The holiday season is upon us and that means travel, stress, alcohol, and food. There are many ways to handle this over the next 2 weeks, I’m going to discuss my strategy and recommendations I give to my clients.
Thanksgiving was over 2 weeks ago and since then, if you missed some of your workout sessions or ate a little too much dessert and drank too many drinks, don’t worry about it. Be prepared to continue your training and keep the momentum going forward.
While on vacation this last weekend in NYC, my wife and I had an opportunity to eat amazing food, visit some wonderful sites and festive venues as well as walk an average of 18,000 steps per day. We were gone for 5 1/2 days in total, book-ended by 2 travel days. It was an escape for us, as this was our first true vacation for her and me in over a year. We planned this trip as we sat in together in the Lovelace Cancer Center over the summer and fall. We had venues that we wanted to see since our last visit 3 years ago was just before the holiday season. We also planned to workout each day so we packed workout clothes and the Performance Ranch travel kit. Our hotel even had complimentary passes to Crunch Fitness.
Our great plans were sabotaged by the weather and lack of sleep as we were going to bed after midnight each night, 10 pm in New Mexico (our normal bedtime). We were able to squeak in a run in Central Park, (bucket list item) as well as 1 session at Crunch. Thanks to coach Craig, I had a plan on my Trainheroic app and it went well despite training on a Saturday morning in a busy Manhattan fitness club. My planned spin and yoga class did not make the cut. But that’s OK, we had a great time and I don’t regret a single minute there. I had my travel kit and I was able to foam roll and use the lax ball as well as the Hyperice Volt massage gun while in our room. Overall, my hip and lower back held up and I had zero issues in that area of my body. I did have some pec and rhomboid muscle tightness and a massage are well deserved on Tuesday.
I scheduled a massage with our massage therapist Nate Flores and I will get in a session with Elite OSM to get my pec and rhomboid loosened up. The chest muscle and rhomboid area became angry at me as I was carrying around a shoulder sling pack throughout the trip. We had to carry all of our essential items as well as a rain jacket since we were in the center of gale-force winds and rain during our visit. I will get back on track on Wednesday with a strength training session with Craig and Friday’s sessions will be with one of my other coaches. Thursday, it’s back on the bike in the Cycling Corral. I hope to get one ride outdoors over the weekend, weather dependent, or another Cycling Corral ride.
Having a plan will help you with accountability, but to take it a step further is to schedule your session so the appointment won’t be missed. We were able to get in 2 of the 4 days we had scheduled, but for the missed sessions we knew to eat a little less and to get off the subway station a little further away from our destination. This allowed for some extra steps in our day and a little less calorie intake. Overall, having a plan and trying to stick to it is better than trying to shoot from the hip and missing everything in sight.
If you need help making a plan, schedule a strategy session with one of our Performance Ranch coaches or if you are one of our clients, ask your coach during your next session or goal review. Happy holidays and I will keep you updated as this journey continues.
