We’ve literally come out of a bit of a cold snap here in the UK, but this is the perfect time to be talking about your fitness levels and the summer coming up.
We all tend to think about summer and looking trimmed when it’s literally on our doorstep and we’ve had the holiday booked for months. But, this is the completely wrong thinking.
Beach bodies are made in the colder months and with the warm of gyms there’s no need to venture out into the cold to get the beach body you want (unless you want to).
Let’s get into the seven reasons to start thinking about your summer body today.
1 – You’ll be in better shape when we get to summer
Think about it. Most of the time people tend to leave things until the last minute and it’s the same with holidays.
Leaving it until four weeks before you go on holiday is crazy.
Imagine the difference if you spent twelve or even sixteen weeks getting yourself into great shape. You’ll be able to do it slow and steady and feel energised every step of the way.
2 – Know that the results will come
It takes time. If you’re out of shape then that didn’t just happen overnight. It took months or even years for some people to realise just how much they’ve let themselves go.
Or maybe you’ve never been in decent shape. That’s ok.
But if you think you’re going to see great results by going to the gym twice a week and changing some bits in your diet for four weeks then you’re dreaming.
It take your body time to adapt, so you need to give it a chance and enough time to get the results that you want.
3 – It’ll be here sooner than you think
I hear the phrase time flies when you’re having fun a lot and it’s the same if you’re busy.
Time only seems to stand still when you’re bored, but it’s still moving and in no time your holiday will come around. How you look in your beach gear is your choice.
4 – You can’t just starve yourself thin
People tend to diet (aka starve themselves) thin and it just doesn’t work.
Massive calorie deficits usually have a negative massive impact on your long-term metabolic rate (calorie burning), so it’s better to give yourself more time to burn a larger amount of calories.
If you give yourself a 10 percent deficit in calories then:
An average person burns 2,000 a day, so eat 1,800.
That’s 1400 less calories a week and your body won’t notice a small drop, but if you drop 1,000 calories then your
- Energy
- Strength
- Concentration
- Mood
Are all going to suffer.
It just isn’t worth it to starve yourself.
Having a calorie deficit is a good general way of thinking about reducing the amount of energy you’re putting into your body, but don’t overcomplicate things and think about them too much.
5 – You can’t just train 4-5 days a week from scratch
If someone asks me how often should they should be exercising if they wanted to lose weight then my would be as much as possible.
Personally, I can train twice a day 5 or 6 days of the week because my body is used to being pushed that hard.
But, if you’re out of condition then you have to start slow and steady and build up. Scheduling in three fitness sessions at the gym in the week and moving more throughout your day will get you moving in the right direction.
6 – Better long-term habits
It takes a while to develop habits, especially healthy ones. So if you go to the gym for four weeks (twice a week) and you eat generally healthy throughout those four weeks then you’re building quite a good foundation.
But, then you go on holiday for two weeks and by the time you come back you’ll have probably undone all of your hard work and slipped back into your old ways and habits.
So, when you then come back to reality it’s even harder to pick up where you left off.
BUT
If you decided 12-16 weeks before your holiday date that you were going to take things seriously and:
- Exercise 3-4 times a week
- Keep up with hydration
- Keep to your calories
- Eat healthy
Then a two week break won’t be as bad and the habit of going to the gym will be easier to pick up again when you return.
7 – You’ll enjoy your holiday more
Imagine last year when you got your swim wear on. Were you ready to bare all?
If you’re anything like the new clients we see at Masters Personal Training then you probably weren’t.
Imagine this year going on holiday feeling more confident and happy with the way you look when you take your clothes off.
And knowing that you can afford to enjoy yourself because you’ve spent the last twelve weeks getting yourself into amazing shape.
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