Posts Tagged ‘holiday workouts’

Losing it

Wednesday, December 16th, 2009

The heat is on. Only 9 days until Christmas. Your calendar is filled with appointments – holiday parties, end of the year meetings, shopping dates. Surely, there’s no way to fit in a workout during all this madness. Why not just wait until the new year.

What are the results if you stop training all together? In as little as two weeks your fitness level starts to drop as a result of inactivity. Most data shows that aerobic conditioning can be lost at a rate of 50-100% depending on the fitness level of the athlete.

Sometimes, the biggest hurdle is getting back into shape psychologically – getting back into the mindset that working out is a part of your daily routine. You might find that your Christmas or  Holiday break turns  into a winter, spring and Easter break.

Check out this article from about.com for the facts on the detraining effect and ways to keep your workouts on your schedule during this busy time of year.




Day 15 of the 30 Day Challenge

Tuesday, December 15th, 2009

Day 15  of the 30 Day Holiday Challenge and I haven’t had a meltdown, although I did have pumpkin cake on Sunday night.

In spite of the pumpkin cake and my Friday night cheat meal  I’ve had 2 big achievements in the past 15 days:

  1. Lost 3 total inches
  2. Increased my max rep push-ups by 10

I also ate clean and skipped dessert at the two holiday parties I attended over the weekend (of course there was the pumpkin cake at dinner on Sunday).

The New Normal:

I’ve decided to give up the agave nectar I use to sweeten my oatmeal as the habit that I’ll change this week. I think this will be more challenging than giving up the Dove chocolate squares. The agave nectar gives the oatmeal just the hint of flavor it needs and it’s a nice contrast to the natural peanut butter.

Here are my meals and workouts from the weekend through today:

12/12/09:

Steel cut oats, 1 tsp agave nectar, 1 tsp peanut butter

Greek yogurt w/ blackberries and 1 tsp honey

2 scoops Nectar protein powder

eggs

Holiday party: 4 pieces of sushi, asparagus, salad w/ light dressing, salmon, cantaloupe and watermelon

Workout: (from CFDV courtesy of CrossFit West Chester):

150 Kettlebell swings (w/ 44 lb. kettlebell) for time. Run 400 meters for each rest period.

12/13:

1 tablespoon peanut butter

1 scoop Nectar protein powder

2 scrambled eggs w/ Soy Chorizo and low fat cheese, 1 slice light oatmeal toast w/ butter, 1 orange

Holiday party: 2 tbsp crab and artichoke dip, Ahi tuna w/ bok choy and 1/2 cup sticky rice

Dinner w/ friends: salad, snow peas, 3 oz. salmon, pumpkin cake

12/14:

Greek yogurt w/ blackberries and 1 tsp honey, 1 tbsp peanut butter

2 scoops Nectar protein powder

Salad, scrambled eggs w/ Soy Chorizo and low fat cheese

Seitan from the Nourishing Well, broccoli, zuccchini

1/4 cup trail mix

12/15 (so far):

Steel cut oats, 1 tsp agave nectar, 1 tsp peanut butter

2 scoops Nectar protein powder, 1 tbsp almond butter

Blackberries, hard boiled egg

Salad greens w/ tuna (made w/ light mayo and mustard)

Workout:

20 minute circuit




The 30 day challenge

Sunday, November 29th, 2009

This time of year I usually send out an email to my clients, entitled “Maintain, Don’t Gain”, about maintaining your weight and fitness level during the busy holiday season. But this year I’ve decided to take a different approach.

2009 has been both an exciting and tough year for me. As a result of the stress, I’m not as strong and lean as I’d like to be (unfortunately, all my knowledge about stress eating comes from some personal experience). I want to end this less than stellar year on a high note.

Too many of us use the holidays as an excuse to slack off from our eating and exercise habits, all because of added commitments or in the name of “celebrating” the season. Or we figure the year is almost over, unsalvageable, so why bother making changes.

But what if your commitment was not to gain, not to maintain, but to get better? What could you accomplish? Lose 5 or 6 pounds (instead of the 5 or 6 some people gain), trim 2 inches off your waist or achieve a fitness goal (finally getting a pull up, adding 10 push-ups to your max or running a faster 5K).

So for the next 30 days, I’m challenging myself, and you if you’re brave enough, to take part in my 30 Day Holiday Challenge. Every day I’ll be posting my food log, workouts and difficulties I face eating clean and working out during this hectic time of year.

I’m starting 2010 fitter and stronger than ever.  

Who’s with me?




Sound off – The calm before the storm

Friday, November 20th, 2009

Why do my local nursery and Super Fresh have Christmas Tress? Really? It’s not even Thanksgiving yet. Could we wait one more week for goodness sake?!

We’re in the calm before the storm now. Next week begins the 4 week frenzy the will culminate with Christmas and New Years.  And for many people that means four weeks of slacking off their workouts – missed classes and workout sessions, all in the name of “getting ready for the holidays”. Seriously, what level of preparation prevents you from putting in 60, 30 0r even 15 minutes a few days a week to improve or maintain your health and fitness?

I get it that we all have more commitments this time of year – parties, shopping, decorating, but your workout simply can’t be a casualty of the season.

If you know me, you know that I’m a big fan of short high intensity circuits. This type of workout isn’t a permanent means to a fitness end but it is an effective solution when you find yourself time crunched. To get the benefits of this type of circuit you must “go hard”; in other words keep the speed and intensity high during the entire circuit.

Devote 20 minutes 3-4 days a for the next 5 weeks. Consider it training for the next big holiday sale – strong and fit, you’ll be able to outpace the other shoppers at the mall.

Holiday workout “sprint”:

Do each of the following exercises for 1 minute. Rest 1 minute after Exercise #5 and then repeat the circuit (including rest) two more times.

  1. Burpees
  2. Walking lunges
  3. Bear crawls
  4. Bicycles
  5. Chair dips