One study found that the average American tends to gain five or more pounds between Thanksgiving and New Years Eve.

Don’t wait until the New Year to start your fitness resolutions.  You should start now to ward off those unwanted pounds. You don’t necessarily have to diet and exercise like a maniac, over the holidays: you just need to modify your behavior.

And don’t use exercise as a punishment for overeating either. Exercise should be used to improve your life, not something to do “to work off that big holiday meal you ate yesterday.” Think of exercise to add quality to your life, not as something you do to just cancel bad lifestyle choices.

During the holiday season, it’s especially challenging to be healthy given our busy schedules and the abundance of tempting treats. Acknowledge that you may give in to temptation. But when that happens, instead of throwing all healthy behaviors out the window all together, take steps to engage in the healthiest behaviors that you possibly can so that you don’t have to start over in the New Year.

Ok, so that is my lecture for today, now what can be done to ward off those holiday pounds? Join me as I take you through 12 Days of Cardiogolf to not only improve your golf swing, but also get some exercise at the same time.

Day 1- Stretch

Studies show that there is a correlation between stretching and relieving stress. Stress can restrict blood flow causing muscles to tighten. Stretching can help increase your circulation to loosen muscles and counter the effects of stress.

Stretch as many days a week as you can.

To play golf at your full potential you must have the ability to rotate almost every joint in your body to its functional capacity. If there are restrictions in the shoulders, torso, pelvis or hips, there will be compensations somewhere else in the musculoskeletal system, which results in faults in the golf swing and possible injury to joints and muscles.

External Shoulder Rotation

1.  Extend your arm above your head.
2. Reach over your shoulder and touch the top inside corner of the opposite shoulder blade, palm facing inwards.
3. Hold position for 30 seconds.
4. Repeat on the opposite arm.

Do 8 to 10 repetitions on both sides.