December is the month that many a fitness program goes off the track, careens down the side of an embankment and into someone’s living room as the “driver” softly snores, asleep at the wheel. It’s the time that people go, “Oh, heck with it, I’m going to live a little!” Sadly, they don’t realize that blacking out 8% of the year to slam down eggnog and fruit cake while adamently protesting any form of exercise isn’t living at all. It’s dying. The holidays are also a time when people gain weight; typically only a couple of pounds, but studies show that those few pounds are never lost. This is how weight gain happens; slowly and insidiously. At one point you finally look down at your belly and wonder when the hell that showed up. Well, it showed up in the form of a couple pounds a year over the last ten years.
Plus, in reality, the kind of people who go AWOL over the holidays aren’t the kind of people hitting the ball out of the park over the rest of the year, either. If you’re the kind of person who bails out during December, you’re the kind of person who half-asses it the rest of the year, too. Committed people don’t do that.
Slackers; I’m calling you out. Don’t like it? Don’t be one.
All is not lost. Fitness doesn’t have to be complicated, it just needs to be consistent. And I’m not just talking about the exercise portion of fitness, I’m also talking about the restorative part, the informative part, nutrition, relaxation, stress reduction.
Need some help keeping it together during December? I’m here to help. I’ve got you covered for the first 7 days of the month!
Day One – Do a Spartan Race like the one we’re doing on December 1st and 2nd. Scared? Good, do it anyway. Missed it? Sign up today for the next one and devote yourself to preparing for it. Jumping into the deep water is a really good way to learn how to swim. Don’t know how to swim? Then race with us, we’ll take care of you, I promise. If a muddy, stinky obstacle course race isn’t your thing, then check out www.active.com to find out about all kinds of races (5k, 10k, trail, half marathons, etc.) and other events taking place in your area.
Day Two – Flop down on the ground and use a foam roller to recover from said Spartan Race. Foam rolling (self-myofascial release) is an amazing way to minimize muscle soreness and improve muscle functionality. It’s a must for anyone who does personal training, CrossFit, Spartan Training or other group exercise workouts, definitely anyone who runs; basically, anyone who trains hard! Trust me, it has saved my life over the last several months that I’ve been prepping for the Spartan Beast, etc..
Day Three – Do Joe Garcia’s Workout of the Week on our blog. These workouts are generally designed with little or no required equipment and are no joke! And they’re FREE! So, if hiring a personal trainer is out of your range right now, or on days you can’t make it to a group training class, try one of these out, they’re great.
Day Four – Today, don’t think about what you should exclude from your diet (soda, sugary products, highly processed foods, etc.), think about what you should include; nutrition by inclusion, not diet by exclusion. Make sure you add a whole bunch of fresh, organic fruits and vegetables to your meals; snack on apples and carrots, make a huge, rainbow-colored salad, make some homemade vegetable soup, just eat a lot of natural stuff that came out of the ground or off of the tree.
Day Five – Do yourself a favor and read “In Defense of Food.” Discover how the Western Diet has become corrupted by processed food and how disease has come with it. This is not a heady, analytical read, but rather is a plainly-spoken, highly entertaining book that will open your eyes to the simple truths about nutrition and how we can all make drastic improvements to our health by making fundamental changes in how we approach eating. If everyone followed the tenets in this book, they wouldn’t have to worry about weight loss or illness.
Day Six – For quicker reading in smaller bites, browse through www.mindbodygreen.com for great little articles on healthy lifestyle issues; stress management, yoga, meditation, nutrition, exercise, etc.. You’ll find a wealth of interesting and useful information in here.
Day Seven – Take a hike or a walk. Don’t label it “exercise,” don’t place any expectations on it, just turn your head off and go. Take some time to relax and enjoy the outdoors. If it’s raining, wear a slicker and galoshes. If it’s snowing, I don’t know what to tell you. I was five when we moved from Ohio and all I can remember about snow is that it’s great to play in but not live in.
Don’t let December get the best of you. Hit the New Year at a full gallop in 2013, or at least at a quick trot. These 7 things will carry you through the first week, tune in next week for more ideas to ward off the December Doldrums.
Jonathan Aluzas is the owner of Arena Fitness; a personal training, semi private training and group training facility with gyms in Northridge and Encino.
