Jake Dearden's Top Christmas Tips

How to Keep Progressing Over the Festive Period

I know Christmas is a busy time for everyone, and we go into the festive period with good intentions, but it’s easy to get carried away and not train or fuel as we would hope to. So I’ve put together my best tips on how to stay on track throughout December:

• Plan your training in advance, especially for the week of Christmas which tends to be the busiest. Look up when your gym is open over Christmas, plan when you’re going to train/run/rest, and get it in your diary to ensure you stick to it.

• Prioritise your protein! Christmas food is arguably the best, but try to get your protein in first before getting carried away with the rest of the treats.

• Use the food as fuel. If you do indulge a bit more than planned, use that extra energy to fuel you through your tougher sessions.

• Set specific targets and stick to them. Step targets, water intake, sessions per week, hours of sleep, etc. Set targets for each of them and stay consistent — a few key habits will have a huge carryover to the rest of your week.

• Be selective with the occasions you choose to drink on. Christmas brings a lot of social events that can involve a few drinks, but this can have a big impact on recovery and performance. Try to be strategic with the events you choose to drink at (if any) to minimise the effects.

• Win the day early. Aim to tick off your training before you get carried away with plans and festivities. If you train in the morning, it’s done for the day and you can enjoy yourself without worrying about fitting a session in later.

• Use this time to reflect on what went well this year and set some goals for the next year. What do you want to achieve? What are you proud of? What would you like to do differently?

Lastly, make sure you enjoy everything that December brings and make the most of the events and time spent with your loved ones. It’s only Christmas once a year, so remember to have fun — but also try not to write the whole of December off!