5 Tips to Stay Motivated During the Festive Season
The Christmas Holiday can be a tricky time for players to stick to their fitness regimes. Training and fixtures take a break, last minute shopping becomes the priority, not to mention the social events that fill up your evenings.
It is very easy to understand why so many people throw in the towel, say "Forget it, it's Christmas", and struggle to keep up with a consistent routine throughout the festive period.
So, here are our 5 useful tips to help you stay on track, and also enjoy the holiday season!
1. Plan Your Workouts
Start your week by setting realistic exercise challenges for the next seven days, based on your busy Christmas schedule. If you have a workout goal in sight and know when you are going to fit in your exercise, it is much easier to stick to the plan! You can also try setting yourself a "Holiday Challenge" - this could be a distance goal, a certain number of sessions to complete or amount of calories to burn.
2. Find A Buddy
Running, training, or working out with others is a great way to stay active and be held accountable! It is so easy to lose motivation to workout alone, but if you have a friend you are letting down by calling off, you are less likely to cancel your session. Arrange a time to workout with them and make sure you commit. If you don't have any access to social groups, use apps like Strava to connect with active runners or ClassPass to join a range of different classes in nearby gyms.
3. Change It Up
If you're heading away for Christmas to visit family and friends with no access to your local gym, it's the perfect excuse to take a week or so off. But no! Christmas is a great time to mix up your usual training regime and try something new ways to stay active. A long dog walk, a coastal bike ride or a 30 minute HIIT workout at home are just a few examples of how you can burn off that Christmas pudding!
4. Exercise Early
Getting your workout done early in the day is the best thing to do over the festive period. This gets it out of the way and leaves you feeling great for the rest of the day. Plus it means you can easily be persuaded to head to the pub in the afternoon without feeling guilty!
5. Break It Down
With less time on your hands during the holidays, maintain your mojo by cutting down on the number of workouts per week and shorten your sessions to push harder with high intensity interval workouts. By fitting in one or two interval workouts a week you can maintain your fitness during this busy time of the year, boost your mood and keep things fresh.
