Don’t Quit December!
Kati’s Fit Kit
Don’t Quit December!
It’s that time of year again!! Time for parties with friends, kids’ holiday performances, traveling to visit family, shopping, cooking, celebrating… whew! With all of the extra merry making, it’s hard to fit everything in.
Unfortunately one of the first things that ends up getting cut from the “to do” list is our exercise routine. Instead of hitting the gym after work, you “have” to hit the mall for some last minute shopping. Or you end up skipping your early morning workout to sleep in because you “had” to stay at the office holiday party for an extra round of drinks the previous night. And before you know it, you’ve written off the whole month of December and are singing the old refrain: “I’ll start fresh in the New Year”. But how “fresh” will you be?
Let’s crunch some numbers for a minute. Each week you have 168 hours. If you were able to do three training sessions for an hour each during the week that would only be 1.8% of the hours available to you in the week. 1.8%!!!! Even if you factor in time to get changed, pack your gym bag and drive to and from the gym, that might add up to another three hours total for the week, which is still only 3.8% Note to self: You’ve got time to exercise.
In Caleb’s last Coach’s Corner, he shared some data on what starts to happen to us when we go for longer than a week or so without training (you can read it here if you missed it). Combine those negative effects with the fact that you are likely to be eating more treats and take out this time of year, and it’s the perfect storm for health and fitness set-backs. But, instead of focusing on all the terrible things that could happen if you throw in the towel on your training this whole month, I’d like to share some positive things you can look forward to if you do choose to keep up your workouts this holiday season.
Of course exercise is key to building muscle, burning fat and achieving body composition goals, but regular training also has many other awesome benefits:
Healthy heart and lungs
Stronger and more supple joints, and can help with arthritis
Improved brain function
Resistance training can help maintain or increase bone density
Helps regulate blood pressure and blood sugar issues
Helps maintain or improve balance
Reduces stress/depression, and improves moods
Regulating blood pressure and reducing stress during the holidays sounds pretty important to me 🙂 In fact, several of our members just shared with us how they noticed the positive effects of their training over Thanksgiving. Here is what a couple of them had to say:
“I wanted to take a moment to share my experiences while I was working in our San Diego stores over the past 5 days. I was there to show them how our holiday meals program work. This required a lot of physical effort throughout the 5 days from simply being on my feet 8-9 hours straight, to lifting hundreds of cases of turkeys as well as holiday dinner boxes weighing anywhere between 15-50+ lbs each depending on the item. It was exhausting work, but I found that despite how tired I was each day there was a noticeable difference in my recovery each day as well. I wasn’t tired the next day nor was I sore the next day, and I was able to work that hard each consecutive day. I share this as a “thanksgiving” to you for the improvements to my strength, stamina and fitness since belonging to the gym.” -Bruce
“I cleaned & cooked all day Wednesday. Woke up just a little sore… but mostly in my feet & hands. Usually I wake up feeling like a truck ran over me. On Thursday again more cleaning, cooking, & entertaining. Right before everyone came over I noticed… wow… I haven’t been popping Advil all day yesterday or today!!!! My hands & feet hurt but that’s really it!!!! I’m not kidding, I’m usually popping Advil like skittles because my back, neck, shoulders, forearms… are hurting so bad. So I wanted to make sure you knew how Breakthrough has changed me physically & made me stronger!!!” -Akemi
So, it may be that keeping up your exercise routine is key to having the best holiday season ever! At Breakthrough we are calling this month “Don’t quit December.” Give yourself the gift of making time for your health and fitness this month, so that you truly can “start fresh in the New Year”. You can do it!
Strength & Love,
Kati
PS – If you are not yet a member of Breakthrough, as our holiday gift, please be our guest for FREE at one of our group classes during December! Space in our classes is limited, contact us today to reserve your spot!