The holidays are in full swing and so your final week of training.

This phase is focused on recovery.

It's called "Active Rest" and you'll do this for the next seven days.

Always maintain excellent technique for the recommended repetitions or time.

Follow this rule if you are increasing weights or doing more reps during a timed set.

🍁 Fall Phase 4: Week 13

If your form is sloppy, lower the weight.

If your technique breaks down during a timed set, simply slow down.

If you experience injury pain, stop exercising immediately and update me regarding your health status.

The goal of this phase is to get you closer to your priority-one goal or help you maintain excellence.

Here's 🍁 Fall Phase 4: Week 13

One more thing to consider.

In order to achieve good health, you must eat healthy.

Unfortunately for most, healthy eating is a confusing concept.

Here's a simple concept that is particularly helpful around the holidays: the 80/20 rule.

The 80/20 rule is simple: 80% of the time eat clean and nutritious foods, and 20% of the time eat things you enjoy that may not be nutritionally valuable.

You can alter the ratios depending on where you are fitness and goal wise (85/15, 90/10), but especially this time of year when nutrition often goes out the window, hold yourself to at least 80/20.

The key to approaching a mindful nutrition plan is sustainability.

You can strictly regulate your nutrition to achieve whatever your goal is (say fat loss), but if that is not sustainable you’ll wind up right back where you started.

That’s why the 80/20 rule makes sense.

If you are eating clean and healthy more often than not, you’ll move in the direction you want.

Think 1% better everyday.

It will be slower than ultra-restrictive nutrition, but it is also sustainable because you are allowing yourself wiggle room to eat and drink the things you enjoy.

As time passes and 80/20 becomes more routine, you can start to adjust to 85/15 or 90/10 depending on how fast you want to make progress and how much you are willing to compromise on giving up your non-nutritious favorites.

Once again however, the key is sustainability, so make sure you’re honest with yourself about what you’re willing to give up or not give up long term.

You can also adjust your ratio based on what life dictates.

This time of year with food-focused gatherings and holiday overeating, it gets harder to stay disciplined with your nutrition.

So say you’re working on a 90/10 ratio but know you have a lot of gatherings in the next couple weeks.

Just adjust to a 80/20 ratio to keep you in the habit of monitoring your intake, then adjust when the holidays are through.

Hopefully you find this helpful, as always reach out if you have any questions.

To your success,

Coach Joe

Joseph Arangio helps 40+ men and women get leaner, stronger, and happier. He's delivered over 100,000 transformation programs to satisfied clients around the globe. If you want to lose weight from home, with the best online age-management personal trainer, or you want to visit the best longevity personal trainer in the Lehigh Valley, you can take a free 14-day trial.