I'm Dr. Shannon Ritchie.

I'm a doctor of physical therapy, fitness trainer, and founder of Ethelope Fitness.

In the Dr. Shannon show, you'll learn applicable tools to improve your health based on science.

Welcome to the show.

Hi, everyone, welcome back.

The holidays are approaching, and they're often a time of the year where we fall off our healthy habits.

If you're like me, maybe you find yourself drinking a little bit more when you're around family and friends.

I'm not always as consistent with exercise, and I'm also eating out a lot more, indulging more in general. And I don't necessarily think

that it's realistic to expect everyone to stay 100% consistent with their food and training

over the holidays. In my past, having that expectation gave me kind of an all-or-nothing mentality

in which I didn't end up exercising at all, and I kind of fueled in ways that just did not make me feel

good. So I want to create a podcast in which this information can help you achieve a mindset

of maintenance and gentle consistency over the holidays.

So you ultimately feel really good.

And you don't feel like you completely fall off, but you also don't feel like you have to be perfectly adhering to your routine.

When in reality, we're all going through a little higher stress right now, maybe travel, maybe in different locations.

So expecting gentle consistency and maintenance is great during this time.

So if you're like me, you might be eating in a little bit of an overall calorie surplus over the holidays.

And eating in a calorie surplus is not always bad for

reaching your goals. In fact, building muscle while in a surplus is slightly easier, and you may

feel really strong with lots of fuel. So it's a good time to take advantage of strength training

and building muscle. So with strength training, what should we prioritize? Prioritize strength training close to failure.

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