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Fitness

25 Days of Fitness

Your countdown to holiday health!

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25 Days of Fitness

Does your workout routine get heave-ho-ho-ho’d to the back seat of Santa’s sleigh once December rolls around? If you’re like most people, friends, family, office parties, and shopping commandeers your precious time around the holiday season. Now, more than ever, it’s important to squeeze in those workouts wherever you can.

Studies show that even two weeks of physical inactivity can diminish the effects built by regular fitness activities. You already know that exercising for at least 150 minutes a week can increase your fitness and energy while decreasing your chances of developing heart disease, but did you know that just 20 minutes of exercise in a day can significantly reduce feelings of stress? Holiday-induced stress: never heard of it, right?

And then there’s the challenge of holiday nutrition bombs. This is where many people claim to struggle the most. Between family gatherings, gifts of chocolate, and endless baked goodies, it can be hard to resist your sweet tooth.

But instead of trying to cut or limit particular foods, try turning your focus toward eating more of the good stuff. Not only will fruits, veggies, and whole grains fill you up with vitamins and nutrients before you go out to face all those naughty treats, but foods such as blueberries, Brazil nuts, onions, and black pepper actually contain antioxidants and healthy components that’ll help balance out the eggnog and gingerbread men!

Head to your local health food store for the lowdown on supplements to both mitigate the damage of your festive ways and get you the critical vitamins and minerals you need to function more efficiently.

Sneaky fitness

The key to squeezing in a mini-workout during the holiday season is to get creative! We don’t always have time to run to the gym, change out of sweaty clothes, or take a shower, but as I’ve always told my clients, there’s always time for fitness!

I call this “sneaky fitness.” In fact, the number-one tip for sneaky fitness I can offer is to actively engage your core throughout the day. Believe it or not, this alone will strengthen your abdominals and core muscles and can help alleviate back pain, plus give you better posture! Here are a few more sneaky ways.

  • If you’re waiting for a bus, do a wall-sit instead of sitting on the bench.
  • When you’re at the mall or heading for the office, do a calf stretch while going up the escalator.
  • While waiting for the turkey to finish, do some push-ups against the countertop.

Feeling self-conscious about practising fitness in public? You aren’t alone. Instead of lunging to the water cooler, you can choose to make less conspicuous, but equally effective choices, such as taking the stairs instead of the elevator, enjoying a walk while eating your lunch, or carrying grocery baskets instead of pushing a cart.

alive’s fitness advent calendar

Some turn to chocolates and treats to manage stress during the festive season, but the treats in our fitness advent calendar will help you manage that holiday stress—and keep you fit, happy, and healthy!

You can perform each day’s fitness activity on its own, add it to your regular workout (you high-willpowered son of a gun, you!), or, if you’re feeling ambitious, perform them cumulatively (“12 Days of Christmas” style).

These 25 exercises are all bodyweight-based, so you can do them anywhere at any time—no excuses!

1

One 30-second plank

2

Two 60-second wall-sits with a 30-second break in between

3

Three 10-metre bear crawls

4

Four 10-second high-knees intervals with 15-second rest in between

5

Five 10-metre hamstring scoops

6

Six 40-metre sprints

7

Seven walkout push-ups

8

Eight jump squats with knee tucks

9

Nine downward facing dog to scorpion stretches

10

Ten up-and-over push-ups (or knee push-ups)

11

Eleven burpees (you knew these were in here somewhere!)

12

Twelve side crunches per side

13

Thirteen bench dips

14

Fourteen reverse lunge step-ups

15

Fifteen Superman back extensions

16

Sixteen bird dogs

17

Seventeen wall angels

18

Eighteen lying windshield wipers

19

Nineteen crunch and punches

20

Twenty mountain climbers

21

Twenty-one seconds of foot fire

22

Twenty-two stationary side lunges

23

Twenty-three jumping jacks

24

Twenty-four lunges

25

Twenty-five bodyweight squats
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