Holiday-Proof Your Fitness

The holiday season can bring much joy, but it can also be a challenging time for maintaining your health and fitness routines. Between the added pressure of social events and opportunities to overindulge, it’s all too easy to throw in the towel, resolving to get back on track in the new year.

The holidays don’t have to be an all or nothing proposition. With the right mindset, you can enjoy the season without sabotaging your well-being.

Here are some useful tips that can help you holiday-proof your fitness and stay fit into next year.

1. KEEP A HEALTHY MINDSET

This is the time of year to really appreciate and enjoy the festivities around you. Too often this appreciation is lost and spent feeling guilty for celebrating with seasonal treats or festive cocktails. Let this guilt go, enjoy the moments, and keep a healthy mindset that allows you to enjoy, but without the guilt. You have full control of your choices, and this is reflective of a healthy mindset.

2. PUSH BUT DON’T PUNISH

As mentioned above, it’s important to maintain a healthy mindset and make your health a priority. However, try not to punish yourself by forcing exercise to compensate for “bad” holiday behavior. That’s a cruel punishment to yourself and your workouts will suffer. Instead, try to choose your festive foods and drinks wisely while keeping your workouts quick, efficient, and effective to break a sweat and help manage your holiday stress.

3. DRINK UP

Although we all love peppermint lattes, hot coco, or other festive beverages, your body still really needs plenty of good old water. One of the biggest stressors we all face is dehydration due to the significant number of lost electrolytes. When electrolytes are lost and dehydration occurs, it can make you feel rundown and sluggish. Electrolytes are essential minerals responsible for electrical energy that assist with regulating bodily functions such as nerve impulses and muscle contractions like cardio and strength activity. So, with the colder weather, dry indoor air, and heightened likelihood you may be drinking festive beverages, it’s important to drink up water too!

4. SLEEP MATTERS

Keeping up with work and daily life responsibilities all while meeting the season’s demands is quite exhausting. We tend to spread ourselves thin to keep up with it all. Therefore, it’s crucial that you give your body and mind time to rest and recover. Sleep is a key factor in the function of your metabolism, immune system, and contributes to keeping your mind focused. Prioritizing rest is essential to keep your health and wellness on track. Along with getting adequate sleep, it’s important to incorporate recovery movements for your mind and muscles. Examples include focused breathing, stretching, and massage techniques. One great way is to perform stretching movements while incorporating intentional breathing on your Total Gym!

Solution: A stretch session on your Total Gym!

Goal: Use your Total Gym as a comfortable prop to release any aches, pains, or tension in your spine with a few simple moves your body will love. These movements are simple, yet super nice performed on your Total Gym.

-Childs Pose

-Knees To Chest

-Torso rotation

5. DAILY MOVEMENT HELPS

During this busy holiday season, it’s best to train smarter not harder. Therefore, choose consistency over quantity by performing short bouts of movement everyday where it fits in to your lifestyle and schedule. One of the most effective ways to integrate exercise is by incorporating it into your daily habits. For example, do push-ups before you shower, do squats while waiting for the coffee to brew, or stretch while watching your favorite show. It’s a sure way to fit movement into your schedule every day. Or… you can jump on your Total Gym for a quick, power, and fun strength circuit that will challenge every muscle in your body in record time.

The Solution: A Total Gym Strength Circuit!

Goal: Perform a quick and efficient total body strength circuit on your Total Gym so that you target every major muscle group in a few basic moves.

•Surfer Row (targets: back, spine, triceps)

•Bridge & Flies targets: glutes, hamstrings, thighs, chest, shoulders, arms, core)

•Crunch & Punch Bicycle (targets: core/ obliques, arms, shoulders, hips)

Check out the video to see how these exercises are performed on your Total Gym.

Following these tips and incorporating a daily dose of movement sessions will help keep your health and fitness on track while you enjoy the holidays. Remember that being healthy is a lifestyle, not a resolution.

Happy Holidays!

Maria