“You really need to stick to it through the holidays,” said Victoria McCullough, owner of the Sierra Vista franchise of Baby Boot Camp. “People just get lazy over the holidays and that’s where you should pump it up a little bit.
“Once you get into that slump, it’s so much harder to get started.”
  
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Baby Boot Camp is a stroller-based fitness program for prenatal and postnatal women that uses interval training to get the moms, or moms-to-be, in shape, mixing power walking with various strength and aerobic exercises. In an attempt to keep her moms going through the holidays, McCullough said she has started giving them health challenges about every two weeks, such as a crunch competition. She said these small health challenges are something anyone can do.
She said people shouldn’t be trying to find two hours to go to the gym during the holidays, just taking 10 minutes to go for a walk or do some crunches is still a positive step toward getting, or remaining, fit.
While watching television “you can fit 15-20 minutes of exercise in (during) those commercials,” she said. “You just have to make it fun. Make it fun and make it simple.”
Christian Foster, studio director for Pilates Grove, a movement studio in Sierra Vista that offers pilates and yoga, pointed out that one of the last things people should want to do is give up exercise during the holidays, which can be a stressful time.
“The worst thing you can do during the holidays is forgo your fitness,” she said, adding that a person needs to be “focusing on yourself so you can give of yourself.”
“There’s a healthy balance between taking care of others and taking care of yourself,” she continued.
She said an important aspect of exercising, at any time of year, is to be setting realistic goals for a workout routine.
“Just doing something,” she said. “Even if it’s not going to a studio or gym.”
Dave Parry, an athletic trainer as Cochise College, echoed Foster’s advice of setting realistic, short-term goals, as well as encouraging people to simply do something.
“Go walk your dog, walk with your family, go play with the kids in the park,” Parry suggested.
Parry said he tries to run and lift weights as often as he can, pointing out that it isn’t everyday, but he fits it in when he has the time.
“It doesn’t get done if I procrastinate and decide ‘Eh, I’ll do it tomorrow,’ ” he said.
Like McCullough, Parry emphasized that part of fitting exercise into a hectic holiday schedule may mean not expecting to get in a long workout, but instead several short ones.
“Take little breaks,” he said. “Do stuff for yourself: Go on those little bike rides, take a dog for a walk, get away from all of those stressers that are bombarding your life at the time.
“Don’t forget about yourself because it’s hectic.”
Reporter Katie Evans can be reached at 515-4611 or katie.evans@svherald.com.
