6 tips to stay fit during the holidays

Up on the Chief in Squamish

The holidays challenge your fitness routine and that's ok. We all need a time to relax, enjoy time with friends and loved ones and disconnect from our regular routines. Our fitness routines tend to take a hit during this time, leading to the inevitable feeling of starting over once the new years come.

The good news is that we can stay fit while enjoying the holidays with these 6 tips and start the new year feeling prepared and refreshed instead of slow and sluggish.

1. modify your fitness routine during the holidays

You are going to be busy attending christmas parties, hanging out with friends and family, so prioritze that. In order to accomodate your holiday schedule, it's ok to reduce our workout frequency or duration.

It is exponentially better to have a reduced fitness routine than zero fitness routine. If all you have time to do is a 5 minutes workout, do that 5 minutes workout. I've got some you can try here, here and here.

Short and intense workouts will maintain your muscle mass, keep your lungs and heart active and free up some time in your weeek.

You can also keep the same workout duration and do those less frequently during the week.

An hour full body gym workout once a week will help you to maintain the strength and muscle definition you've worked hard to gain.

2. Focus on your sleep and recovery

If there's one thing we do more often during the holidays it's sleeping and eating. Two major component of a healthy recovery.

Enjoy the extra cozy mornings to sleep in and recharge. Enjoy the delicious foods and make memories with loved ones.

In order to have good sleep during the holidays, do the following:

• Avoid large meals before bed. If you are attending a Christmas party or dinner, make sure you don't eat late into the night.

• Be smart with your liquor consomption. Alcohol has a negative impact on the quality of your sleep so keep that in mind when attending all those fun events.

3. Drink lots of water

You whole routine may get shuffled. Staying hydrated no matter what happens will go a long way in making you feel your best.

Carry around a water bottle to make sure water is always available.

The easiest way to see if you are hydrated enough is to look at your urine colour. If it's clear, you are hydrated, if it's yellow go have a glass of water.

I recommend you aim to consume 2-3 litres of water each day, regardless of the time of the year.

4. Stay fit by spending more time on your feet

Spending time on your feet burns three times more calories than sitting down.

Try to walk as much as you can. Take the time to take a stroll after your bigger meals. Walking for 30 minutes can be up to 3000 steps, which is an easy way to help digestion, get your blood flowing and energize you.

When you go to an event, or at work, try parking your car a little further away and walk to your destination. That's an easy way to spend more time on your feet and keep you step count up.

5. Be mindful of your screen time

Wether you like to scroll on your phone or cozy up in a warm blanket and watch your favourite show on TV, the holidays are always a great time to do that.

Just be mindful of how much time you spend doing those activities. They can help you relax but also drain you and make you feel lethargic.

6. Do the 12 days Christmas workout

This workout is filled with the holiday spirit, it's short, fun and effective.

This festive workout will take you twelve rounds of holiday spirit. Just like the famous song "12 days of Christmas" you will be doing a little bit more each round.

Do all of it, or set yourself a timer for 10, 15 or 20 minutes and see how much of the workout you can get through.

Happy holidays!

Clem

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