By Dr. Joshua Kiely, DC

Starting in early November, the inside of our house begins to resemble the North Pole and it doesn't stop until at least the second week of January. Whether it’s Sinatra’s “White Christmas” or BNL’s “Hannukah, Oh Hanukkah”, the Holiday music starts early in our Kanata home!

Alongside the fun and excitement of the Holidays also comes the stress. This blog will cover two strategies for maintaining and improving our workouts over the Holidays.

Factor in the Holidays

Leaving room for flexibility around the Holidays is the key to staying on the wagon and avoiding the dangerous “all-or-nothing” mindset. I’ve learned this lesson the hard way, whether it was gaining 30lbs between October and January 1st due to giving up completely on meal prep, or working myself into oblivion and ending up injured.

Becoming comfortable with spreading your workout schedule out, or choosing to maintain instead of progress are both reasonable options for protecting your health without giving up on workouts completely. Maintenance of muscle tissue, strength, and bone density can be achieved with as little as two strength sets performed once a week. Anything else you can add on top of that is just a bonus!

Factoring in the Holidays can help immensely with maintaining and even improving your health during some of the busiest months of the year. With benefits running out in January, it can also be a great time to get a little professional help with those nagging injuries that might be impacting your workouts or your day-job.

Get social and active - move while you chat!

If you’re being pulled in every direction - year-end tasks at work, family events, Christmas parties, shopping and hosting - it can be helpful to incorporate your physical activity into your normal routine. Perhaps this means walking to the store for a coffee date, or meeting a friend to go skating, skiing or snowshoeing. 

By incorporating movement into your social life, you can reduce the stress of trying to fit in workouts when you get home or trying to add more activity on top of an already busy schedule. Adding movement this way also provides mental health benefits, social benefits, and physical benefits during a period when it is easy to become run-down and stressed.

If spine pain, stiffness, or tension is getting in the way of your Holiday’s, get in touch and we’ll come up with a plan to get you back in action.

Give us a call at 613-501-2853 or email info@drjoshuakiely.com to get started on convenient home visits in Stittsville, Carp, Kanata, and most of Ottawa West.