Featured News

02 March 2018, Tramsheds

From keeping your hydration levels in check to making sure your hair doesn’t fry in the heat this summer, here are a few tips for looking after yourself this festive season.

GROOMING
For Luca Livaccari, co-owner of Moe & Co at Tramsheds, hair protection is just as important as skin protection if you’re spending long days at the beach this summer. Leaving your hair unprotected in the sun leads to a weakening of the hair follicle, making it much harder to style, so you’ll battle with keeping it smooth and healthy. He recommends seeking out a good heat-protection product for before-sun use. For after-sun care, try a leave-in conditioner or a light natural hair oil to smooth any frayed ends. 

Everyone’s skin is different of course, but if you’re partial to a close shave, don’t skip the aftershave, which works to close the hair follicle and reduce irritation. Your skin is a lot more prone to the sun after a shave, so keep up the sunscreen routine, and make sure you use proper shaving creams and razors so your face doesn’t break out in rashes and bumps.

For the bearded folk among us, Luca recommends a beard jelly (you can pick one of these up at Moe & Co). It’s a little heavier than the more traditional beard oil, so it’s ideal for thicker, longer beads, which have a tendency to go a little haywire in the heat and humidity and require extra protein. 

FITNESS
Our go-to for fitness instruction is world-champion mixed martial artist and owner of Boxing Works, Larry Papadopoulos. Larry works with many top athletes such as the Sydney Roosters and the Sydney Swans, and aims to not only build fitness in his trainees, but also give them a skillset they can take out into the world. “A lot of bigger fitness chain gyms offer Boxercise or Kick-Boxercise – you can do that anywhere,” says Larry, “but there’s no actual teaching of technique at those gyms, it’s just a workout. At Boxing Works we offer a skillset, people learn something and can see that they’re progressing week to week.” 

Even if you’re on a coarse to athletic greatness, the Christmas holidays can chuck quite the spanner in the training works. It’s a time when even the most dedicated let things fall to the wayside. So, if your aim is to stay trim and fit these holidays, Larry has some ideas.

Plan
One of the worst things you can do over Christmas is completely let yourself go – all boozing no moving – and then punish yourself in the gym in the first week back at work. To stay on top of things, it all comes down to planning. “People who are really interested in getting fit should plan about a month ahead,” says Larry. Figure out a routine on when you’re going to exercise, when you’ll eat and when you’ll hydrate. Really try to stick to it. Try to accumulate workouts throughout the day rather than in one big block – smaller higher-intensity chunks are usually the best. 

Bank it up
Pre-holidays is a great time to bank two weeks of really solid workouts, which will keep you in great stead for the break ahead. Then, use your holiday time as recovery before regeneration. This doesn’t mean you should stop training completely, but it means you can do different things that keep you interested and things that are fun, such as swimming or hiking. Keep that up so when you come back you won’t be as undertrained or behind. 

Find a partner
If you can find someone to train with, it really helps, says Larry. Ideally it’ll be your partner, child or other family member – you can motivate each other and turn it into a fun activity rather than a slog. 

Hydrate
Larry makes sure he hydrates all the time, even during holiday recovery. “Fluid is a big one over Christmas,” he says, “especially if it’s hot. Heat makes it especially hard to maintain fluid levels.” Sports drinks are good if you’re sweating heaps, but remember to treat them as a sport drink and not an everyday thing, and don’t brush your teeth within half an hour because they are actually really corrosive for your teeth!

HEALTH
We all know Christmas and the holidays are filled with good food, drink and merry times, but if you don’t want to head into a new year a few kilos heavier,
Larry recommends not skipping the indulgence of all the Christmas treats on offer, but only have a little bit. “It’s not what you’re eating, it’s the volume,” he says. “Have one or two mince pies instead of 10. Obviously try and avoid straight-up lollies and stuff, but if you are going to have a mince pie or pudding, it’s not a drama, have a bit then save the rest for later.” Also, add plenty of dried fruit, nuts and seeds to your Christmas banquet – Naked Foods at Tramsheds has plenty of options.