It’s a busy time of year. No sooner are you at the end of one to-do list, you’re fishing around for a pen to start another. And you have a new dilemma – you don’t want your recent months of hard-won fitness effort to go to waste as you guzzle and gobble all the festive booze and treats.
"This problem is real," sympathises fitness expert Laura Williams. "There’s something about the Christmas break and the end of the year that feels like the ultimate deadline – individuals feel squeezed in every way."
Help is at hand, however. Williams has devised this 10-minute, total body routine consisting of 10 moves you can do without the use of any kit. Minimum time commitment; non-existent financial commitment.
She also has these suggestions if you’re feeling the pressure to let your sweat minutes slide as we approach the calorie finale of the year…
Practise damage limitation
Try to avoid the ‘either I do the full workout, or I don’t bother’ way of thinking. Something is always better than nothing. Every little really does help when it comes to your weight and fitness goals. Taking three flights of stairs twice a day will burn off that Matchmaker you snuck at the team meeting.
Don’t hesitate to use home as a gym
If you tend to view your exercise space as the gym or pool and home as… well, home, now might be time to think again. "The sofa is your multi-gym," says Williams. "With that, you can do a variety of tough moves, such as hip thrusts, dips, split squats… you name it."
Decide how much time you have to dedicate to exercise, then ring-fence it in your diary
If your HIIT class is now a distant memory due to the time commitment involved, pick some tough moves (think skip lunge, jumping squats) for your tailor-made routine, decide how much time you have, then set an alarm to nudge you at exercise time.
Avoid the boom/bust trap
Try not to go for broke on the Christmas comfort front. "Your mindset may be, ‘Well, I’ll pick it up again in January’, but the difference the impact has of abandoning all your good intentions in early December, compared to taking a couple of days off towards the end of the month, is vast."
Got 10 minutes? Do this workout – your LBD will thank you for it
1. Skip lunge
From a standing position, hop into the air on one leg and extend your other leg behind you as you come down into a lunge. Use your arms to help propel you into the air. Do 15 on each leg.
2. Sweep and kick
From a kneeling position with weight distributed on your forearms and supporting leg, extend one leg out to the side, touch the floor with your toes, then sweep the leg into the air, bend at the knee and kick heel to ceiling. Do 20 on each side. Take care to avoid tipping over onto your supporting side.
3. Incline push up
With your feet elevated on a low surface, weight distributed on your forearms and balls of your feet, bend your elbows and lower your chest to the ground. Push back up and repeat. Do 10-15 push-ups, stopping if you feel your back arch.
4. Straight leg dip
Position your hands on the edge of a low surface and bend your elbows, lowering your body towards the ground. Stop when your elbows reach a 90-degree bend and push back up to the starting position.
5. Diagonal bridge kick
Lie on your back in a bridge position with your weight positioned on your shoulder blades and heels. Position one leg on the ground and the other in the air. Bend the leg that’s in the air and lower it across the body to the opposite knee, before pushing through the heel on the supporting leg to kick out to the side again. Do 20 kicks, and change legs. Avoid slumping in the torso.
6. Jump and reach
From a standing position, jump your feet apart and squat down, reaching one hand to the opposite foot. Jump your feet back together, straighten up and repeat. Repeat for one minute.
7. Lying side crunch
Lie on your side at an angle, so your weight is distributed on your buttock rather than side of thigh. Maintaining a slight bend in the knee, sweep legs up and towards your torso, and using your bottom arm for support, crunch your torso simultaneously towards your legs. Do 12 on one side, then switch to the other side.
8. Feet-elevated hip thrusts
Lie on your back and position your feet on the edge of a low surface. Lift your hips as high as you can, ensuring your body forms a straight line from your knees to shoulders. Pause briefly at the top and lower. Do 20. To make this tougher, try doing on one leg.
9. Cross crunch
Lie on your back, legs in the air, feet apart. Lift your head and shoulders and scissor one leg over the other, at the same time as crunching up to the same side. Return to the start position and repeat to the other side. Do a total of 20 crunches.
10. Side plank with reach
Lie on your side with weight positioned on your forearm and sides of your feet. Push your body into the air and reach your top arm towards the ceiling. Lower your body back down, touch your bottom shoulder and repeat. Do 10 side planks on each side.
