How to Stay Motivated During the Holidays

Every year, November and December claim more fitness streaks than injury and illness combined. The holidays arrive with the best of intentions — I'll keep going, I'll just eat a little less, I'll be back in January — and then January shows up and we're starting over from scratch.

I've coached through a lot of holiday seasons. Here's what I've learned about what actually works versus what people tell themselves works.

The Real Problem With Holiday Motivation

It's not the parties. It's not the travel. It's not the food. The real problem is that the holidays break your routine — and once the routine is gone, every single workout becomes a decision you have to make from scratch. That's exhausting, and most of the time you don't make it.

The fix isn't willpower. The fix is shrinking the decision.

Strategy 1: Schedule Two, Keep Two

Most people try to keep their full schedule through the holidays and fail. A better approach: decide in advance that you're doing two workouts per week, period. Not three, not your usual five — two. Schedule them like doctor appointments. Don't negotiate.

Two workouts a week through November and December means you've maintained your habit, kept your fitness base, and you haven't given yourself permission to start over in January. It's enough to stay in the game.

Strategy 2: Use the Class Format to Your Advantage

The hardest part of working out during the holidays is summoning the motivation to go when everything is disrupted. Group classes solve this problem because the schedule exists whether you show up or not. The class is at 8 AM on Thursday. That's a fact. You either show up or you don't.

When I talk to members who make it through the holidays consistently, almost all of them say the same thing: the class is on the calendar, my name is on the roster, and I know people are expecting me. That social pressure — friendly as it is — is often the only thing that gets them out the door.

Strategy 3: Anchor to Something That Didn't Change

Find one part of your routine that doesn't change during the holidays and attach your workouts to it. If you always have coffee at 7 AM, that's the anchor — workout at 8 AM. If you always walk the dog in the morning, do that first, then go to class.

The anchor doesn't make you motivated. It makes the workout an extension of something you're already doing, which means the decision becomes automatic instead of effortful.

Strategy 4: Don't Try to Earn the Food

Working out to "burn off" holiday food is a trap. It makes food the point of the workout, which means every workout you skip feels justified ("I didn't eat that much today anyway") and every workout you do is contingent on guilt. That's not a sustainable relationship with exercise.

Go to class because it makes you feel good, because the community is there, because you're a person who works out. Not because you had pie.

What to Do If You've Already Fallen Off

Come back. The threshold is just showing up once — after that, it's momentum. Don't start next week. Don't start January 1st. Book a class for today or tomorrow and go.

We're always welcoming people back. That's what this community is for.

If you've been away and you're not sure if you're ready to come back, try a cycling class — it's low-impact, you control your own intensity, and you can ease back in without feeling like you're behind everyone else in the room.

The $40 two-week trial is open year-round. There's no better time to restart than right now.