Staying fit can be challenging during the holidays with all of the extra time commitments they bring. The holidays are a wonderful time to visit with family and friends, travel to different places, and attend social events. However, this is a great time to embrace flexibility with your fitness instead of completely stopping your routine and resuming it after the holiday season.
Let’s delve into the compelling reasons why sticking to your fitness routine amidst the holiday hustle is not just beneficial but essential. By maintaining your current routine, you’ll ward off the bloating effects of holiday indulgence, preserve your muscle mass, and combat the stress that often accompanies this festive season. This is your opportunity to survive and thrive through the holidays, feeling energized and inspired.
Studies have shown that regular exercise helps improve your mental well-being, particularly during stressful periods like the holiday season (Zureigat et al., 2024). Being adaptable with your routine versus completely stopping it will prevent you from having training setbacks.
Contrary to popular belief, you only gain a little weight during the holidays. Foods consumed during the holiday season tend to contain more sugar and are simple-carb-based, which can cause bloating. Holiday drinks, whether they contain alcohol or not, tend to have more carbonation and sugar, and water intake tends to decrease, causing slower digestion. That, coupled with less sleep, will impede the body’s ability to recover and digest food.
Shifting your focus to staying consistent with your routine, even if it means dropping one day or reducing the duration of your workout sessions, will help you stay consistent. Working out provides the body with movement to help aid in digestion and stress reduction. Plus, when you sweat more, you will naturally drink more water.
You may feel the urge to increase the intensity of your workouts or add more cardio sessions because you may feel the holiday bloat. I urge you to keep your workout intensity the same. Increased intensity of workouts can impact your recovery because your stress levels stay higher than when sleeping.
Here are some strategies to help you maintain your fitness routine during the holiday season.
- Short walks: Get outside at midday or early morning light for a quick walk. This helps mitigate stress, clear your mind, and get a healthy dose of vitamin D (Brockis, 2024).
- Bodyweight Workouts: If you typically workout at a gym but driving to the gym is not possible during the holiday season, switch your exercise routine to bodyweight exercises. You can do push-ups, squats, lunges, planks, and burpees at home or in a park. These exercises will help you maintain your strength when you cannot make it to the gym (National Academy of Sports Medicine, 2022).
- Plan movement activities: Take a family walk during get-togethers, dance at parties, or incorporate activity-based traditions into your holiday season.
- Traveling: Most hotels have a workout room with cardio equipment and weights—schedule time to work out while staying at a hotel. If you do not feel comfortable working out in the hotel gym, do a bodyweight workout in your hotel room. If you are exploring a new area, look for walking tours, nature preserves, or other areas to get your movement in.
Even with these practical tips, I understand that life around the holidays can be unpredictable, which is okay. Sometimes, even with the best plan, things happen. This is where being adaptable and maintaining realistic expectations during this time will allow you to remain consistent. Remember, progress, NOT perfection, is the overall goal. Showing up for a 5-minute mobility session, five squats, or a 5-minute walk is better than skipping a 35-40 minute routine because you don’t have the allotted time to complete the whole workout. Be kind to yourself, and remember that every small step counts.
Maintaining fitness over the holidays is easier said than done with all the New Year, New You advertisements, which often promote drastic changes and unrealistic expectations. Remember, you know your plan, energy levels, and life. Focus on yourself and what you can do without being rigidly perfect with your fitness routine. Remind yourself of how far you have come. CELEBRATE every SMALL action taken. These small actions are the glue that keeps you moving forward to achieving those BIG goals.
If you need to pause your routine, then write that into your plan. Taking breaks is okay. Life can get overwhelming, and it’s normal to need a breather. But don’t let the time you need to take off prevent you from restarting. When you restart, focus on one workout at a time. Feeling a little sluggish or experiencing a slight regression in your progress is normal. This doesn’t mean all your gains have been lost due to this break. Research shows that losing some fitness can allow for greater gains. Keep showing up intentionally without punishing yourself for taking the time you need. Your journey is unique, and it’s important to take it at your own pace.
Lastly, remember that you are your worst critic and best cheerleader. If you criticize yourself for perceived fitness failures, then you won’t keep showing up. If you exercise self-compassion, cheer yourself on, and recognize every small action taken, you will continue to be motivated to do more. Remember, you are in it for the long-term benefits, which means being flexible and adaptable.
References:
1. Brockis, Jenny. The Natural Advantage: How more time outside reduces stress, improves health and boosts social connection. Major Street Publishing, 2024.
2. National Academy of Sports Medicine. (2022). NASM Essentials of Personal Fitness Training (7th ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning.
3. Zureigat, H, Osborne, M, Abohashem, S. et al. Effect of Stress-Related Neural Pathways on the Cardiovascular Benefit of Physical Activity. JACC. 2024 Apr, 83 (16) 1543–1553.