Reasons to Train Through the Festive Season!

1. January won’t hurt so much!

2. You keep the gains you’ve made whilst you’ve been training, so all your efforts are not in vain!

3. You’re a step ahead for January.

4. That small indulgence probably won’t have too dramatic an impact on your overall fitness and goals.

5. You’ll keep your exercise habit, so making life much easier for yourself come January!

6. Use it or lose it. We all need a break from training but after just three weeks of inactivity you can start to lose muscle mass. You lose cardio and aerobic fitness more quickly than muscle strength, in just a few days. You know what that feels like, that feeling of not getting enough air in? That’s your body having to work harder to get blood to your heart, lungs and muscles.

7. If you’re limited for time to train, keep it to strength training, this doesn’t need to involve great big weights or a trip to the gym. Body weight exercises qualify too and you can do those really easily at home! Muscle, as lots of us know, when resting, burns more calories than fat and strength training builds muscle.

8. If you’re worried about not getting your ‘cardio’ in, don’t! Combine strength and weight training! For example, squat jumps, lunge jumps or even plyo press ups! You will feel that cv system working!

9.Plan ahead and you might even carve out more time to train. If you and/or your family have a little extra time off work this season, use it. Get out more. Take an hour to exercise outdoors or where you have been whilst we’ve been in this Covid pandemic!

10.Christmas food has the potential to boost your nutritional intake. It doesn’t all have to be sweets and rich puddings. There’s plenty of protein around at Christmas and a great variety of foods, fruits, vegetables and nuts. So make the most of the season’s food to fuel your training.

11.Get ahead of the crowd. Get ahead with your fitness goals. Be ahead of the curve.

12.Start your exercise habit now. Instead of dreading the inevitable first visit to the gym, or first run of the year, get some preparation. 10 minutes a day of body weight exercises will help prepare your body for exercise in January. If you’re planning to start running, get walking or jogging slowly for 15 minutes per day – now. In January those who waited will be panting in your slip stream and wishing they’d started earlier!

13. It takes time to turn your body into a fat burning, fitness machine. The fitter your body is, the better equipped you are to burn fat as fuel. Another great reason to start now.

14.Boost those rosy cheeks! One of the easiest ways to boost your hair, skin and nails is to get some regular exercise in. Outside is best since you’ll get blood to your skin and rosy cheeks too. Training outside is exhilarating!

15.Boost your immune system. We all know that as days get colder and damper germ warfare is intense. This year, more than ever, we need to boost our immune systems and exercise is a great great way to do that!

16.December is typically one of the quietest times of the year in gyms and group fitness classes. Make the most of it. Get to the gym whilst you can or to a F2F class, whilst you can! You’ll be warmly welcomed by your instructor and there are fewer participants to be fearful of. Alternatively, ask for a recording over the Christmas period.

17.Get a Vitamin D boost. Sunlight is at a premium at this time of year. If you can get outside to train, even if just for a walk, before midday you’ll get a mini dose of Vitamin D.

18.Beat Seasonal Affective Disorder SAD. Studies have shown that one of the best ways to beat SAD is to exercise outside before midday to maximise your exposure to daylight.

19.Burn off excess calories. Put simply, if you’re going to be consuming more over Christmas, the best way to ensure you minimise the damage is to keep training.

20.Keep smiling.