How to get back to running after the Christmas holidays? Our advice

Going back to running after the binges and relaxation of the Christmas holidays is not easy. The extra calories and the lack of physical activity contribute to that sense of heaviness that accompanies these days. The other side of the coin of moments of conviviality and lightheartedness lived between friends or family.

How to regain lost fitness? –

And which workouts to perform? The ideal would be to resume gradually. If our break from sport has been contained within a few days, then we can safely resume with the classic slow bottom sessions. Conversely, if we have forgotten the running shoes in the last shelf of the shoe rack for two weeks, then it will be good to give our body a more moderate training stimulus. The first sessions, therefore, must take place alternating running and walking. In any case, after the first few days of simple running it will be advisable to introduce sessions aimed at treating strength. Ample space, therefore, for the classic uphill sprints or shoulder bags and ready to listen to the tinkling of the weights discs banging in the gym. A few strength sessions will be the best way to resume the journey towards physical fitness.

What to do if our holidays are spent in the name of sport? –

Maybe just to discover the wonderful mountain views? If we have been lucky enough to live a few days or weeks in the mountains practicing alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, ski mountaineering or snowshoeing, then we will certainly have to review our approach once back home. In fact, all of these activities are great ways to build strength. Parentheses of this kind are welcome, capable of putting ourselves to the test with motor patterns different from the usual ones we are used to for most of the year; as well as capable of obliging us to perform muscular work and more or less different efforts. In this case, however, the goal will be to return, always gradually, to our previous routine. So, also in this case, we will start again with the classic slow bottom sessions. Later, however, we can already introduce some more brilliant training such as medium or long repetitions or a quick short. The idea, in any case, will be to exploit the benefits of the activity carried out in the mountains, which will not be underestimated.

How will those who have spent their Christmas holidays in the heat resume training? –

In the latter case, maximum attention acclimatization to the cold, which will carry out an inhibitory action on our body and our mind, making us more refractory to the resumption of physical activity outdoors. So, at least in the first phase, it will be essential to reduce the duration of training and delay the first intense workouts a bit. Furthermore, maximum attention is paid to the heating phase. Also in this case, it will not be wrong to start over with strength sessions, which, in any case, would be better to face in the gym.

It is well known: returning from holidays always throws a bit of melancholy. Yet, we runners have more allies: that adrenaline rush that you feel before an intense workout or a race and, even more, that sense of satisfaction that only physical fatigue can give. Good recovery everyone!