Categorized as: Health Tips

Surviving the Holidays

Hello Gym Family!!!! Wanna know what the best coaches around want you to know about how to survive this conditioning phase and the holiday season and come out on top?!?!
If so, read on!!!

I polled our coaches on what they wish all of our clients knew about conditioning and getting thru the holidays, and this is what they said!!!! There are sooooo many great nuggets and words of wisdom in this post! Check out their response:

Ali Gregro: My biggest tip: encouraging people NOT to use the gym as punishment for bad eating. In other words thinking a challenging body crushing workout will undo indulgent eating. Allow a schedule of 3-5 workouts per week during the season with no more than 2 high intensity workouts (where you leave feeling annihilated) If you have a day like that either take the next day off or if they must come based on schedule then plan ahead to pull back and modify (reducing weight, going slower, reducing impact, skipping the turf etc) It is ok to customize our workouts to your needs and not every workout should crush you

Emily Waffird: I’m with Ali on using this post to educate them that 6 workouts a week isn’t necessary, 3-5 is plenty!
Nettie Boyle: Workouts should never be used to balance out intake of calories. And I totally agree that 2 high intensity workouts per week are a great idea. I would add that general populations goal is not to totally crush yourself, but to just get out of that comfort zone and be okay with being a little uncomfortable. It doesn’t have to be an hour of conditioning either. Short and sweet, quality workout over quantity. And listen to your body! You know yourself better than anyone.

Kristy Bobo: Reminder to take full advantage of the first 20 minutes of class. That is the foundation or prep work to get you ready for the workout, so make sure you’re getting the most out of each warm-up/stretch/exercise. My tip is more in general and not specific to the workout but always a good reminder 🙂. That first 20 minutes sets us apart from any other gym so any chance we get to remind them of the importance of it 😉

Rayma Fisher: Reminding people that life is a journey… an adventure and not a destination. The beautiful machine that God gave us is continually adapting to our new and old stressors, fuel we feed it and the physicality we put it through. We need to continue to educate, adjust and adapt our diets and workouts accordingly. With all of that said, listening to our bodies instead of the devil’s tools of “guilt and shame”.

Emily Mercer: Conditioning should not be a means to get thinner. Cardiovascular work is just that-cardiovascular!! We work the heart. We work the lungs. We work the blood. We keep our machine in working order, in fact, we improve the way it performs. Go back to biology-not Instagram. Condition the body to be better, not some cooked up perception you have of the perfect body fueled by social media.

Kaitlyn Coleman: I would add to encourage them to stick with their routine- not add to like many have said already- but not letting one bad meal ruin their routine. So many people feel like at this time of year there is no point in trying due to hectic schedules and meals.

BJ Boston: Conditioning is to develop the cardiovascular/cardiopulmonary system. I think a lot of times we forget that the Heart is a muscle and should be trained as such in the proper way. Improving stroke volume and eccentric cardiac hypertrophy should be a pivotal piece of any good conditioning program. With all that said clients need to listen to their bodies and ensure that they are allowing adequate rest between sessions and avoid overtraining. Of course the other piece of that is clients need to be fueling their bodies with the proper nutrients. Ultimately a combination of all of these things should help to improve overall health, conditioning and to keep off those unwanted pounds over the holiday season.

Crystal Horne: Enjoy the holidays, but stay focused on your goals! Plan ahead and you can enjoy the holiday foods with zero guilt and zero harm to your waistline! Use those special get-togethers and parties as a weekly spiked calorie or cheat meal, but try to keep it clean the week before it. Use those times for your benefit to help you stay focused and on track the rest of the week, then enjoy eating something off menu. Don’t blow it out, but just enough to enjoy it! THEN the next day get right back on track! If you are in a caloric deficit and stay consistent, those holiday parties can actually HELP you LOSE weight!!!! Train, but don’t overtrain. Listen to your body. Try not to stress. Get plenty of sleep. And drink plenty of water. AND MAKE SURE YOUR LOVED ONES KNOW THEY ARE LOVED!!!! Do all that, and your New Years Resolution will not be the same as previous years, (lose weight, workout more, etc) it’ll be setting new, big and exciting goals to conquer because you crushed 2018!!!!
There ya go! Wise words from some of best coaches and people on the planet!!! We hope you guys have the best holiday season ever!

-Coach Israel