If you’re used to training regularly, it’s totally valid for holiday travel and time with family to come with an extra layer of stress. If you’re worried about interrupting your regular endorphin flow or goal progress, check out some of these tips as you approach the holidays.
Approach #1: Go with the flow
No apparatus? No problem. Taking some time off your aerial or pole training might actually be really beneficial for you! This could be a great time to let your body really recover from the regular training you’ve been doing. A week or two off won’t put you back to square one by any means. Take this time to rest, connect with the people you love, and give yourself a break from the usual demands of your training.
In fact, I recommend purposefully taking 4-7 days off every 30 days as a practice of cyclic rest. This is a great way for your body to reset and to reignite your excitement to train (separation makes the heart grow fonder).
Approach #2: Be Strategic & Creative
Approach #1 doesn’t work for everyone. It’s totally possible to start to feel more sluggish than rested if you’re not moving your body enough during the day.
If this is the case, one thing you can do is try to schedule a workout for the day before you travel or before your family arrives if the party’s at your place. This way the first few days of your holidays are just regular rest. Then see if you can schedule a training session on your first day back.
Next, see where you can fit in a floor workout. Even if you only have 15 minutes, getting your heart rate up and blood flowing is going to feel great and make a difference in your body. This is a great time to work on flexibility training or handstands – in fact, it was over the holidays in 2016 when I had no apparatus access for a week that I really started to see improvement in my handstands!
FIT4FLIGHT is a pre-recorded set of aerial-specific workouts – check that out here.
My next suggestion is to try to schedule family activities that get everyone moving. A walk or hike, a day at the park with the little ones (also playgrounds are GREAT alternatives to getting on an apparatus!), or find a yoga class to take together.
Remember, it’s okay, and even a good thing, to get away from your apparatus once in a while. Enjoy the time off!
Start thinking about goals
Even if you can’t work on any of your goals, the holiday season is a great time to start thinking ahead and making plans for setting and reaching goals. The energy of a new year does lend itself to re-evaluation and getting excited for changes to come. Whether you have time to actually train or not, see if you can set aside time to brainstorm goals and think about where you want to be a year from now. This could be a family activity!
I will be honest though – the whole end of year goal-setting thing can be a bit of a short-lived bout of idealism. To change in a meaningful way requires intention, planning, and consistency. None of those things happen incidentally – you have to be proactive and follow through.
This is the exact purpose of LevelUP, my 90-day transformation.
This program helps you create a set of interrelated goals and places them into a system that you carry out over three months (and longer). We specifically focus on skills, strength, flexibility, movement quality, and self care.
LevelUP safeguards your goals with built in accountability and guides you steadily toward the next metamorphosis of yourself as an artist. This program comes with lifetime access to strategic planning tools, a weekly 75 minute restorative class or its recording, and direct Q+A with me.
I designed this specifically to be able to accommodate you whether you are at your strongest right now or haven’t trained in months, and I want to especially invite anyone who feels daunted at the prospect of getting back into training.
Find out how this program can take your goal planning to the next level…
