Words by Beth Franklin

Christmas is over, the new year is here and oh boy, have I been struggling to get moving again. Social media is filled with posts about a fresh year, and kicking off the new year with so much ferocity, I swear, pushed me further into my chocolate-filled sofa nest.

If you’re one of the people who jumps at the fresh new year, I truly commend you, and even in the past year that has been me, but this year…this year the struggle is very real, and I’ve been desperate to get some movement back into my routine. Not least because when I paddled out last I was so out of breath you’d think I’d never surfed before.

2022 was probably the most active year of my adult life, so coming into the new year feeling the most unmotivated was a bit jarring and honestly, made me feel even worse. It wasn’t until I hit this spell that I realised how much I had relied on exercise to help my mental health in the darker months, and I was really struggling to find something that would get me moving again. So here if what I learnt about getting back into fitness after Christmas.

First of all, be gentle with yourself – it’s taken me a while to learn, but you have to rest when your body tells you. We’re not saying never push yourself that extra bit, but learning to recognise when pushing will be to your detriment is a huge key to a successful and sustainable fitness journey.

One thing that I credit to keeping me going throughout 2022, was the fact I got a little sheet from etsy and a page of stickers. Everytime I worked out I gave myself a sticker, and each month I’d narrow it down with things like if I can get like 25 stickers for this month I’ll get this new book (or much to my partner’s dismay a new glass to drink from). I’d even give myself small challenges like “if I can do one day of movement while I’m on my period I’ll get myself a Lush bath bomb”. Similar to what my 3-year old niece uses to track her good behaviour, but it really worked for me.

Tracking my workouts helped with accountability, but coming into the new year with no motivation or inspiration meant even looking for new workouts felt like a chore, especially since I’d repeated last year multiple times; Enter the Surf Girl Premium 4-week Fitness Programme.

This programme gives you the next four weeks of your health journey on one page. You can get your hands on the Surf Girl Premium membership and follow it for the next week. We have a tendency to be super hard on ourselves and it’s easy to write down an intense plan to challenge yourself but in reality it’s too much. There’s no space to breathe or get some recovery in.

Heather Lewis putting Beth through her paces this month with the ‘Sweat with Heather’ workouts which are part of the 4-Week Back to Fitness Programme.

 The Surf Girl 4-Week Fitness Programme is an all rounder that I’ve found allows me to focus on my fitness, but also overall wellness. The first workout really challenged me. However, when I finished, I felt accomplished and I don’t know if it was Heather’s encouragement or the fact that I could see what everyday of the next four weeks of my health journey looked like but I couldn’t wait to come back for more.

This programme isn’t filled with HIIT workouts everyday that have someone screaming in your face that you aren’t doing enough. There are some amazing workouts to challenge yourself of course, but some days are small movements you could add to the end of a bigger workout or just take a minute or two to do for yourself.

Every Sunday is a rest day, but that doesn’t mean you don’t get a chance to learn, whether that’s the January reboot (which was the perfect way to round off week one and keep me going) or how best to power your body with nutrition. Not to mention watching one of these videos forced me to slow down, take a minute to just sit and listen. It was a welcome moment of calm in the usual rush around for the week ahead.

The four week plan has given me something to focus on every day, and has helped me feel accomplished everyday of the plan so far no matter how small or intense. Everyday I do something for myself, and something that better’s my health. The whole plan is making me more connected to my wellness, physically and mentally.

Get Fit for 2023 with our 4-week free

‘Back to Fitness’ Programme

Daily fitness challenges +

3 x follow-along workouts every week  +

Healthy eating tips

  • Download the programme, print it off and track your progress.
  • We’ve designed this programme to be achievable – no more unrealistic fitness plans that you can’t stick to!
  • The programme gets progressively harder as you move through it.
  • Get faster, fitter and stronger for 2023.
  • Work through at your own pace, anytime, anywhere, starting from 2nd January 2023.

FREE for SurfGirl Premium members

Just hit the button below to go to ‘My Account’, the download is  waiting for you there. Let’s get to it!

Not a Premium member yet?

Try a 7 Day Free Trial, no strings attached and get started on the programme. Hit the button below to find out more.