During the holidays, getting regular exercise is really important because it can help you burn calories and lose weight, even on days when you allow yourself an extra treat. Here are some exercises that are good to do during the holiday season.
Indoor Workouts
A really good option for exercising during the holidays is to choose some indoor workouts. There are a few reasons for this. First, it tends to be colder during the holiday season, so it isn’t always possible to go on a walk or a hike at a local park. Working out indoors, especially in your own home, also helps to encourage you to exercise even when you don’t feel motivated to get dressed and head to the gym. Here are some options for exercising inside your home:
Do a workout DVD
Try some couch exercises, such as weight lifting or yoga to do in front of your TV
Buy a treadmill, bicycle, or elliptical to use
Have fun on an indoor trampoline
Go Shopping
You can also take advantage of certain activities you will already be doing during the holiday season that can also help you get in some more exercise. For example, when you are holiday shopping, skip the big box store and head to the mall instead. With such a big parking lot, you can park in the back and burn some calories just by walking to the mall entrance. You can take the stairs instead of the escalator or elevator, and walk down the entire length of the mall on every floor to get a great workout.
Find Holiday Runs
Many areas will have charity runs during the holiday season that will encourage you to exercise. When you sign up for one of these runs, you will probably want to get some conditioning in, so you will be walking and running for days or weeks leading up to the 5k or whatever type of run it is. Then on the day of the event, you get in a really good workout and help a local charity at the same time. This might be a Turkey Trot fun run during Thanksgiving, a type of 5 or 10k around Christmastime, or even as a New Year’s celebration. Check with your local city or town to see if these events will occur.