With the festive season upon us, many set out on new adventures and holiday travels, escaping the tiresome 9-5 life for the outdoors. With cold beers and Christmas cake mandatory, you might ask, – how do we counteract the ever-elusive donut scale from tipping the weights to the wrong side?
With this burden shadowing over our holiday fantasy, I decided to share some of my best exercise tips to reclaim the foreseeable holiday distress, and get you through the post-holiday depression phase ready for more.
Seek adventure. As human beings, exploring is in our nature. Take the road less travelled.
Before we get into it, be mindful of where you are going, your surroundings and timing. By now you would know whether you are a morning person or prefer to sweat it out in the afternoon sun. For me personally, you can’t go wrong by throwing on a pair of runners and off one goes. We all own runners, which can be easily squeezed into a travel case. And no matter where in the world you travel, there are always trails/adventures to be clocked for the infamous Strava profile. As they say… If it’s not on Strava it never happened. Which brings me to point number one:
- Knowing where to go can be challenging especially if you are traveling to an unfamiliar town/country. Strava is a great tool to explore, research and plan your activities. This will save you endless frustration of getting lost, hunting public toilets and highly sought after water fountains.
- Make it fun!! It’s your holiday after all. No one wants to be confined to the 4 walls of a gym or the endless black line watching in a swimming pool.
- Seek adventure. As human beings, exploring is in our nature. Take the road less travelled. Climb a mountain or cycle to that signal tower you always wondered how to get to.
- Enter an event! Some of us need that little extra push. Standing on the edge or in this case, a finger click from the “enter here” button.
- Park Runs. It’s everywhere, it’s free and it’s a great place to meet up afterwards with a mate for a good brew of caffeine before you hit the beach to bodysurf your way through the crowds.
The key, I believe, is that for each of us there is something out there that we enjoy doing. Don’t be afraid to escape the elements of modern day society.
The key, I believe, is that for each of us there is something out there that we enjoy doing. Don’t be afraid to escape the elements of modern day society. I read something that really spoke to me a few weeks ago. It represented the average bloke with a good job, beautiful family who found himself on the verge of depression and how a simple thing like riding his bike saved his life.
“I stopped at the end of the road were the gravel and grass meet up overlooking the horizon. Lying on the hard dusty ground catching my breath. Imagine you’re on the ocean floor, looking up at the clouds drifting lazily across the sky and the sunlight refracting as it pierces the gloom. Ask yourself: Would you fight to leave the comfortable familiarity of the waters? Or would you let yourself be wrapped in them, just to know the elation of riding your way out once in a while?” – Iain Treloar
This piece is written by my good friend Pierre Gouws. His CV is impressive. From triathlon coaching to elite racing, family man and a down right top bloke! He loves a good brew of caffeine, will keep you entertained for hours, and enjoys heading up the ‘Dawn Patrol’, exploring Melbourne’s best cycle routes.
Follow Pierre’s adventures on Instagram >> @money_4_jam
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