Christmas Fitness Tips: Tis’ The Season To Stay On Track! - Paul Gough Physio Rooms

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Christmas Fitness Tips: Tis’ The Season To Stay On Track!

Christmas is coming around fast, and it’s that time of year…

…When a Sunday morning run, or game of football is exchanged for a big night out at the work Christmas party…

…that usually involves A LOT of dancing, and LOTS of alcohol!

All year long you’ve been working hard to exercise regularly, walking and running further distances, making healthier food choices and building great habits. But with this time of year, comes many different things that can put a stop in our tracks…

Office parties and family gatherings where you will drink far too much and end up feeling sore the next day.

Days of sitting around on the sofa because it’s “too cold” to exercise and you don’t want to brave the outdoors.

Christmas Fitness Tips- Tis’ The Season To Stay On Track!

But while the rest of the world willingly drinks vast amounts, eats and gets themselves into a momentum of lazing around are you going to keep on track now so you can carry your healthy habits well on into the new year?…

If so, here’s a few festive thoughts on how to limit the impact a late night christmas party that can affect how well you will run the next day, and impact your chances of picking up an injury.

What most people don’t realise is that even if your Christmas party is on a Thursday, and you end up drinking a ‘little too much’, alcohol seriously dehydrates your body for days! So that means by the time Sunday comes around, your body is likely to still be crying out for fluids.

And if your body is dehydrated, this can make your muscles more prone to being pulled as they’re more tight than usual, AND they’ll take even longer to repair if you pull one!

So to avoid the likelihood of this happening and getting in the way of you keeping active this winter, slow down on the drinking and even have a few glasses of water between each one. Failing that, (because I know once the drink kicks in water is the last thing you’re going to think of…) have a large bottle of water ready waiting for you by your bed when you get home, so you can get plenty of water in your system for the next day.

Here’s another thing – as well as drinking a bit too much when you’re out partying until late, you’re likely to skip a warm-up the next day too.

Think about it, if you’re feeling sore the following morning, you’ll probably wake up later than usual, meaning you’ll turn up later to play a game of football, or head out later for your run, which means you probably won’t feel like warming up beforehand.

I know the feeling, I’ve been there too where I once thought I’d save more energy if I just went straight into playing a game – big mistake!

Thing is, with less fluids in your system and not having done your usual warm-up, you’re unlikely to finish the game or your run anyway, because your hamstrings and calf muscles have been neglected and waiting for that moment where you stretch a little too far, and will be sure to let you know that they’re not up to exercising with a “ping!”… (and I’m sure you know how painful a sudden “pop” can be!)

So there’s something for you to think about over the next few weeks if you’re involved in a sport, or go for regular runs at the weekend and find yourself at the office part until 2 am 😉

Have fun and remember to keep drinking water throughout the night! Otherwise I’ll be expecting a call from you Monday morning.

For more health tips like this, simply visit my website where you can claim your free copy of my sports and exercise tips report:http://www.paulgoughphysio.com/sports-injury-clinic

sports injury clinic

Paul Gough
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