Time to get moving again!

It’s that time again, and it’s worse than usual.  We all had an extended holiday weekend.  It’s Monday and like most people are saying, it’s time to get started…..again.  We all had a weekend full of BBQs, beer, and late nights but what is the best way to get back on the wagon that we went crashing off of last week?

First and foremost, the weekend is over, we had our fun (and a lot of it at that), and you need to mentally be prepared to get back in the swing of things.  What does that mean?  You need to not beat yourself up over what you did, it was a holiday and you had your fun, GOOD, now let’s get moving.

Okay, to get our body back on track let’s start by getting ourselves hydrated.  Chances are you didn’t drink enough water so we will over estimate how much we need for the next few days.  Our aim will be 5-6 bottles of water throughout the day, and of course more if you plan to work out.  If you don’t like water or need other ideas have tea (the one where you actually do the work and make it), or have seltzer with citrus in it. 

And speaking of working out, don’t hit the gym and go nuts just to “make up” for what you did not do over the weekend.  If you are someone who has a program that was designed by a professional, go get to it.  If you do not have a fully designed program and typically wing it, don’t jump in just like you would any other Monday.  Get a decent cardiovascular warm-up (10+ minutes), and follow that up with a few dynamic movements.  This will help get your blood flowing and reduce the risk of injury.  Always remember, a warm body burns a higher percentage of fat.  Next get a total body resistance session in, do each body part and give some effort, you want to be a little sore tomorrow.  And to finish, get a good round of cardiovascular intervals in.  You should look to do 5-7 rounds, 30 seconds of work each round with enough rest time to get your heart rate down to a comfortable zone (90-120 seconds at most typically).  Follow everything up by a solid stretching and foam rolling session.  All in all, your workout should be around an hour and fifteen minutes by the time you are all said and done.

And, of course, the most important part to your health routine, your eating.  As nutrition is potentially one of the hardest topics to discuss when it comes to health and fitness, I am going to keep this simple for the goal of today.  EAT CLEAN!  What does that mean you ask?  Eat your fruits and veggies.  A little saying that I’ve heard before is; if it doesn’t run, fly, swim, or grow than do not eat it.  Follow that rule for a few days.  Don’t starve yourself to “balance out the calories”, don’t eat just lettuce to “get more fiber”, and don’t have shakes all day because “it helps you lose weight”.  Eat like a normal human being but try to make it natural and healthy.

I hope you had a great 4th of July and an enjoyable weekend to finish it off.  Now let’s get ourselves back on track and working towards those health and fitness goals!