- The Twelve Days of Christmas
- New Years
- New Year's Eve
- Demanding children
- Visits to or from relatives and in laws who don't give a hoot if you miss a hard workout because of them
- Travelling to visit same relatives who will plan your schedule that does not allow for gym time or outdoor pursuits
- Ample food feasts
- Traditional quaffing of Dad Hetke's homemade hooch - disguised as egg nogg
- Mom's Christmas pudding with the extra ration of thickened rum sauce
- Reduced business hours at the Fitness Center
- NFL and NCAA Football
- World Junior Hockey on TV
Of course, not all families are inactive during this time of year. Many families take time for skiing, skating parties, and other active holiday functions.
If you belong to a clan that will insist on a sedentary season there may be some ways around it:
- Use shopping trips as a chance for some walking exercise.
- Park at the far end of the mall
- Avoid escalators and use the stairs
- Cruise the mall before buying the presents
- Do an extra loop of the mall
- Offer to take the clan children out for some snow time. (Good luck. Getting today's youth away from their electronic devices may prove impossible.)
- Turn down that second helping of dessert. Test your resolve.
- Maybe you can even convert the clan and organize a morning walk or a post meal skate. !
- If relatives are nearby, walk instead of drive if the distance is reasonable
Get rid of the guilt! It's only for a week or so. Most sensible fitness training programs have built in periods of down time to let the body recover from exercise stress. All those little micro fibers of the muscles need healing time. Use the Christmas Holidays for such recovery. Ideally active rest with some movement is best. The detraining effect will be minimal.
You just might have to be patient and determined when you start back up. But it will be possible!
It will be New Year's Resolution time.
Season's Greetings
Little Bobby Strong
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| Skip the escalator at the mall. Take the stairs and burn some calories. |
