10 Top Holiday Workout Tips

Stay Healthy With These Holiday Fitness Tips

The holidays are upon us! Apart from not eating everything in sight, Joan Pagano stops by to give us some pretty simple, yet effective holiday fitness tips to follow. Give them a try and conquer the holiday season this year!

Holiday fitness tips to live by

The holiday season can wreak havoc with your best intentions to stay in shape.

It’s easy to get de-railed with parties, travel, and general disruption to your normal routines. Be proactive: Plan your strategy now to maintain your fitness when life gets hectic. Use these 10 TIPS to keep on track for the New Year.

10 Top Holiday Fitness Tips

1.  Make movement a daily habit. The secret of your success is found in your everyday routines. Consistency is the key to building and maintaining momentum.

2.  Think “activity” instead of “workout.” Find opportunities to be active during the course of your day. Walk to work, take the steps, lift and carry your groceries, do housekeeping chores energetically. It all counts!

3.  Accumulate 30 minutes of moderate physical activity most (at least 5) days of the week. Studies show that that exercise accumulated in short bouts of 10 or 15-minutes offers weight loss and aerobic fitness benefits comparable to those achieved in longer workouts. Take 2 or 3 shorter walks every day.

4.  Simple exercises provide a mini full-body workout, no equipment is needed. Do 10-15 repetitions of bodyweight exercises like push-ups, squats, and crunches every other day for your muscle work. Too easy? Add another set of each.

5.  Combat the negative effects of prolonged sitting.  For every hour you’re sitting, get up and move around for five minutes.

6.  Count your steps with your smartphone, pedometer, or other tracking devices.  See how many steps you average and then build on them. Try to add 1000 steps per day every week until you hit 10,000 in a day!

Your Phone is a Great Tool!

7.  Use the small moments of your day to do a few minutes of exercise while you’re standing at the kitchen sink, sitting at your desk, relaxing on the couch

8.  Stand on one leg while brushing your teeth to improve balance.

9.  Do range of motion exercises in the shower. The warm, moist air is perfect for limbering up stiff hands and fingers.

10.  Stretch your muscles at the end of the day to discharge tension and get a better night’s sleep.  Stretch every day for best results but at minimum 2 or 3 times a week.  See the End-of-Day Couch Stretches in this video.

Wrap-Up

You don’t have to bust out 25 workouts during the holidays or eat only celery!

Just start to implement a few of these holiday fitness tips to help you maintain your physique and have a wonderful holiday season!

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