Exercise and the summer holidays
If you're a gym goer or like to do some form of exercise regularly, the long summer holidays can be a little daunting. If we have friends and family we can call upon to look after the kids for a couple of hours that's great, but some people don't and to ask that 3-4 times a week can be a bit much.
First of all, if your training sessions need to take a backseat because you simply can't get there for the summer, please don't worry. Having a few weeks off your routine won't do any harm (as long as you stay mostly on track with your food). This time last year I had a hernia operation and couldn't train for 6 weeks which was a blow to say the least. I used this time to go on longer walks and I am lucky enough to have an exercise bike in the garage, so I used that for 20 minutes a few days a week. I found I lost a bit of weight and when I trained again yes I couldn't lift as heavy but muscle memory is very much a thing! I soon built it back up again. Basically, moving away from lifting weights for this amount of time won't make you fat!
If, like me, you like to train for the positive impact it has on your mental health, then there are other things you can do. I have set up a YouTube channel, (just search Scarlett MacDonald Fitness) which has a number of home workouts available to you absolutely free. The workouts are all different and you can attack different muscle groups each time. Some of them you don't even need any equipment. Go have a look they're 10, 20 and 30 minutes each. We can all find that amount of time in the day!
Walking is massively underrated. Getting our NEAT (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis) in is just as important as going to the gym. So running around the park with the kids, playing football, basketball, tennis or whatever with them will be so beneficial to your fitness and progress AND the kids will love it AND they'll sleep better 😂 Winning all round.
Another tip I tell all my clients to do is a bit of yoga. Yoga by Adriene on YouTube is bloody brilliant. Honestly love this woman, I have a slight girl crush ngl 😂. There are so many benefits to yoga; better sleep, good for your mind, helps prevent injury, allows you to perform big lifts better, just to name a few. You could even try getting the kids involved in that, Cosmic Kids Yoga on YouTube is amazing, my youngest River, absolutely loves it and I find after doing it for 20 minutes she's so much more chilled! They do all different themes so girls and boys will find something they like.
So listen, don't worry because stress never helps weight loss let me tell ya! We carry that shit around in our belly's 😂 Stay active, do everything with intention, eat a healthy diet and enjoy this precious time with the kiddies.
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