Hello! Today I want to talk workouts, specifically what my weekly workouts looked like through this year’s holiday season. I kept my fitness goals throughout the holidays simple:

1. To maintain my activity levels as much as possible.
2. To be realistic and not add on additional workouts, new regimens, or too many fitness commitments to an already busy month.
3. To show myself some kindness and not stress about skipped workouts or weeks with less workouts because of other commitments.

Keeping my goals relaxed and not adding anything too new to my routine definitely helped me stay active throughout December. Actually, the only really different thing that I added was not even at the gym! Ever since getting my Fitbit, I’ve cultivated a new morning routine at work. I now take six flights of stairs twice every morning before starting my day. I really enjoy starting my work days like this because even if I don’t get to take a walk break during the rest of the day, at the very least, I’ve done those killer six flights two times!

At the gym, I’ve stuck to mainly spin classes and metabolic workouts for cardio. For strength, I mixed things up between the Modern Women’s Guide to Strength Training, Neghar Fonooni’s Lean and Lovely workouts, and the chinning workouts at the end of this post from Bret Contreras.

Here’s what my weeks looked like throughout the holidays. Feel free to use these plans as weekly workout inspiration for yourself! I know today tends to be a big day for people to start on their new fitness goals, so maybe this will help you. <3

Workouts: Sunday 11/23 – Saturday 11/29

• Sunday: Strength + spin bike cardio finisher
• Monday: 1 mile treadmill warmup + decreasing row and medicine ball circuit + windmills
• Tuesday: Taught my overhead burn workout for a partner class, then stayed to lift on my own
• Wednesday: Emily’s cycle and core class
• Thursday: Thanksgiving! Tim and I did a metabolic resistance circuit together in the morning
• Friday: Two A Day was back for one day! Liz taught Kickboxing at 8:30 and I taught Interval Training at 9:30
• Saturday: Rest

Workouts: Sunday 11/30 – Saturday 12/7

• Sunday: Attempted an outdoor run, but I only made it 2 miles before my knee started acting up, so I ended up walking the last mile home
• Monday: Morning total body strength workout
• Tuesday: Taught/did a gliding disc workout in class
• Wednesday: Emily’s cycle and core class in the morning + a Studio Empower class at night with gym friends
• Thursday: Taught/did an upper body pulsing reps workout in class + 30 minute power walk on the treadmill
• Friday: 15 minutes of yoga, stretching, and breath work after work
• Saturday: 15 minutes on the spin bike + metabolic resistance circuit + medicine ball slam finisher

Workouts: Sunday 12/7 – Saturday 12/13

• Sunday: Rest
• Monday: Eccentric/isometric upper body strength work + 12 minutes on the spin bike + 1 minute bosu burpee finisher
• Tuesday: Taught/did a lower body pulsing reps workout in class
• Wednesday: Emily’s cycle and core class
• Thursday: Taught and did a workout that revolved around the moves sit, sit up, stand, crawl, and jump. So fun.
• Friday: Strength workout + 20 minutes of treadmill walking
• Saturday: Rest

Workouts: Sunday 12/14 – Saturday 12/20

• Sunday: Metabolic resistance circuit with Tim
• Monday: Upper body strength
• Tuesday: Taught and did a variation of this warm right up winter workout
• Wednesday: Rest
• Thursday: Taught and did my infamous run, run, reindeer workout in class
• Friday: Subbed Heidi’s cycle and core class
• Saturday: Late afternoon lift for lower body strength

Workouts: Sunday 12/21 – Saturday 12/27

• Sunday: Took Emily’s 20/20/20 class
• Monday: Morning strength workout that consisted of deadlifts, a chinning circuit, and an oblique superset
• Tuesday: Taught and did my down the chimney up the chimney workout in my morning class, then took Liz’s kickboxing class (her last one! sad!) at night
• Wednesday: Christmas Eve – rest day
• Thursday: Christmas – rest day
• Friday: 30 minutes of cardio on the spin bike + chinning circuit
• Saturday: Lower body strength

Workouts: Sunday 12/28 – Saturday 1/3

• Sunday: Rest
• Monday: Upper body strength workout
• Tuesday: Taught and did my last morning class of 2014 with a legs and shoulder strength focus
• Wednesday: Emily’s 6am cycle and core class
• Thursday: New Year’s Day – did a 25 minute kettlebell workout at home
• Friday: 15 minute bodyweight workout while away
• Saturday: Winter hike with friends
• Sunday: Rest

Readers, let’s chat! Did you stay active through the holiday season this year? If so, how were you able to do it? If not, how are you showing yourself kindness and accepting that things simply did not go as planned? What fitness goals will you be tackling this month?

I bit the bullet and joined Neghar’s Lean and Lovely community over the weekend, so I see a lot of those workouts in my future!