Avoid the Fitness Mistakes that cause Aches and Breaks!
Finally, we can breathe a sigh of relief; the Christmas hysteria is over! While December is a month of indulgent eating, drinking and being merry, January is often the month where we say enough is enough! Fantastic as it may be to get back on the Health Bandwagon, however, we’re talking this month about common health and fitness mistakes people make in the New Year.
One of the biggest mistakes you can make when getting back into fitness after the Christmas period or starting a new fitness regime for the first timeis doing too much too quickly. All kinds of injuries can occur when your fitness regime is too advanced for your level of fitness (and just because you were in good shape before Christmas, doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be in good shape post-Christmas). Instead of rushing back to the gym and diving head-on into training to compensate for your time off over Christmas, ease yourself in by running a little slower or for a shorter distance, reduce the weights you’d usually lift and take some extra time to properly warm-up and stretch.
By making these adjustments, you’ll soon build your fitness back up to what it was before yourhealthy routine started to dwindle over Christmas… It is far better to slowly ease yourself back into training than to throw yourself into fitness and end up with pulled muscles, torn ligaments or other injuries!
Yes, we all ate too much on Boxing Day and yes, we didn’t go out for as many crisp winterwalks as we promised ourselves we would, and yes, we’re all feeling like we need to get rid of the guilt by getting a gym membership, squeezing in a swim session before work every morning, going for an after-workrun and following along to an at-home, celebrity-endorsed fitness video every night… but don’t worry, none of that is necessary.
Ditching unhealthy habits can only be a good thing, but the chances of keeping up a chaotic fitness regime for more than a couple of weeks, when you’ve spent most of the Christmas period as a couch potato, are small. Again, the key theme here is easing yourself in!
In regards to your diet, start with manageable changes. Instead of cutting out all sweets, desserts carbs and snacks, begin by replacing a few unhealthy snacks with a piece of fruit or substituting your usual portion of chips with your evening meal for an extra portion of vegetables. When it comes to exercise, the same rules apply – add a simple evening walk or jog to your daily routine for example, and go from there. You don’t want to put too much pressure on yourself to keep up an unrealistic fitness goal, only to give up a couple of weeks later.
When you’re thinking of beginning a new fitness regime and healthydiet in the New Year, the go-to first step is to join the closest gym. Although your local gym is probably great, with lots of people working out there every day, it may not be the best option for you. The great thing about January is that so many people are trying to get into fitness after Christmas, that gyms, sports clubs, exercise classes and dieting clubs are often offering free trials and discounted memberships. If you are wanting to try out something you’ve never done before or aren’t sure if you’ll get much value from a membership, you can try out a few different options for free or at a much lower cost. That way, once you know that the Monday evening yoga class fits your schedule or that you’ll have enough time to attend the expensive gym you’ve had your eye on, for example, you’ll be able to commit to the regular price without wasting your money.
Remember: Information on this blog is for informational purposes only and is not intended to serve as a substitute for the consultation, diagnosis, and/or medical treatment.
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