It's no secret that this time of the year can put some extra stress on you.
Cortisol levels can sky rocket from increased demands at work, holiday events overstuffing an already tight schedule, and don't forget the surplus of holiday calories wreaking havoc on both your physical and mental health.
But don't worry, we're diving into a popular question we get asked this time of the year...
"How can I maintain my fitness through the Holiday Season?"
In this post, our goal is to give you a little perspective and at least one takeway strategy that you can implement successfully this year.
Fitness Through The Holiday Season
Before we go any further, I think it's important to first understand that the "Holiday Season" is not the only busy time. We all uniquely go through different busy times of the year where we lose the flexibility to maintain a consistent fitness routine.
The real question becomes "How can I maintain my fitness when life gets busy?"
"The short and sweet answer to this question is... Do what you can, when you can, becuase something is better than nothing."
This might be a tough pill to swallow for some of you who crave hard work in the gym and chase performance goals.
But getting a good workout in doesn't always have to mean an hour session at the gym with a warm-up, movement prep, strength training, and a high intensity WOD.
A good workout when life is busy might be a short bodyweight workout at home, a 15 minute walk after lunch, or even household chores. (Even a simple walk and movement after a meal can help curb glucose and insulin spikes from food, supplement metabolic health, and of course burn calories.)
Check out some of these Reign Fitness At Home Workouts and keep them close through the Holiday Season:
Tip: Move more when you can because something is better than nothing.
Find Accountability
The truth is accountability works, we see it every week with training partners and coaches checking in on each other, but it's important to also understand that it comes in lot's of different forms.
"The American Society of Training and Development found that people are 65 percent likely to meet a goal after committing to another person. Their chances of success increase to 95 percent when they build in ongoing meetings with their partners to check in on their progress."
Accountability can be:
Just showing up for the people in class. (You never know who you're inspiring or motivating each workout)
Signing up for a race or challenge (ReignDeer Challenge) to keep you focused on fitness and enrolled into another community.
Publicly sharing goals with friends or a coach.
Setting performance goals
Offering to help somone with their fitness which in turn can indirectly hold you accountable for your own.
Signing up for workshops or classes to keep you focused on you.
Texting a friend to go to the same class together.
Tip: Find accountability this week in any form that works for you.
Give Yourself Some Grace
Individuals who are committed to their fitness can be tough on themselves and it's both a gift and a curse.
A little bit of tough love can get you out of bed on those dark mornings when you don't want to workout but it can also be the fuel behind frustration when you fall short of goals.
Busy times like the holidays can also fuel the fire because we often associate periods of maintenance with failure.
This couldn't be further from the truth.
"Showing up, doing what you can, and realizing that this isn't the best time for you to work towards specific performance or body composition goals might be exactly what you need for long term success."
Giving yourself some grace when necessary is essential to avoid burn out and help set yourself up for an amazing start when life allows.
Try: Commit to doing what you can through the end of the year, giving yourself some grace, with the goal to pick things up with the energy from 2024 New Year.
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Before you leave, Don't miss out on these Reign Fitness Updates:
Checkout the biggest Reign Fitness Memership savings of the year.
Looking for more specific Nutrition Tips? Come join us in the Nutrition Workshop!
Join the Reign Community as we take come together to take on fun and challenging weekly workouts through the Holiday Season.
