Thanksgiving might be in the rear-view mirror, but the holiday season is just getting started.

The last thing you want for your clients is to develop bad habits over the next few weeks, that will not only carry into the New Year but also blow up all the gains they have made over the previous months.

The Holidays are filled with endless temptations, and it’s not just the food. With the kids off school, vacation breaks, the in-laws coming into town…a carefully structured life can turn into chaos.

Planned weekly meals, scheduled workouts, and early bedtimes…all fall prey to the hustle and bustle of Yuletide.

As a Personal Trainer, you are in a position to help your clients navigate the merry madness and help them find ways to make (maybe not always the best choice) better choices than they would without your much-needed guidance and support.

Remember when creating your client’s holiday workout and nutrition plan, remove as much friction as possible. James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, states, “habits are often a byproduct of friction and convenience. Humans are wired to seek the path of least resistance, which means the most convenient option is often the winning option.”

With this in mind, the IFPAs magic formula for staying on track during the festivities is as follows:

Be Aware. Be Realistic. Be Flexible.

Step 1: Be Aware.

Sit down with your clients and discuss their unique situation during the holidays. Are they staying home? Are friends and family coming to visit? Are they traveling? All of these factors will shape how you structure a plan of attack.

Print off a calendar for them and write in their travel days, parties, biggest meals, and other activities. Once you have an accurate picture of what you are working with, you can begin to plan.

Step 2: Be Realistic.

As you and your client begin to set intentions and craft goals, it is vital that you are realistic. It would be counterintuitive to set them up for failure by not recognizing they will be consuming more unhealthy foods and have fewer time slots to schedule workouts. However, by looking at their schedule as a whole, you can help them plan out specific times when they can be more relaxed, and other times when they need to be more on point.

Indulging

For example, say December 22nd is the family's annual get-together at Grandma Betty’s and her cookies are legendary. You know your client will be consuming more food and dessert than normal that evening. Make sure to mark on their calendar that they need to pay extra attention to their nutrition during that day. And absolutely get in a workout.

Some other tips on days such as these:

• Eat breakfast and lunch (don’t let your client think skipping meals will offset a big holiday dinner).
• Eat calories instead of drinking them. (Eggnog, Hot Chocolate, White Russians... all the holiday favorites can easily be hundreds of calories each.) For example, according to Calorie King, 8fl ounces of Eggnog can come in at 343 calories. For a 35-year-old female, that is 5’7 and 144ibs, it would take 29 minutes of swimming, 39 minutes of jogging, 53 minutes of cycling, or 96 minutes of walking, to burn those 343 calories. Laying out examples such as these might make your clients think twice about grabbing that extra Grande Peppermint Mocha (440 calories) while doing the final Christmas shopping runs.
• Choose Wisely. At parties, always suggest your clients perform a scan of all the options before diving in. If dessert is on the horizon, choose the best options knowing cookies are coming. Eating proper serving sizes of proteins, complex carbs, and healthy fats will go a long way in keeping your clients from falling completely off the nutrition wagon, while still being able to enjoy their favorite foods.

Working Out

If your client is traveling, figure out ahead of time what is available to them.

• Look at local gyms in their area before they travel. Many gyms offer day or week passes. This will allow them to have access to all the equipment they need.
• If no facilities are available, suggest they invest in (or borrow from you) equipment they can travel with such as resistance bands.
• If not, give them bodyweight exercises they can do safely and effectively by themselves. This will drastically depend on your client’s current fitness level. Take into consideration things like form. If your client typically has bad squat form (that you always have to be on top of during their sessions) avoid giving them squats in a workout.
• You can also discuss doing a Zoom Workout with you.
• Or create prerecorded video workouts.
• Outside of workouts, schedule activities where they move, such as daily walks. Consider any snow sports or outdoor activities they can engage in as well.
• If your client has a family member they will be visiting that is also on a fitness journey, suggest they team up for accountability and work out together.

Sleep

Spend a few minutes also discussing the importance of getting enough quality sleep. It doesn’t take that much to throw an immune system out of whack. Consuming more, poor quality foods, getting less exercise, the stress of the holidays and too many late nights, will have them returning home sick. This will set them back even further with not being able to jump back into a workout program with you after the holidays.

Communication

Checking in with your clients throughout the holidays will also be a gentle nudge for them to stay on track. Just a simple text, may just be enough guilt to get that workout in they skipped earlier in the morning.

Step 3: Be Flexible

The best laid plans will always encounter unseen variables. A plane will get delayed, someone will get sick, events will get moved…the list is endless. Tell your clients to give themselves some grace during this time of year, but do NOT put themselves last. If a morning workout is missed, make it up with a longer walk in the evening. Give them a plan B and plan C if things go wrong.

Overall, the goal is to give our clients the tools they need to be successful. Keeping clients in your program long term, (even if they come home with a little extra around the middle) results from the relationship you develop with them. Showing them, you are willing to go above and beyond to ensure their success, does a great deal to build strong long-term relationships that will keep your clients with you for many holidays seasons to come.

We wish you and your families all the best during this time of year.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from all of us at the IFPA.

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