fbpx
How To Keep Up The Gym Habit Over The Festive Period

How To Keep Up The Gym Habit Over The Festive Period

As we enter the winter season, the world stops to a standstill a bit. We Have time off work, shops shut down, and we spend time with our families. During the festive period, we go to parties, events, and seasonal activities. It can be such a busy time, and it can be hard to keep up good and healthy habits during this time period. However, by keeping the following tips in mind, you can make sure to keep up those good and healthy habits. You don’t want to be too out of shape in January!

Don’t Diet

Christmass diet.

A huge part of the Christmas and New Year festivities is food. Whether it’s meals out in the lead-up to Christmas, the all important Christmas dinner or New Year’s Party buffet, seasonal food is something that many people look forward to massively. If you want to keep up the gym habit, don’t eliminate these treats from your diet. It is more productive to add healthy foods to your diet, without limiting the cheat days too much. It will be hard to get motivated if you’re not having breaks where you relax and enjoy your holiday. 

Keep Hydrated

Hydration winter

Another big part of the holiday season is alcohol. If you’re indulging in eggnog, or going out for celebratory cocktails with friends, make sure that you’re drinking plenty of water. During your workouts, hydration is so important to ensure you get the most out of your workout. By drinking lots of water, you can keep yourself energised for workouts. If you’re too dehydrated, you won’t be able to workout as well as you normally can.

Don’t Set Unreasonable Goals

It might be tempting to make promises such as ‘I’m going to go to the gym every day except Christmas day!’ While that’s an admirable goal, it might be more likely that you’ll end up missing a few days due to activities, and then you’ll feel disappointed. By setting a reasonable goal, such as aiming to go to the gym 3-4 times a week during November and December, you’ll find this is much more achievable.

Make A Schedule

Schedule

Because there could be multiple different activities going on around the festive period, it might help you to schedule your gym visits around what you have planned. For example, if you’re going ice-skating with a young cousin in the morning, you can schedule your gym visit for the afternoon. Or if you’re going with friends to the Christmas Markets in the evening, you can rearrange your workout for the morning instead. By scheduling your gym sessions in a diary or phone calendar, you will be able to keep track of your workout goals better.

Reward Yourself

Make going to the gym enjoyable. Maybe take a new class you’ve always wanted to try, or a new regime that you’ve not had time for recently. You could also buy some new gym gear as an early Christmas present to yourself to motivate you to go to the gym!  Lads, why not buy some cool t-shirts to rock at the gym, and ladies why not look at matching gym sets so you can look your best when you’re working out. You’ll want to go to the gym just to show off your new clothes!


Buddy Up

Training friend

Having a friend come to the gym with you during this period can motivate you to keep up the habit. You will be adding a sociable element to your workout, and also keep you healthy. A lot of your friends might be more open to coming to the gym with you during the festive season than you think! Many people will want to keep in shape during the holidays, especially before the January gym rush. Bringing a friend along can help you keep up your gym habit over the festive period.


Make The Gym A Seasonal Activity

It can be hard to go from Christmas mode to focusing on your workout. By making the gym a seasonal activity, you can make the gym part of your Christmas celebrations. There are multiple Christmas themed workouts online that you can do at the gym to make your workout more seasonal. Grabbing your headphones and listening to Christmas music when you workout can make the gym part of your festivities.

By making all of these small changes in your life, you will find it a lot easier to keep up the gym habit before and during Christmas. Don’t over do it, but don’t let your health suffer over the festive period.