6 Ways to Stay Fit and Sane This Holiday Season

It’s easy to derail your training over the holidays. Here’s how to stay on track.

By selene yeager

Somewhere between the parties, holiday shopping excursions, Christmas tree trimming, feast feasting, family hosting, New Year's parties—oh, and that thing called work, you may find yourself glancing longingly at your bike, wondering if you’ll ever find a moment during the holiday season to steal away for a ride. You may fret that all the fitness gains you made and body fat you shed this season will go the way of leftover eggnog: down the drain.

Easy. Everyone gets a little nuts during the holidays. You may not be able to get on your bike as much as you’d like between now and 2016, but with a little creative planning, you can maintain a consistent riding schedule that will keep you cheerfully rolling right through the holidays and ready for the riding season ahead. Here’s how.

Set up your indoor salvation station. Find a corner of the house where you can have your rollers or bike trainer set up and ready to rock, complete with iPod, TV, entertainment of choice, fan, heart rate monitor, towel and anything else you like to have on hand for an indoor training session. Lay out a pair of bibs and your shoes and slip into them Superman-style when you have 30 to 60 minutes to spare (early morning rides before the troops rally work best). Within an hour, you can be on and off your bike with a great workout in between.

Make it a HIIT sesson. Whether you’re inside or out, when time is short, make every second count with some intervals. After a warm up, try Tabatas (20 seconds full gas, 10 seconds rest, 8 times; 2 to 3 sets) or 2 to 3 sets of 40/20s (40 seconds on, followed by 20 seconds rest). Once or twice a week is all you need (and no more).

Do the Core Four. No time for even a short ride? You absolutely have 10 to 15 minutes for these full-body strength-training moves. Do squats, bird dogs, side crank planks, and push ups (one minute each), one after another with no rest. Repeat the circuit two to three times.
 • Squat: Stand with your feet hip-width apart and toes pointed forward. Push your butt and hips back as if you were sitting in a chair and lower down as far as possible while keeping your weight on your heels and extending your arms overhead. Return to the starting position and repeat.
 • Bird Dog: Kneel on your hands and knees. Keep your back straight and your head and neck in line with your back. Extend your right arm and left leg, brining them up and in line with your back, or slightly higher than your trunk, if possible. Your fingers and toes should both be pointed. Pause, squeezing your glute and back muscles to maintain balance. Return to the starting position, and repeat to the opposite side. Alternate for a full set on each side.
 • Side Crank Planks: Lie on your left side with your legs extended and feet stacked. Prop your upper body up on your left elbow and forearm. Raise your hips until your body forms a straight line from your ankles to your shoulders. Bend your top (non-supporting) arm and put that hand behind your head, elbow pointed toward the ceiling. Keeping hips stacked, slowly rotate your torso, bringing your elbow toward the floor. Rotate to start. Repeat for 30 seconds. Then switch sides.
 • Push Ups: Assume a classic push-up position, legs and arms extended and hands beneath your shoulders. Bend arms and lower chest until upper arms are parallel to the floor. Push up back to start. Repeat.

    Meet them there. Is your family heading to a holiday gathering somewhere relatively close-by? Toss a change of clothes in the car, kit up, and ride over while they drive. You’ll squeeze in a nice ride and feel better about sampling the cookies and finger foods when you get there.

Embrace creative cross-training. Yes you’re a cyclist. No there’s nothing quite like your bike. But there are many ways to get a little exercise and maintain fitness. Skip the mall and go shopping in the big city for a day (sans subway, cabs, and uber). Build a giant snowman with your kids. Go sledding, ice skating, or for a nice snowy hike.

Keep it moving. You’re bound to find yourself captive at the in-laws, in the airport, or entertaining at your own house at some point. That doesn’t mean you have to put yourself in a holding pattern of drinking beer and eating chips all day. Volunteer to help with chopping and peeling in the kitchen; take on a few household duties like dishes and laundry; putter around. Every bit of activity counts and keeps you from slipping into too much sedentary slothdom—but allow yourself a little bit of that, too. After all, it is the holidays. A little indulgence is a-okay, especially when you’re otherwise on track.

Sore Muscles...Maybe You Need an Ice Bath?

The Effectiveness of Icing  By Sharlene Caldwell

There seems to be a lot of discussion surrounding the practice of icing after exercise these days.   The procedure of icing after workouts has been around for decades, but we are now starting to read statements suggesting it may be the end of the ice age. It seems like some of the very same people who advocated icing for years are now shunning it. “Stop icing” is the battle cry of some popular bloggers.

Why? What has changed in the human body that now makes icing bad? Or what have we learned recently that should cause us to change our mind? In an effort to seek unbiased answers to these questions, we turned to the scientific community.

We used as sources for our information peer reviewed journals that rely on experimental data and scientific methods to draw conclusions, as opposed to articles that merely advocate somebody’s logic or opinion. These are scholarly articles whose authors either performed original testing as part of their research or they reviewed existing studies to ascertain the overall effectiveness of cryotherapy.   A link to the bibliography of references is included at the end of this article. You can find these and other articles online by using an appropriate search site such as PubMed.

The use of ice on traumatic injuries is still in practice at every medical center in the world. The effectiveness of ice on these types of injuries is not questioned and not the topic of concern here. It is the use of ice after workouts to aid in recovery that is being questioned. Accordingly, we limited our research to the use of ice as an aid in recovery after exercise induced muscle damage.

“The effects of multiple daily applications of ice to the hamstrings on biochemical measures, signs, and symptoms associated with exercise-induced muscle damage.”   This is the title of one such article we found, published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. In it, the authors, a team out of Andrews University, measured the effects of ice on exercise recovery – very appropriate.   They used an icing protocol common to athletes and took data for 72 hours following the workout. Their results? “The cryotherapy group had significantly less pain compared with the control at 48 hours.”

Here’s another article we read. “Stretching versus transitory icing: which is the more effective treatment for attenuating muscle fatigue after repeated manual labor?” This study was published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology by a team in Japan.   In it, they compared stretching to icing on the recovery time of athletes subjected to intense exercise induced muscle damage. By measuring the electrical activity of the muscles along with muscle oxygen levels during the recovery phase, they were able to see the impact of these procedures on muscles. Their results supported the use of ice. “Icing may more effectively induce recovery and thus may be a better choice between the two treatment techniques.”

The Journal of Athletic Training published this study:” Does Cryotherapy Improve Outcomes With Soft Tissue Injury?” This is actually a study of many studies on cryotherapy. The authors, from Pennsylvania State University, created search criteria to locate studies that met their needs. A total of 55 articles were reviewed. While they spent a good deal of effort evaluating the testing procedures themselves, their final conclusion was “Based on the available evidence, cryotherapy seems to be effective in decreasing pain.”

There are many other articles we could refer to ad-nauseam but you would stop reading. If you are interested, our advice is to do your own search. Go to PubMed and search on terms like “ice therapy” and “cryotherapy” with respect to exercise and recovery.   You will be overwhelmed by the amount of research done.

We found that for the span of several decades, all around the globe, teams of doctors, scientists and others have studied the effects of icing on recovery with every tool available. Indeed, the quantity of data that exist on icing is quite formidable. For anyone to state that there is no conclusive evidence regarding icing is tantamount to burying one’s head in the sand.

While exercise programs may come and go, the human body remains the same. The way it works today is the same as it has for a long, long time.

Should you keep taking NSAIDs for pain?

New warnings suggest that even people without heart problems may be at risk for heart attack and stroke with NSAID use.

It seems easy enough to swallow a couple of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) for a headache or a sore back. But in July 2015, the FDA announced it would strengthen an existing label warning that NSAIDs increase the chance of a heart attack or stroke.

  “There are some risks,” says Dr. Daniel Solomon, a Harvard Medical School professor who specializes in rheumatology. “But it’s important to put those risks in perspective.” The cardiovascular risk is greater with higher doses and longer use, and in people who already have heart disease or risk factors for heart disease.

Heart and stroke concerns

You can buy NSAIDs such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) and naproxen (Aleve, Naproxen) over the counter; stronger doses require a doctor’s prescription. They work by blocking enzymes that produce pain and swelling. The risks of NSAIDs are not very high, but they are real. Regular, long-term use of NSAIDs has been linked to ulcers, stomach bleeding, liver damage, high blood pressure, and increased risk of heart attacks or heart failure.

  The new FDA warnings point out that

► the risk of heart attack or stroke can occur even with short-term use, goes up within the first weeks of use, and may increase over time

► NSAIDs can increase the risk of heart attack or stroke even if you don’t have heart disease or risk factors for heart disease, although the risk becomes greater if you do.

► despite previous studies suggesting that naproxen (Aleve, Naproxen) may be safer than other NSAIDs, there’s not enough new evidence to support that.

What you should do

Stay away from NSAIDs if you have heart disease. Otherwise, talk to your doctor about the risks and benefits of NSAID use. “The new FDA warnings are prudent but not based on new information,” says Dr. Solomon. “NSAID use can be extremely helpful for a variety of pain syndromes. Use the lowest dosage possible for the shortest period necessary. If pain relief is not adequate with over-the-counter preparations, I recommend speaking with a health care professional about other possibilities, either other medications or other dosages.”

  You may also want to consider switching to acetaminophen, a potent painkiller with heart risks. Keep the dosage below 4,000 milligrams per day. If you consume more than three alcoholic drinks every day while taking acetaminophen, you will risk damaging your liver.

  The vast majority of people taking NSAIDs will not have heart problems or any other problems. However, we now recognize that there is some heart risk from these medicines.

Harvard Health Letter

Three steps to build a better back

Strengthening, stretching, and improving posture will go a long way toward reducing back pain that comes with age.

Back pain is one of the top complaints of people around the world, with eight out of 10 people experiencing it at some point in their lives. “Most people tolerate it and work around it. But in older age it’s more challenging to live with back pain, because you have a stiffer back that’s more arthritic,” says Dr. Kevin McGuire, chief of orthopedic spine surgery at Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital.

The aging back

Your spine is made up of many bones (vertebrae), each separated by little cushions (discs) of cartilage. As e get older, the discs tend to wear out, a condition called osteoarthritis “Over time, the discs deflate. The spine gets a little shorter. As you lose disc height, your spine gets stiffer, and you tend to get a bent-forward posture,” says Dr. McGuire.

  In older people who have the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis, the spine is also at risk for tiny fractures. These osteoporotic compressions fractures are common and can also cause people to end up being more bent forward.

  “Whatever the cause, unbalanced posture hurts. The back and muscles are strained by the poor posture. It’s like asking you to walk around with bent legs all day,” says Dr. McGuire.

Reducing pain

The aches and pains of an aging back can often be alleviated with the following steps.

Strengthen your muscles. The muscles that support the back hold us upright and relieve pressure on the spine as we go about our activities. The stronger your muscles, the more they will reduce pressure, and the less pain you’ll feel. Exercises need to target the muscles of your abdomen, shoulders, and legs. You can do that by working with a physical therapist to develop a specific exercise regimen, which may be as simple as regular walks. “Global fitness, such as going for a brisk walk, addresses all of these muscle groups, and that helps our back the most,” says Dr. McGuire. He says doing a modified version of yoga or Pilates, with your doctor’s okay, is also effective.

Stretch your muscles. It’s not enough to strengthen the muscles that support the back. You must also stretch the muscles to keep them flexible, which helps prevent them from becoming injured and provides you with a good range of motion. “If you can’t cross your legs because your hips are tight, you’ll have to bend at the spine and that puts pressure on your back,” says Dr. McGuire. 

  He recommends stretching the hamstrings and quadriceps in the thigh, the gastrocnemius muscle in the calf, the abductor and gluteus muscles in your hips and buttocks, and even the rotator cuff muscles in the shoulders. “Do arm circles, and stretch your arms across your chest. Roll your shoulders back and imagine you’re standing an inch taller. These will help take pressure off your back.”

Improve your posture. Strengthening and stretching your muscles will help you stand up straighter, which will put less stress on your back. But you may need to work on your posture. “Correct posture is when your head is aligned with your hips, and your hips are aligned with your feet,” says Dr. McGuire. “There’s no leaning involved.” He suggests checking your posture in a mirror, considering both a front and side view. Exercises that work the upper extremities help improve neck and upper back posture. Core muscle and leg exercises boost your lower back posture.

Harvard Health Letter

Shoulder Injury Rehab

 This lasat season it seemed shoulder injuries were way too common. Not sure why, maybe because so many pro riders don't wear shoulder pads. If you have hurt your shoulder here is an exercise you can do to build strength.