Learn exercises to help keep your weight down during the holiday season

The holidays are coming, and before you know it, you’ll celebrating with your friends and family, partying and enjoying Christmas food. However, spending a few days with your loved ones is no excuse for giving up on your healthy habits.

It is estimated that people put on an average two to three kilos at Christmas. To make up for eating more calories at this time of year, it is a good idea to moderate your food and alcohol consumption and, above all, stay active.

This means you should try to spend time doing activities like cycling, walking, or doing domestic chores like cleaning, gardening, or do-it-yourself. Set 30-60 minutes aside every day to do some kind of sport.

Exercises to do at Christmas

Whether you are at home or away, there are some simple exercise routines you can do to keep in shape:

1. ‘One hundred’ Plates exercise

Lie on the floor and lift your legs and trunk, stretching your arms along your body. Make short, energetic movements, keeping your arms tight, moving them up and down, as though bouncing a ball. Breathe in for five movements and out for the next five, holding your belly button in and stretching your legs. Do 20-30 reps. The 100s is a warm-up exercise in Pilates. It wakes the body up, stimulates the circulation and firms the abdominal muscles. 

2. Bulgarian sit-up

This is like a squat, but by supporting the back leg on a chair, you force the trunk to work harder to keep you in balance. Raise and lower the body, with your arms close to the body and the trunk straight. Do three sets of ten reps with each leg. Bulgarian sit-ups to strengthen the lower train and core (your centre of gravity). 

3. Push-ups

Put your hands on the floor, at shoulder width. Keep your body straight like a plank, from head to toe. Contract your pectorals, buttocks, and abdominal muscles to help you. Start lowering yourself, bending your arms until your chest is almost on the floor. Hold this position for a few seconds, then lift your body again. Do three sets of 12 reps. This type of push-up strengthens the arms and legs and firms the belly, burns fat and increases bone mass. 

4. The bridge

Lie face up with your hands beside you and your knees bent. Your feet should be shoulder width apart. Then raise your hips from the floor, keeping your back straight. Once you are up, hold for a few seconds, clenching your buttocks. Then lower the pelvis to the starting position, without resting the lower back on the floor. Do three sets of 12 reps. The bridge helps to tone the buttocks, belly and lumbar area. 

5. Bicycle abs

Stretch out on the floor, face up, with your hands behind your head. Lift your trunk, keeping the abs firm, and bring one knee in towards the chest, while the other leg is still stretched out. Alternate both legs, making a cycling movement. Don’t let your legs touch the floor. Do two sets of 20 reps. This is a classic movement, but it is ideal for toning the belly and strengthening the abdomen. 

Combine this set of exercises with activities like fast walking, swimming, running, dancing, cycling, skating… The key is to burn calories and move the entire body. Be aware that Christmas is not an excuse you let yourself go… Quite the contrary. You’ll have more time to spend keeping fit.

This post is also available in: Portuguese (Portugal)