By Marissa Del Mistro

Keep your holiday fitness routine going all season with these tips. Whether you’re a runner or enjoy other exercises, the holidays can be a challenging time of year. With all the parties, the cold weather, and tempting holiday eats, it’s easy to skip workouts and overindulge. But, working out is the best way to beat holiday stress, improve your mental health, and boost your energy levels for a better holiday season. The holiday season is always very busy: family time, dinners, events, and end-of-year work deadlines. With so many commitments, it can be easy to let your holiday fitness goals take a backseat. But keeping to your running goals and routine will help you stay healthy and happy and banish extra stress.

The holiday season is always very busy: family time, dinners, events, and end-of-year work deadlines. With so many commitments, it can be easy to let your holiday fitness goals slide, but keeping to your running goals and routine will help you stay healthy and happy.

Why Run During the Holidays?

The holidays can be a stressful time with a lot of juggling to do, which makes running and fitness so important for stress relief. Healthy habits like running offer an outlet that can help boost your mood and banish stress. A little sweat can do wonders to put you in the right mindset for a happier holiday season.

The holidays are also a time of overindulgence, with delicious, rich foods and a few extra glasses of wine, so maintaining balance and getting outside for fresh air is essential. Whether you run or do another form of exercise like hike, sticking to an exercise habit will help you stay mentally and physically healthy during this time of the year.

Also, if you suffer from seasonal affective disorder or another type of depression, regular aerobics workouts can help boost your mood to cope with the extra darkness and shortest days of the year. Workouts will also help improve your energy levels and fight the fatigue that is so common during the winter months.

If you can maintain even a few weekly workouts, you'll feel a lot better over the holidays. Below are some of our top holiday fitness tips to stay active:

15 Holiday Fitness Tips

1. Strive for maintenance

Now is not the time for reaching your personal best times or trying to hit new records. Instead, focus on maintaining your fitness. If you are a beginner or just getting back into running, aim for 2 to 3 runs per week at 20 minutes to start. This is realistic in a busy week, as you can even squeeze in your run on a lunch break or before work.

The holidays are a great time for base runs at a relaxed, easy pace to maintain your endurance and fitness level.

2. Plan ahead

When you are planning out your holiday events, take the time to schedule runs and workouts in advance. This will help you stick to your workout plan without getting blindsided by a busy social calendar.

3. Create a festive playlist

Bring on the holiday tunes! So many big celebrities have created upbeat remixes to Christmas classics and Hannukah songs that are brilliant to play for your run. There are also plenty of Kwanza songs to choose from.

4. Find a race or competition for a holiday fitness boost

Why wait til January to kick-start your racing? Most cities and towns offer fun, holiday-themed runs and events. Some of the runs even encourage runners to dress up in festive outfits! Find a holiday fun run in your area. You can ask a family member or workout buddy to join so you can keep doing what you love with the people you love. Even if it's not your best time, you'll feel a sense of pride in your running achievements.

5. Focus on balance

Things are going to happen over the holiday season that you can’t always control. Maybe you must work late and miss your training, or you had a few too many drinks with friends and opt for the additional sleep instead (this is necessary too!) It’s okay! You can try again tomorrow. Focus on balance, and opt for healthy food while at home, drinking plenty of water and knowing that rest is also key.

6. Join fitness challenges with your friends and family

There are plenty of charities that appreciate your support. Why not take part in a festive fitness challenge with your loved ones to keep your holiday fitness streak running strong? For example, you could do the 25 miles of Christmas or 50 miles to 100 miles! Create an online fundraising platform to stay motivated and donate dollars to your favorite charity.

7. Short still counts

If you find you’re short on time, you can still get in a short distance run (even 1 mile) where you can focus on speed or do some hill work to really get your heart rate up.

8. Mix it up

Cross-training offers many benefits for runners and shouldn’t be overlooked in your holiday fitness plan. Keep things interesting with HIIT workouts at home, which can be 20 minutes. Or, try something different such as pilates, yoga, spin, or a strength workout like a planks or push-ups challenge. Your holiday season is likely much busier and different from your normal routine, so let your workout reflect that fun and variety.

9. Make your runs social

Get your running buddies together to mix fun and fitness by running before a holiday happy hour or arrange runs in neighborhoods where you can see all the fun Christmas lights and holiday decorations along the way. Or run to a local café that features sweet, festive drinks to fuel up post-run.

10. Join a running group

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If you aren’t in a running group, this is a great time to join one. It’s a fantastic motivator, a way to meet new folks, and really helps with structure. A running group can be in person or online if you feel the commitment to an in-person group is too much.

11. Make new healthy traditions

The holidays are wrapped in traditions and routines for many people, with activities they have been doing for decades. Why not create a new holiday fitness routine for a healthy tradition with your loved ones?! Sign up for a race together, join a fitness challenge, or do a family walk together after holiday meals.

12. Enjoy new fitness gear

Have you been eyeing a new tracking watch? Or maybe specific winter running gear, running shoes, a GPS running watch, or running socks? Treat yourself to some new running gear this holiday season. The right gear will help motivate you and improve your confidence!

13. Adapt to changes

The holidays often bring schedule changes with travel and events. Being able to adjust your workout time and what you do will help you adapt to changes. Have some indoor workout ideas or travel workouts you can do with minimal equipment, and you’ll be able to roll with life’s fluctuations.

14. Stay hydrated

There are many benefits of staying hydrated, from improving your sleep to making your workouts go more smoothly. Drinking enough fluids will help you to stay healthy and function at your best this holiday season.

15. Sweat out the stress

Focus on the joy that holiday fitness brings. Exercise is a natural stress reliever in an often high-stress season, and helps keep your mood and energy up, and creative juices flowing. Holiday fitness routines can also help you enjoy the physical benefits of exercise. Routine is usually very helpful for runners, so sticking to one will be good, but go easy on yourself. The holidays are fleeting, so try and enjoy what you can without being too hard on yourself. If you miss a workout, you can get back to your regular program the next day.

Marissa Del Mistro is a writer, editor, and always on the hunt for the perfect workout. Marissa absolutely loves trail running, dancing, and cycling. When she’s not writing, Marissa loves cooking, podcasts, traveling, and exploring her home in the beautiful unceded Coast Salish Territory of the Lekwungen and W̱SÁNEĆ nations.

15 Holiday Fitness Tips to Stay Active