In your Festive Fitness guide, PerformancePro director, Dan Boulle takes a wry look at the season ahead. Tips on how to enjoy AND look after yourself, thrown in for good measure.
The truth about Festive Fitness
Is eating and drinking your fill over Christmas really that bad? Probably not.
Drinking so much you either fall over and/or risk your P45 waiting for you the next morning, isn’t a good idea. On the other hand, it doesn’t have to be the season of austerity!
Good old moderation is what it’s all about.
Talking of which, we also advise against taking up any of your valuable time with spandex clad, unfeasibly ripped and impossibly slim Instagram Fitness Experts telling you to eat yak’s milk yoghurt and fungus from a rabbit’s foot.
Quite frankly, we’re not listening either.
As we all know, it doesn’t take much to call oneself a Fitness Expert. Any Tom, Dick or Harriet seems to have the answer to our health, fitness and weight management problems. The real problem is they haven’t.
The truth about Experts
“Researchers have settled on what they believe is the magic number for true expertise: ten thousand hours.”
Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers: The Story of Success
If, for argument’s sake, we take Malcolm Gladwell’s guideline based on a study of proficiency in musicians, most Instagram fitness gurus would have started teaching before they were born!
So, let’s put aside theory, practice, experts and social media. What can the rest of us do to attenuate the effects of real life socialising over Christmas?
Festive Fitness in Seven Simple Steps
We’ve put together a list that may help:
- Don’t say yes to everything – do you really have to go to every single event, do you have to participate in every single round?
- Try including low or zero alcohol drinks into your evening – doing this can see an individual drop their alcohol content by half.
- Try not to go out hungry – a full stomach can help to slow down the absorption rate of alcohol.
- Choose your party snacks carefully – rather than the usual handful or two of sausage rolls, look for the carrot and celery sticks
- Say NO to the cheese board – don’t think we need to elaborate here.
- Stay hydrated – being well-hydrated is always a good idea but, when our liver and kidneys are working overtime on a less than perfect diet and increased levels of alcohol, additional water can’t be a bad thing.
- Do your best to plan partying around your personal training/gym/fitness time, rather than the other way around.
Time out and the year ahead
Finally, take some time out to recover from the past year. Then, whilst recovering on the couch, think about what you would really like to achieve in the coming year e.g. compete in a triathlon, cycling event, learn to Olympic weightlift or just adopt a sustainable, healthy gym routine.
A good start would be looking at those nagging niggles and injuries. Why not get yourself a massage and/or book in for a consultation with one of our team. Together we will help you shape your fitness approach for 2019.
It’s fitness as usual at PerformancePro over Christmas and New Year. If you want to train over the holidays just let us know, we’re here for you.
In the next part of PerformancePro’s Festive Fitness Guide, we look at some sources of inspiration to take some time out and add a little extra to your seasonal pleasure. Meanwhile, here’s another couple from Malcolm….
“Practice isn’t the thing you do once you’re good. It’s the thing you do that makes you good.”
“Achievement is talent plus preparation.”
Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers: The Story of Success