
If you work hard all year to develop your ‘fitness habit’, you might get a little nervous during the festive season.
Will you lose your momentum?
Will your cardiovascular fitness suffer?
Will you get weaker?
Will you gain weight?
We get questions like this all the time as the end of December approaches. But don’t worry!
Habits and Science
Habits can be hard to break. That’s a bad thing when you’re talking about bad habits, but it’s great when you’re dealing with healthy habits. You have a long-term fitness habit, and it’s unbreakable.
If you work out regularly all year, rest assured that you will not lose all your momentum if you miss a few workouts over Christmas.
And you probably won’t lose any physical progress at all. The truth is that strength and muscle mass start to decrease after two to four weeks of inactivity, not a few days. That is great news.
Firstly, you aren’t going to be completely inactive over the holidays. Even if you train half as much as usual, you aren’t quitting cold turkey, so you shouldn’t expect to lose any progress.
Secondly, the Christmas period usually runs from 24th December to 2nd January so that’s just 10 days. Your strength and muscle are more than safe, and if you throw in a few workouts, your conditioning is very safe, too.
As for weight gain, yes, some people are off work and don’t work out or move much over the holidays. They sit on the couch and nap after huge meals, and they snack a lot. And they drink too much. All of that can result in weight gain. But you aren’t ‘some people’. You aren’t average. You focus on health and fitness, and you don’t have to gain any weight at all.
People who have a few great meals with family but stay active can expect to maintain their weight. A hearty meal or two won’t cause instant weight gain, the same way a protein shake doesn’t instantly add rippling muscle to your arms.
The Best Plan
You should enjoy the festive season, and if that means you miss a few workouts, don’t sweat it.
If the thought of missing a few workouts stresses you out, do this: Plan to get in at least two or three workouts between 23rd December and 3rd January. They can be ‘official gym workouts’ or just something simple at home or in the park.
The important thing: Plan these workouts. Put them on the calendar so you do them.
In between workouts, plan two or three ‘activities’. They can be as simple as walking around the local neighbourhood to look at lights or doing a bit of tidying up in the garden. Put these things on the calendar, too.
If you have big meals on the schedule, eat vegetables and low-fat foods for the other meals that day. Eat nutritious food on the days after you feast.
Stick to this plan and enjoy yourself. Don’t worry about a meal or a mince pie or lost fitness. You can look at the calendar and realise you’ve programmed six activities in 12 days, and you’ll feel better. And you’ll realise you’re eating nutritious food regularly, too.
People run into trouble when they think, “I haven’t worked out in weeks!” That can set a person back and kill momentum. But if you can always say “I did something for my health just the other day,” you’ll never feel like you’re losing steam.
Don’t worry: A day off or two won’t harm your fitness, and if you stick to this plan, you’ll carry a load of momentum into 2025.
If you’d like to talk to us about a fitness plan for the New Year, click here to book a Free Intro.