even if you can’t hit up the gym during the holiday season, you can still get in a great workout with just your bodyweight. These workouts can be done anywhere with little or no equipment and just about 20 minutes.
Accumulate volume: Aven if you may not be able to squeeze in one single workout a day, you can use smaller, shorter workouts throughout the day to make up for that.
Keep evaluating yourself: Continually evaluate your progress to determine if your program is taking you closer or further away from your goals. If you see the results (or lack thereof) on the scale and in the gym, you’ll be motivated to continue and not plateau. Record your progress and track metrics every two weeks to stay motivated.
Indulge and resist: With all of the tasty treats on the table, resisting the urge to eat an entire week’s worth of calories can be hard. There isn’t any sense in depriving yourself, but limit yourself to just one serving. Once you’re done, put the rest in a container and save it for leftovers.