With gifts to buy, halls to deck, parties to plan and copious amounts of rich, fatty food to be consumed, even devoted fitness buffs might lop a few workouts off the holiday schedule. Less devoted enthusiasts might just say to heck with gym visits altogether.
But health clubs, personal trainers and fitness instructors would like you to know they're here for you during this hectic time -- and they'd really, really like you to come in. They're so concerned about the slide toward flabdom that, even before Thanksgiving leftovers are history, they're offering special classes, parties and workout sessions to bolster your flagging motivation and make sure you don't opt for sloth over svelte.
If the major get-in-shape push from clubs comes at the first of the year and the beginning of summer, this is more of a stay-in-shape push. Gyms are livening things up for the holidays, hoping to be more tempting than cheesecake -- or at least offering a way to do penance for eating it. Trainers are leaving nothing to chance, mapping out strategies for their clients to maneuver past holiday pitfalls. Instructors are offering abbreviated classes, operating under the premise that a little activity is better than none.
"I think it's better to keep an even keel going versus that panic that comes Jan. 1, when people feel they have to make their New Year's resolutions," says Toni Brown, group fitness director for Spectrum Athletic Clubs.
Although the fabled average holiday weight gain of 7 to 10 pounds has been blasted (it's really only a pound or so), fitness experts say there's danger in slipping out of the exercise habit.
"It's easy to get sidetracked because you're always going to be busy and have challenges," says Marcus Pierce, a master trainer at 24 Hour Fitness in Hollywood. "No one likes to keep starting over. Today you'll wake up thinking that you'll start again on Jan. 1, and that'll drag on until February."
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Holiday workout treats
The Spectrum in Rolling Hills is offering a one-time Doggie and Me hike in December, "so that the pooches don't get too puffy" along with their owners, Brown says. "People just have to break away from the craziness and shopping and get in here." Spectrum's Howard Hughes club in Los Angeles booked a DJ for an Afro Brazilian Beat class in December. He'll venture into the club afterward to pump up members as they head into the home stretch toward New Year's.
