How to enjoy Christmas and get back into training afterwards.

Christmas cats and dogsIt’s nearly Christmas.  It’s a predictable time of the year.  We know when it is and we know the way things pan out during and after it.  Usually something like the following:

  • Training/exercise winds down in run up to Christmas.
  • Eating/drinking winds up in run up to Christmas.
  • Training/exercise stops entirely at Christmas.
  • Eating/drinking rockets at Christmas.
  • Feelings of guilt and promises of getting back into training wind up after Christmas.
  • Actual training/exercise doesn’t get back to normal levels until Easter.

It is a real bugger to get back into training/exercise when you are full of chocolate and sherry.  It is sooo easy to say:

“Sod it, I’ll get back into it tomorrow.”

I’m pretty sure this will be how I feel in a couple of weeks time.  So I’ve found planning ahead helps me a hell of a lot.  I have a lot more willpower right now than I will on Boxing Day.  So if I write* down what I aim to do when it comes to training over the next few weeks, I have found I stick to it a hell of a lot better.

So feel free it try it yourself.  Plan what your training/exercise will be like over the next few weeks.  Be honest and realistic.  And then try redoing the plan each month.  It will help keep you on track, keep you progressing, keep you consistent and by adapting/adjusting each month, will help to keep things interesting.

Click here to see the simple template I use.  Feel free to adapt it and pass it on to anyone you think might find it useful.

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*It is very important to write it down.  Thinking, hoping and wishing are simply not good enough.  Trust me!