Fitness experts run into the same problems we all run into on vacation. You know the problem during holidays and other busy times when your routine is nearly impossible to follow. That’s why we reached out to these seven fitness experts to share their favorite fitness tips for tackling the biggest vacation problem when it comes to our fitness goals: time and temptation. Time as in all things that demand your time and attention and take you away from what you want to do, like a workout. Tempting, especially during the holidays, with all the great food and drink at your fingertips.
Denying the problem doesn’t make it go away, but finding solutions to your problem is where it’s at. Coaches are great at giving you direction and accountability and are underrated problem solvers. Here, the top seven coaches share their client strategies to help you stay on track during the holiday madness.
Mike T. Nelson, doctorate
Holiday fitness tips: find time to work out, before you eat
Coaching: Finding the time to stay on track with your regular vacation fitness routine is a challenge. My best advice is to not worry about perfection or the mythical optimal and to work on finding a way to do something workout related to your regular schedule. For example, if you usually do an hour of upper body work at the gym on Monday, but find that you only have 20 minutes, instead of skipping it completely, do a few push-ups, inverted table rows, and bodyweight squats.
Nutrition: The holidays present many nutritional challenges. You can expect me to say things like “buckle up and stick to your macros no matter what”, or other related nonsense. The truth is, eating is part of the holiday, no matter how you cut the cake. My advice is to stock up on protein before any big meal. Pre-eat 20-40 grams of protein before the main course, then relax and eat until you’re full.
Mike T. Nelson, Ph.D. is a metabolic fitness professional, strength coach, and educator specializing in tailoring nutrition to each individual’s needs.
Andrew Heming, MS, CSCS, NSCA-CPT
Holiday fitness tips: Snacking exercises, eat protein first
Coaching: Exercise snacking is a newer idea in research. The idea is to slip the exercise in throughout the day instead of taking the time for a full workout. For example, one can walk 10 minutes after breakfast, do a set of single-leg squats mid-morning, walk another 10 minutes after lunch, do a set of push-ups mid-afternoon and do a series of TRX rows in the evening.
Nutrition: Eating protein first makes it very difficult to get fat from protein. It also helps build and maintain lean muscle mass. Loading up on protein first makes it easier to enjoy Christmas treats in moderation.
Andrew Heming, MS, CSCS, NSCA-CPT, Former University Head Coach, Professor and Coach
Chris Cooper, strength and nutrition coach at fitness nerd
Holiday Fitness Tips: Do What You Can, Don’t Go Back For Seconds
Coaching: Adjust your expectations. A workout doesn’t have to be an hour and a half, especially when the weather and stress are high during the holiday season. Do what you can within your available resources and move on.
Nutrition: Never two in a row. If you have a meal that doesn’t fit the plan or is less than optimal for our purposes, the plan is not to back it up with another less than optimal meal. Get back on track the next meal or the next day, so we avoid creating a sequence.
Chris Cooper, Strength and Nutrition Coach at Nerd Fitness
Detric Smith, trainer and owner of Results Performance Training
Fitness tips for the holidays: HIIT, don’t binge at the party
Coaching: HIIT! If the holiday slam leaves you feeling time-stressed, try short, high-intensity workouts. Even 20 minutes is enough to burn fat and maintain conditioning. The key here is maintenance. Prioritize compound moves and combos that hit multiple areas at once. Supersets and circuits help you gain rest time and intensify your training.
Nutrition: Do not fast before a feast. You are more likely to be hungry and overeat! Before the party, have a small snack containing protein, good fats and fiber to help curb your appetite.
Allan Bacon, Ph.D., is an online personal trainer specializing in training weightlifters and body composition clients
Holiday fitness tips: focus on heats, prioritize important events
Aptitude: I recommend making the most of your time in the gym with advanced training techniques. The following two methods are not superior to straight sets for muscle growth, but are often shown to be on par with them in research, and they can help maintain strength through your busy period until you can resume your regular schedule.
- Drop sets: Drop sets consist of completing an initial set in the conventional way, then immediately lowering the load (weight lifted) 25-50% and performing a second set until momentary muscle failure, then releasing the load a third time 25-50% of the second set and completing a final set until momentary muscle failure. This way you have a conventional set with two “drops” counting as one global drop set. After each dropset, rest as long as you usually would between conventional sets.
- Cluster sets: Cluster sets involve heavy lifting in a triplet style, with very little rest between the triplets (usually 15-20 seconds). Each triple ultimately counts as a single set in your lineup. There are a variety of patterns used in cluster sets, so I’ll give you an example that I use often: 4 sets of 2-2-1. Choose a weight that challenges you for two repetitions. Start the triplet with two reps, rest 15 seconds, complete two more reps with the same weight, rest 15 seconds, then perform one final rep to complete the first set of the four groups you programmed. After each set of clusters, rest as long as you usually would between conventional sets.
Nutrition: Establishment of a list of priorities at the beginning of each month. It’s a good practice every month, but it’s especially useful during the months when you’re very busy with your obligations. At the beginning of each month, list important upcoming events and rank them from least important to most important. Once you have an order of importance, you can decide how much, if any, you plan to moderate on those occasions. If you know you have an important holiday for you, that office party the week before may not seem as important to you…which can give you the confidence to further moderate the days you haven’t deemed a priority.
Dr. Bo Babenko, physiotherapist and physical trainer
Holiday Fitness Tips: Focus on small bodyweight movements, Protein Protein Protein!
Coaching: Get your movement snacks – 10 pushups and an hour or 20 squats between Zoom calls, for example. All moves are good, and rather than worrying about getting a full workout when you’re time-stressed, pick one move and do a certain number of reps per hour.
Nutrition: PROTEIN!! Focus on protein to feel fuller and avoid less than ideal things. Most of my clients achieve 0.7 grams per pound of ideal body weight. And that becomes especially important when you’re being pulled all over the place during the holiday season.
Raphael Konforti MS, Senior Director of Fitness at You’re in shape
Holiday Fitness Tips: 15 Minute Workout and 5/2 Calorie Spread
Coaching: Keep a 15 minute bodyweight workout handy. The biggest challenge is staying consistent. Having a workout you can do anytime, anywhere keeps you consistent. Even as simple as going back and forth between pushups, lunges and planks. Exercising regularly will lead you to make better fitness decisions the rest of the day when it comes to nutrition and sleep.
Nutrition: Follow a 5/2 calorie breakdown. You can try to resist temptation, or you can balance temptation. The 5/2 diet consists of 5 moderate to high calorie days and 2 low calorie days, which are generally low in carbs and moderate fat. This allows you to indulge yourself and control overall calories. You can leave the holidays without gaining weight if you can find two days a week without a party or dinner. It’s best to lift on high-calorie days and recover or do cardio on low-calorie days.
WRAP
The common theme is that, by all means, try to maintain your routine as best you can on the fitness and nutrition side. And when that doesn’t work, and something has to give, use these methods and techniques to stay on the straight and narrow as best you can. The focus during holidays and other busy times is maintenance.
Happy holidays and see you soon on the other side.
