Holiday Fitness

Kathleen Querner, a professor from Sinclair’s sports department, and Sinclair students share tips on how to stay fit and healthy this holiday season.
With the holidays being right around the corner, our activity levels decline while our feasting increases so it is important to still maintain a healthy lifestyle as the festivities ensue. Querner teaches exercise wellness courses and explains that an average adult needs 150 minutes a week of moderate activity.

“It doesn’t have to be in a row… you can break it up to about 30 minutes a day,” Querner said.
Ashley Hirn is an exercise science major and shares her workout regimen when asked how she stays fit during the holidays.
“I exercise a lot…I try to be at the gym at least four days a week,” Hirn said. She explained that getting in just one day a week will keep you on track and on the way to a healthy lifestyle.
For a lot of students, finding time and the means to lead a healthy lifestyle is difficult. “We can use our couch for exercise instead of sitting on it,” Querner said. Querner elaborates on some exercises that can be done inside your house in case you do not have access to a gym or if it is too frigid to go outside and workout.
She explains, “You can do couch squats, dips, lunges, pushups, and side planks.” It may take the creativity of using your furniture as gym equipment but a healthy lifestyle is doable.
Querner lends some helpful ideas to be active with your family while having fun and keeping everybody involved. “Instead of sitting all day with your family it would be a good idea to go out for a walk or go to the park together and play around.” A round of flag football was one suggestion by Andrea Kofoed, a health science major. It is a better way to use energy instead of watching a movie after consuming a big meal.
Our supply of delicious food is in abundance this holiday season and everyone wants a treat but moderation is the key. When asking Sinclair students about how they stay fit during the holidays, portion control was a resounding theme. Davida Stanley, a dental hygiene major, explains” I would say portion out your food and not pack it on your plate…just try to get a little bit of everything.”
Kofoed shares her advice too, “It’s really tempting to dive in and eat as much as you want… I just watch what I eat.”
“We don’t have to eat all the cookies just because they are there – you can eat one or two cookies and save the rest for another day,” Querner explains.
It is okay to indulge this holiday season but it is not an excuse to slack off from a healthy regimen. Staying fit this holiday is an easy formula that is solved with exercise and moderation.