3 December 2013
Christmas is a time when a lot of people give up on their training, often busy with social events and resigned to eat piles and piles of food. But knowing you’re taking in more calories can be a good motivator to burn off more, especially if you’ve got all those social events coming up to show off a sexy new physique.
Gary (BS7 Gym Manager) has put some tips together for keeping healthy over the festive period. In part one we discuss the HIIT training method & how party food can be healthy.
HIIT (high intensity interval training)
Short bursts of very intense exercise alternating with short recovery periods. It’s been shown to increase stamina more than traditional cardiovascular training and is much more effective for fat loss, with one study showing as much as 6 times more fat loss from a 20 minute HIIT program compared to a 40 minute cardio workout.
The aim with HIIT is to work as hard as you possibly, physically can, as if you were being chased by ravenous wolves, then rest, then repeat. Intensity is key, bringing your body out of its comfort zone is what forces it to change so much. Here is an example workout to try:
Pick a full body exercise e.g punch bag, sprinting, burpees (press up position to jump – repeat), exercise bike, battling ropes.
Perform the exercise as fast and hard as you can for 10 seconds
Rest for 30 seconds (beginner), 20 seconds (fitness) 10 seconds (athlete)
Repeat 12 times (beginner) 15 times (fitness) 20 times (athlete)
Healthy party food
Just because it’s Christmas doesn’t mean you need to live on chocolate and egg nog, there are plenty of healthy traditional Christmas foods, for example dates, clementine’s, nuts (full of great nutrient and healthy fats, although this does make them high calorie so don’t go mad unless your goal is bulking), roasted chestnuts, turkey, cranberries. You can give a Christmassy feel to many foods by adding a touch of cinnamon which also has the awesome quality of improving blood sugar control, and for a warming winter beverage that also healthy try chai, delicious with or without milk. If you plan on an advent calendar for your kids, there are other options to sweets inside, for example Lego do advent calendars.
If you’re throwing a Christmas party don’t forget that buffet style finger food doesn’t have to be unhealthy. Make your own popping corn, put out some olives, smoked salmon, some hummus dips with carrot and celery, apple and cheese, or go festive by garnishing some cherry tomatoes with holly leaves. Unleash your creative side by cutting the pointy tip off a strawberry and put it on a section of banana on the other part of the strawberry. Draw a face on the banana chunk and put a dab of yoghurt on the tip of the strawberry and you have a little fruity elf.
Clementines, dates, nuts, cinnamon, chai, roasted chestnuts, cranberries, strawberry elves sweet potatoe, lego calander, make your own,
(hummus and carrot/celery dips, cherry tomatoes with holly, olives, popping corn, smoked salmon, apple and cheese