Don't undo 11 months hard work: Simple holiday health tips

You get up extra early, you exercise late at night after work when you'd rather go home, you say "no" when people offer you food and drink you shouldn't have all year round. Then, when the holiday count down comes you up your efforts again; add additional cardio and increase the intensity of your workouts all for one holiday.

Then what?.. You go away, stuff your face, drink alcohol every day, do no exercise and undo 11 months of hard work. This doesn't have to be the case. You can still enjoy your holiday and stick to these simple tips to try and limit the damage you do.

Don't drink EVERY day
Start with what most people will consider the hardest one. Really, it's not. Drinking every day will not only significantly add to your calorie count, but even one or two drinks can heavily impact your food choices, sleep patterns and metabolic efficiency. Then, if you plan on training on holiday, the alcohol may completely compromise any strength gains you aim to make during the session; read Charles Poliquin's blog on that topic here: Blog One and another from him on the impact of alcohol here: Blog Two

Exercise in the morning or at lunch time
You want to enjoy your holiday and not let every day revolve around your exercise regime - that's a given. So why not get it out of the way first thing? Get up early, get moving and get it done? You don't need to spend all morning in the gym; if you're fast and effective then you can be in and out in 45 mins or less. If you want some ideas on how to spend your time in the gym efficiently there are some great ideas here, including some hotel workouts: Workout Ideas

Alternatively, if you're not a morning person and/or you're visiting a hot country what about scheduling a midday workout? Personally I like a midday workout, followed by lunch then back to the pool for 2pm. you'll enjoy your rest after and the hottest part of the day will have passed. It's a nice and easy routine to build.

Download an interval timer
When the surrounding are new, you're on holiday mode and the climate is a little warmer, it can be difficult to exercise with any intensity and stick to a worthwhile workout. A great way to make sure this isn't the case is to download an interval timer. What's also great about interval work is not only will you get through lots of work and maintain the intensity, but you know before you enter the gym exactly how long your session will be so you can be happy you won't be spending hours of your holiday exercising. A lot of the workouts listed on the previous links rely on an interval timer - if you're unsure which to choose I'd recommend the free GymBoss timer.

Use your bodyweight
Not every hotel has a gym facility and it can be tricky in some places to scout out a gym that offers short term membership or reasonable guest fees. There are THOUSANDS of YouTube videos offering you alternative bodyweight exercises and ideas for things you can do depending on your abilities. Again, why not combine this with the interval timer and knock out a quick, hard and effective 30-40 minute bodyweight session? You can do it on the beach too - work on your tan at the same time.
Here's 21 bodyweight exercise ideas from me: Here
and here's a recent video from AthleanX with some advanced exercise ideas utilising the sandy beach - great video: Here

Stick with high protein content every day
Be sensible with food choices. You know the usual rules - they still apply. High protein, low sugar, low carb, no preservatives. Just because it's your holiday, it doesn't mean you need to let everything go out the window. There are usually decent or at least half decent options available if you look hard enough. Eggs at breakfast, avoid chips where possible, skip dessert - if you stuck to those 3 simple rules alone you'd be way ahead of most people.

Take supplements with you
If you take supplements all year round, continue with this while you're away. You can spend a few minutes counting out the daily amounts and putting them into small bags before you leave. Another great addition is taking sachets of protein away with you. These are easy to pack and can be used to help reach your daily protein targets, used post workout and also if you're ever away from food for a long time or, as a last resort when you're unable to get good quality food for a meal. For instance in Hong Kong when I wasn't exactly sure what was on offer in some places and I didn't fancy rice for breakfast, I had a high protein, meal replacement shake each morning for breakfast (a blend of casein, whey and egg protein). Not ideal but much better than what was available and outs you into an anabolic state for the next few hours.

Start your day off right
Try to eat a high protein, low sugar and low carb breakfast. Steak and eggs, omelettes etc I realise waffles, muffins and other bits are very appealing but, if you can start off the right way your energy levels will be more sustained, your food choices throughout the day will be impacted positively and you will minimise any insulin spikes and stop your body from encouraging fat retention.

Summary
Sure, it's a holiday and you want to have a good time. You can't be expected to have a dull holiday as you're purely focused on your food and visiting the gym. However... it's not an excuse to turn off completely - there's plenty of small and effective adjustments that you can easily make to your schedule.

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"Have yourself a very merry (healthy) Christmas..."

It's that time of year again, your house is lined with chocolates, your fridge stuffed with food and the cupboard over-flowing with alcohol.

What can you do about it? Go completely without and constantly say "No thank you." ?... Unlikely.

While the heading of this blog might be a little misleading ("healthy"?..) here's a few ideas that you can try to focus on to make sure that all of your hard work in 2012 wasn't a complete waste of time. Remember, "Even when you're being bad, be good."

EXERCISE:
Lets get it right - you should NOT stop exercising over Christmas! In fact, you probably have more free time and rest time than during your normal week. Get outside, get moving and be active. Even if it's a long walk over varying terrains one day, be creative. Many gyms will close for Christmas so you'll need to use your imagination. Get outside, wrap up and at least do some interval running and bodyweight exercises: If you're working with just your bodyweight here's 21 exercise ideas: 21 BODYWEIGHT EXERCISES 

Or if you live anywhere near a kids park, here's a decent workout you can try:
PARK WORKOUT

DON'T leave it until late in the day. Something will come up, a film will come on, a family member will come round, a game will come out, you'll drink alcohol, you'll get too comfy at home or you'll fall asleep. Get it done early and spend the rest of your day enjoying yourself with family.

BREAKFAST:
So there's a packet of celebrations already open in the morning - this is no excuse. Don't fall at the first hurdle and head for chocolates - start your day right. Make sure every breakfast has 20g + protein content as a starting point. If you want to join in with a nice cooked breakfast that is being shared in some format, load up on the meat and eggs portions and avoid toasts, cereals and fruit juices. No one will even notice but you can be safe in the knowledge that you're not spiking your blood sugar levels and encouraging fat retention from the get-go.

SNACKS:
Stock up for the winter - before it gets too near to Christmas I'd recommend stocking up on protein powder and small snack protein bars. PhD diet whey bars are tasty, deceptively filling and will give you a little taste of green tea and CLA to help keep fat cells mobilised and minimise fat storage (not to say it's a free for all and you should eat as you please). Also a "blend" shake can be a great way to get a sweet fix, add nutrients to your day and keep you full while maintaining energy levels. Eating chocolate will add sugar, give you peaks and drops in energy levels, encourage fat retention and also take a long time to fill you up meaning you continue to reach for more. A blend shake will give you a chocolate fix but digest over a longer period to avoid these issue.

CHRISTMAS DINNER:
No issues with loading up on Turkey and other meats. Use self control for portion control when it comes to: Potatoes, stuffing and other High GI carbs. Drink water before and during your meal - not alcohol.

THE ALCOHOL THING:
Firstly, do NOT mis-read this and think the following suggestions are "good for you" - we're talking damage limitation. If you're intent on having a drink then these are the less "bad" options. NOT "good for you" options. Bloody Mary, Vodka & Soda and Guinness made this list - 9 drinks options here: http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2012/07/the-nine-healthiest-alcoholic-drinks/

FURTHER DAMAGE LIMITATION:
There are a few supplements available that are designed to keep your immune system strong, limit damage caused to the liver by alcohol, minimise fat consumption from food and keep bodily functions working full throttle in order to maintain energy levels and digest food efficiently. Multivitamins, milk thistle, CLA, electrolytes and plenty of water usually come top of the list.

SELF CONTROL AND PLANNING:
The main two things that you'll need in order to not let Christmas ruin your hard work is self control and planning. You might not be able to eat what you want "because you fancy it". Instead being aware of what you're eating and what you're likely to eat that day should impact each meal. ie: If you have a big Christmas dinner coming up and friends coming over for a drink, be aware of this when selecting snacks and lunch choices.

Likewise, planning in your training, planning meals and structuring your day rather than just seeing what happens is the only way that you'll be able to stay on track in some form. Look ahead and plan the Christmas period. When do you have social engagements? When are you likely to be out all day or with visitors? When might you feel a little tired or worse for wear? These will all impact your training structure for the week. If you're pushed for time, don't be afraid to go for a quick 20-25 min interval run or some form of bodyweight circuit at home.

SLEEP:
As I have said in many blogs, the importance of sleep is heavily under-rated. Christmas can be a great time to get an early night, or lay in, or nap during the day. Try out short naps at various times and see what impact they have on your mood, appetite and energy levels. You may uncover something that you want to try and use regularly during the year - even if it's only practical to do so at the weekends.

SNACKS:
If your home is anything like mine then there will be more chocolates around your home than every before. You might find yourself enjoying a mini chocolate at breakfast time but try to create some simple, tasty and more nutritious snacks that you can eat while everyone else is reaching for the chocolates and snacks.

EASY RECIPE:
- 2 x cups of oats
- 3 x scoops of chocolate whey
- 1 tbl spoon organic crunchy peanut butter
- 1 cup water
- handful of raisins
- large sprinkle of flaxseed (optional)

Stir well in a bowl, move into baking tray and place in freezer for 2 hours + for a cheeky chocolate oat and protein pieces - great snack for a little protein and keeping you full between meals but still getting your chocolate fix.

Christmas time is a time when families and friends are much more readily available so it can be easy to completely neglect your lifestyle of clean eating and exercise. Planning and structuring your days ahead of time is the only solution.

BUT... make sure you enjoy it - Christmas comes but once a year.

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Wait!.. Use body weight! Keep it minimal

A common complaint or a few variations of the same problem...

"I don't have time to make it to the gym"
"I work out of town" or "I travel a lot with work"
"I need childcare or I can't make the gym"

etc etc...

Well.. there's one simple solution for all of these folks - use your body weight! You don't always need endless amounts of fancy gym equipment!!!!
There are literally hundreds if not thousands of moves that you can do to burn calories, build lean muscle and work up a darn good sweat without the need for any fancy equipment. Add a few tiny pieces such as a swiss ball or barbell and the possibilities become endless!!!!..

Here are a few of the moves that I consider to be the top body weight moves!..

LOWER BODY...
Lunges - these can be done with a number of variations, forwards, backwards, sideways, elevated leg, with additional weights or resistance bands, on an unstable surface such as a Bosu or wobble board

Squats - Try playing around with the stance width and depth of squat. If it's 100% body weight then try one-leg squats - these will make any person work, no matter the size of their wheels

Jump squats - probably not one for anyone who lives above their neighbours, but simply perform squats finishing with a jump, making sure to cushion the landing by bending your knees, which movement automatically leads into the next squat. Basically continuously umping and squatting - good drill!

UPPER BODY...
Press ups - again variety is key. Try varying hand width, elevated feet to emphasise the upper chest and shoulders, one leg lifted to increase core engagement, doing them on your knuckles or perhaps with your hands on uneven surfaces such as one arm on the floor on on a small box

Renegade rows / renegade flys - these are usually performed with weights but with either a small weight or empty hand can still offer an effective workout as it engages a lot of core stability and stabilising muscle groups

Dips - You can perform these with your hands on the side of the bath, or a bed. Make them more difficult by varying the tempo, lifting alternate legs for each dip, placng your feet on something elevated or adding a weight to your lap

CORE / ABS...
Crunches - keep it basic. Crunches are one of the best ways to focus on the upper abs. Hold an object or weight to make it more difficult and hold it at the point where shoulders are highest off the ground for 3 seconds

Leg raises - great way to work your lower abs and add a little top up to the legs. Vary height of movement and speed

"Frogs" - a great way to hit your obliques - a personal favourite move of mine!

CONDITIONING...
Mountain climbers - vary from knees coming inside your elbows, to the outside. Also try it on one leg at a time in a hop-style

"Up-downs" (you may refer to them as something else) - basically climbing from a plank position to a press up and back down, over, and over, and over, and over, and over again...

Burpees - We all hate them and they've been around donkey's years; but for a reason - they're good! VERY good!

These are JUST 9 of the man moves you could try. But imagine on those days where you can't justify a gym visit for half an hour. Or only have time for 30 minutes and not the commute and gym chat when you're there, a quick circuit like that below could be gone over 3 - 5 times. Why not time it and get competitive with yourself!?.. HELLO SWEAT!!!

EXAMPLE CIRCUIT:

- Alternate lunges x 30
- 12 x 1 leg squats
- Press ups - 45 seconds non-stop
- Renegade row x 12 each side
- Renegade flys x 12 each side
- 45 seconds dips, one leg off the floor
- Elevated leg lunges x 10 each leg
- Jump squats x 15
- Press ups - 30 seconds non-stop
- 45 seconds crunches
- 12 x leg raises
- 24 x frogs
- 1 minute rock climbers
- 1 minute "up-downs"
- 15 x burpees

Try it.. I dare ya!!

Here's a few more bodyweight exercise ideas...

 
OR...
If you have access to a play park, why not try something like this?..

SUMMARY...
I'm ALWAYS telling people that their body weight is a great yard stick for functional strength. For example, how many "big guys" would struggle to perform a good set of wide-grip chin ups followed by a set of full-range dips?... Quite a few I'd imagine.

In my opinion, your best piece of equipment is your body! If you can't manoeuvre your own body weight then you really have nothing to be showing off about!

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