Chris Judd: Staying on top of your health these holidays

When it comes to staying active, the holidays can be a challenging time. You might be away from your home base, or you might just be flat out over the Christmas break trying to keep all your social commitments. Either way, it can be easy to let your routine fall by the wayside.

I think the best system for combatting a holiday slump is to allocate realistic and achievable times for workouts. If you’re living with a partner and kids, a good way to do it is to alternate mornings. I also find that’s useful in motivating myself not to miss a session, because I know that if I don’t do it today – well, I’m not doing it tomorrow, either.

Sometimes it takes a little motivation to take full advantage of the opportunity. If you’ve got kids, that might mean first thing in the morning while they’re asleep or sometimes when someone has to be home anyway.

To be honest, I find it difficult to exercise when I’m at home on the holidays. That’s partly due to having toddler-aged twins. I promise myself that I’ll do it, but it just doesn’t end up happening. That’s why, when we go away for the holidays, I try and do exercises I wouldn’t do as part of my regular routine. I was recently spending a few days in a national park, and I took tennis racquets so that I could get some cardio in.

During a regular week, I’ll try and get three or four sessions done in between Monday and Friday, and then maybe I’ll do something at home on the weekend. But on the break, with parties and kids and everything else – well, it can be tough. Time just disappears.

But you know what? When it comes to the summer holidays, I just try not to worry about it as much. I mean, I still won’t go a week without exercising – but I might only be able to fit in one session, and that’s fine. It’s not the end of the world, and I’m not going to beat myself up over it. Indulging yourself over Christmas is perfectly okay.

And look, if you’re spending time with the family, you’re likely to end up doing incidental exercise along the way. Think about a game of backyard cricket or taking the kids down to the park. Those things will get you moving more than you would be if you were sitting at a desk all day at work.

At this time of year, I try to reframe the time that I usually reserve for physical exercise during the week and apply it to replenishing myself mentally and socially. Those elements are just as crucial to your health as working out.

I focus on using the holidays to see as many people as I can, because often that’s the only chance you’ll have to spend quality time with them for another 12 months. Honestly, if they’re people that you’re really close to, you’re going to feel a lot guiltier about missing that opportunity than you are about skipping a run.

There’s also something energising about having a genuinely good time that’s full of fun and laughter. That will go further to restoring your energy than just feeling stressed over whether you’ve done your food prep and been to the gym in the last 24-hours. So just be sure to enjoy the mental benefits of taking a break.

Former Australian Rules footballer Chris Judd is familiar with how to get your heart rate up and push yourself physically. Twice winner of the prestigious Brownlow Medal, Chris is an honoured sportsman and father to four children, Oscar, Billie, Tom and Darcy. The information in this article is general information only and is not intended as medical, health, nutritional or other advice. You should obtain professional advice from a medical or health practitioner in relation to your own personal circumstances.