The festive season is not the time to become a couch potato, but rather time to stick to commitments and do things that make you feel and look good.
While enjoying the festivities and indulgences that come with festive season celebrations, it’s also a good idea to join the gym in December to get better results in January.
Beat the crowd
Every year, people make promises, commitments, and new year’s resolutions to improve the quality of their lives. The common goal in January is to get into shape, work out, eat healthy and manage stress effectively.
These goals are set without the right resources to make those changes. If one is well aware that on the 1st of January you want to be in shape, get started in December.
Hitting the gym during the festive season will give you a head start against the crowds, and you will be familiar with the gym environment as well as the staff, and build some good connections with those on their journey to improved health and wellbeing.
Whether it’s the park run, swimming laps, taking a group fitness class, walking the track or following a personalised gym programme, get ahead on a new routine.
Starting a new exercise routine can be intimidating at first. However, there is no better time to start than now.
If you wait for a better time, it will never get done. Set specific, measurable, attainable and timely (SMART) goals and get into that routine during your holiday break.
This new routine will have you loving yourself in January instead of hating yourself for gaining weight over the festive period.
Holidays stress management
The festive season is the most beautiful time of the year filled with family, traditions, travel. However, with all this comes a lot of stress. Whether it’s gift-giving, grocery shopping or figuring out which family will sleep where for the holidays. There’s always a lot of stress to manage during this time.
Exercise improves your overall health and wellbeing, and helps decrease the negative side effects of stress.
Exercise releases those feel-good hormones called endorphins. Moving 30 minutes a day, five times a week, is the general recommendation to reap the benefits of gym.
Take advantage of a sauna spa, a spa, and massage therapist to reduce the festive season stress levels.
The Fika gym instructor, Edmore Flava said: “People should gym during the festive season because staying healthy is a necessity and should be done throughout the year.
“Staying active during the festive season will give you a head start to the new year. Switch up your festive routines with some music or going on hikes. Gym is not boring, but who wants to slack and catch up with gym in the new year? ….I would suggest keeping fit. It’s easy to put on weight but challenging to lose weight. So I suggest festive season gym.”
Wellness coach and motivational speaker Palesa Mosiesa said: “Our health needs to be a priority, because in order to achieve anything you want to achieve, you actually have to be alive.
“December is the month where this is more important then ever. What you do in the kitchen matters as much, if not more, than what you do in the gym. So, use food as your medicine or you will end up using medicine as your food.”
Follow @SundayWorldZA on Twitter and @sundayworldza on Instagram, or like our Facebook Page, Sunday World, by clicking here for the latest breaking news in South Africa. To Subscribe to Sunday World, click here.
