Six ways to stay active at Christmas and not neglect your fitness regime

Between a busy work schedule, squeezing in present shopping and all those social commitments, it’s no surprise that our fitness regime gets neglected over Christmas.
Staying active ahead and after the Christmas period is important to retain your levels of health and fitness, and one thing you can do is go shopping.Staying active ahead and after the Christmas period is important to retain your levels of health and fitness, and one thing you can do is go shopping.
Staying active ahead and after the Christmas period is important to retain your levels of health and fitness, and one thing you can do is go shopping.

As a result, a lot of us put on weight in December.

But there are clever ways to avoid the Christmas bloat. Here are five time-saving ways to squeeze in some festive fitness without missing out on the fun.

ACTIVE LUNCH

It’s easy to get swept up in the endless Christmas lunches with colleagues and friends. Instead, balance out the boozy feasts with lunch on the go.

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A 30 to 60-minute stroll around the local park can be as good for team-bonding as a high calorie festive feast, plus an hour’s worth of brisk walking can burn up to 300 calories and help you reach the recommended 10,000 steps a day.

GET FIT WITH HIIT

HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) is an ideal way to fit exercise into your day.

The short bursts of exercise are designed to give you a maximum calorie burn in a short space of time.

Studies have shown that just seven to 10 minutes of HIIT can burn more calories than a longer workout and it’s easily squeezed into your morning or evening routine.

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Check out my YouTube channel for lots of 10-minute HIIT workouts – www.youtube.com/grahamlowpt

PUT EXERCISE IN YOUR DIARY

When you’re busy it’s really easy to talk yourself out of your workout.

A good way to stay motivated is to schedule your run or gym session in your diary as you would a social event.

If it’s in your diary, you’re less likely to bail on your plans.

You could even make your social events fitness-related.

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Your friends are probably feeling the lack of exercise too, so swap dinner for a jog (half an hour burns around 230 calories) or try a new class together.

HIT THE SHOPS

Go out to the high street and do your shopping (even better, support your local businesses) instead of doing your shopping online.

Rather than ticking off your Christmas list from your sofa, walking around town and carrying bags of presents will see you burning about 150 calories an hour.

Just be careful you don’t replace those calories with sugary coffees or cocktails.

PLAY THE POSTMAN

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Delivering your Christmas cards by hand or bike will save you on the cost of stamps and it’s also an easy way to increase your steps, get your heart pumping and up your intake of vitamin D.

TRY AN EAST COAST FITNESS CHALLENGE

At East Coast Fitness we are doing a Fitness Advent Challenge – the healthier alternative to your normal advent calendar.

Behind each door is a short fitness challenge to complete each day in the build-up to Christmas Day.

By completing the challenges you’ll develop a stronger mindset with exercise and diet.

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You’ll boost your metabolism, lift your mood, have more energy and you won't have to make up for any lost ground in your fitness routine.

The challenge requires absolutely no equipment and you can do it pretty much anywhere.

Plus, each workout will take less than 10 minutes.

The workouts are posted in out free Facebook group every day.

You can complete them anywhere, at any time that suits you.

It’s not to late to join, if you want to take part in the challenge go to

www.facebook.com/groups/seahamshapeup

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