‘Tis the season to be …busy! Don’t get your tinsel in a tangle with the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. If you’re looking to have the hap-hap-happiest holiday, check out the many reasons why exercising during the holidays is essential!
1. More Energy
Want to feel Merry and Bright? Consider exercising!
Did you know? Exercise offers that extra boost of energy and cognitive function you may need to finish wrapping the gifts and decking the halls. (1)
READ MORE: 8 Tips To Stay Energized Over The Holidays
2. Helps With The Seasonal Blues
It isn’t the most wonderful time of the year for everyone. For those who have recently lost family members, struggle with loneliness, or just need an escape from too much family togetherness, exercise can help! Taking a brisk walk can help increase feel-good hormones by increasing the brain’s ability to take up serotonin from the blood and increase dopamine production (2). So, get out there, and go for a walk (or any type of physical activity that brings you joy)!
READ MORE: Tips To Manage Stress Over The Holidays
3. Better Sleep
Dreaming of a silent and peaceful night? Exercise can help! Some of the benefits of physical activity on brain health occur immediately after a session of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, including improved sleep. Deep sleep is crucial to your overall health and to feeling well rested and energetic when you wake up in the morning. (3) Some times a sleep aid like melatonin can help get the sleep you deserve.
4. Helps Prevent Weight Gain
It’s no surprise that most people gain weight over the holidays, when a typical holiday dinner alone can carry a load of 3,000 calories. Saint Nick may not mind gaining a pound over the holidays, but a recent review published in Physiology & Behavior found that most of us never lose that pound! Year after year, this annual holiday weight gain can lead to health problems such as obesity, heart disease, and Type 2 diabetes. (4)
5. Supports Immune Health
Rocking around the Christmas tree and making spirits bright may take a toll on immune health. Exercise helps to support a healthy immune system by lowering harmful levels of stress
hormones, promoting “good” bacteria in the gut, and maintaining healthy circulation of immune cells through the body (5). In addition, exercise makes you feel healthier and better about yourself.
6. Helps to Maintain a Schedule and Structure
Just because the holidays are here, doesn’t mean you have to ditch your routine. Remember your why! Why is your diet and fitness routine so important to you? People who exercise regularly are better able to handle their stress levels and have improved emotional wellbeing.
READ MORE: Tips For Exercise While Traveling
Above all, if you go off track during the holiday season, skip the shame. Don’t give up, let go of perfectionism, and instead set realistic and obtainable goals for holiday exercise. After all, tomorrow is another day.
References
1. 9 tips to boost your energy — naturally – Harvard Health 2. Exercise and Its Effects on Serotonin & Dopamine Levels (azcentral.com) 3. Benefits of Physical Activity | Physical Activity | CDC 4. A Prospective Study of Holiday Weight Gain – PMC (nih.gov) 5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6523821/pdf/main.pdf
