Try a holiday exercise streak

Even a little activity can make the holidays merry and bright

A lot of us are staring down the next six weeks with some trepidation. Work is often busy as people try to get ahead of vacations and any end-of-year deadlines. If you have kids, they no doubt have extra concerts, class parties, and the like. You may be hosting family, or traveling, and then there are all those presents to buy and wrap. If you’re an adult managing a lot of responsibilities, it can be hard to feel merry and bright.

So fitting in daily exercise might not seem like the most appealing idea. But there’s pretty solid evidence that even a short amount of physical activity — like less than 20 minutes — can completely change your mood. Life feels doable. You feel more energetic. Some people think of exercise in the context of burning off extra calories from holiday foods, but I find it really hard to care about that. Instead, to me, exercise is about tapping into your super powers so you can do all the amazing things that you are capable of doing.

Aim for every day

To that end, I’m planning on undertaking a holiday exercise streak. I plan to do at least 15 minutes of physical activity every day between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. I invite you to join me! I usually run a couple days a week, and work out with a trainer once, and I’ll make sure to add in a brisk walk on any other days.

Think about what kind of exercise works best for you, and feel free to switch it up to be more appealing or doable. Maybe two days a week you go to an exercise class at your gym. One morning you do a yoga video. Two days you walk with colleagues at lunch, and then two other days you lift weights. Or maybe you’ve got an indoor pool where you swim laps three mornings a week. The other days you go for a brisk walk around the block with your dog. Maybe a friend would be willing to join you in this streak, so you can hold each other accountable and work out together too.

Make a plan

It might also help to think through each week and think roughly about when you’ll exercise each day. For instance, you might see that an upcoming Tuesday and Thursday are going to be go-go-go all day long — which might motivate you to set the alarm a little earlier and run on the treadmill before the craziness begins. But maybe an upcoming Friday is more relaxed, so you and a friend could meet for a walk mid-afternoon.

Now, for many things, I do believe that often is as good as always, and that’s generally true with exercise too. There’s no real upside to exercising 7 days a week vs., let’s say, 5 or 6.

But given that the holidays can get hectic, and we are often diverging from our usual schedules, I find the idea of a streak helps with cutting down on excuses. When you commit to doing something every day, you stop asking “should I exercise today?” Instead, the question becomes “when will I exercise today?” That’s not a question of motivation. It’s just a matter of logistics.

And I believe that even during the holidays, it’s almost always possible to find 15 minutes. If you have to break that up into 3 5-minute chunks that’s fine too. Whatever you can do is great. And by laying the ground work for finding the time to exercise in all kinds of crazy circumstances, you’ll have no problem keeping the exercise habit into the new year. You know that on a go-go-go day you can wake up 20 minutes early and jump on the treadmill. You know that one of your friends has fairly free Friday afternoons and is generally up for meeting. You’ll be able to continue with these discoveries well into the new year, even if you’re no longer aiming for daily. The foundation has been laid.