The festive period is upon us, bringing with it all of the delicious foods and beverages we all love to over-indulge on. Many of us rarely miss the opportunity to party, however this is often with a heavy guilty conscience and a slight detrimental effect to our hard-earned physique. For this reason, we have detailed a few of our favourite tips to keep you in tip-top shape over Christmas and New Year!
An Intense Workout Beforehand
This is a tried and tested method and providing the workout is of a high intensity, you can use your party food as a form of post-workout treat. To increase the intensity of your workouts, use higher reps and reduce the length of your rest between sets. Additionally, include high-intensity interval training in the form of sprints, allowing you to work in the anaerobic pathway to increase your RMR (Resting Metabolic Rate). Your RMR is the amount of energy you use at rest, which is increased by HIIT training due to an elevation in EPOC (Excess Post Exercise Oxygen Consumption) meaning you burn more calories when resting after your workout. Also, the closer your workout is to the party, the better. This way you can consume the food within your post-workout nutrient window which speeds up the process of recovery, effectively turning your ‘cheat meal’ into post-workout fuel.
Stock Up Your Supplement Cupboard
There will come a time where the excess Christmas booze intake takes its toll on your body and this is where supplements can give you a helping hand. A multivitamin can go a long way towards getting you back on your feet, as it can help to boost your immune system, as well as having an antioxidant effect to speed up your hangover recovery process. Green Tea is another supplement that has been shown to possess health promoting and powerful antioxidant qualities. It can also help the body process carbohydrates, which is invaluable during the festive excess. And for anyone having a few drinks this Christmas,Green Tea has also been shown to be effective for cleansing the liver of certain toxins.
Intermittent Fasting
This can be a very effective method if a party suddenly appears out of nowhere (which is surprisingly possible). Nobody wants to be the fitness freak that stands around the buffet table refusing to eat any of the delicious foods, so this method allows you to keep your reputation at the party, without hampering your physique. To do this, simply intake no calories throughout the day in the lead up to your party by consuming only black coffee, water or diet soda. This way once you pig out at your party, you will still remain in or around your daily calories allowance, reducing the damaging effects of the cheat food.
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