Why Staying Active Over the Festive Season Matters More Than You Think

For many people, the festive season is a time of joy, connection, and well-earned rest. Calendars fill with social events, family gatherings, travel plans, and long lunches that stretch into the evening. Routines shift, gyms close for public holidays, and “I’ll start again in January” becomes an all-too-familiar phrase.

While it’s completely normal for structure to loosen over this time of year, maintaining some level of exercise and movement throughout the festive season is far more important than most people realise, particularly for long-term health, physical function, and overall wellbeing.

The Festive Season: A Perfect Storm for Inactivity

The end of the year brings together several factors that can significantly reduce daily movement:

• Disrupted routines and schedules

• Increased time spent sitting (driving, socialising, travelling)

• Hot weather and fatigue

• Reduced access to usual exercise facilities

• A mindset of “taking a break” from health habits altogether

For some, this might mean a few weeks of lower activity. For others, particularly those managing chronic conditions, pain, or mobility issues, even a short period of inactivity can have noticeable consequences.

Research consistently shows that physical deconditioning can begin surprisingly quickly. Strength, cardiovascular fitness, balance, and joint mobility can all decline within just a few weeks of reduced activity. For older adults or those with existing health conditions, these changes can be even more pronounced.

Movement Is Not Just About Burning Calories

A common misconception during the festive season is that exercise only “counts” if it’s intense or structured. In reality, movement serves many vital purposes beyond weight management.

Regular movement helps to:

• Maintain muscle mass and strength

• Support joint health and flexibility

• Regulate blood sugar levels

• Improve cardiovascular health

• Reduce stiffness and pain

• Support balance and coordination

• Improve mood, energy, and sleep quality

  
  

During the festive period, when meals are often richer and routines are less predictable, movement plays a crucial role in helping the body process glucose, manage blood pressure, and regulate stress levels.

Exercise also acts as a powerful tool for mental health. The end of the year can be emotionally demanding, with social pressure, financial stress, grief, or exhaustion often bubbling beneath the surface. Even light activity can help reduce anxiety, improve mood, and provide a sense of routine and control.

“All or Nothing” Thinking Holds People Back

One of the biggest barriers to staying active over the festive season is the belief that exercise must look the same as it does during the rest of the year. When regular classes pause or gym schedules don’t align, many people fall into an “all or nothing” mindset ie, doing nothing at all because their usual routine isn’t possible.

The festive season is not the time to chase personal bests or overhaul your training plan. Instead, it’s about maintenance, consistency, and adaptability.

Shorter sessions, lower intensity workouts, and unstructured movement all count. A 20-minute walk, a home-based strength circuit, or a swim at the beach can be just as valuable as a longer gym session. The goal is to keep the body moving and the habit alive.

Maintaining Strength and Function Over the Break

Strength training is particularly important to maintain during the holiday period. Muscle mass and strength are critical for daily function, metabolic health, injury prevention, and independence, especially as we age.

Even a small reduction in strength training volume can lead to declines in muscle activation and neuromuscular coordination. For people with conditions such as osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, diabetes, or cardiovascular disease, maintaining strength and functional capacity is essential for managing symptoms and reducing risk.

Simple bodyweight exercises, resistance bands, or light dumbbells can go a long way. Squats, sit-to-stands, step-ups, push-ups, and loaded carries can all be performed at home with minimal equipment and time.

Movement Is One of the Most Effective Pain Management Tools

For many older adults, pain is often the reason exercise is reduced or stopped over the festive period. While rest can be helpful during acute flare-ups, prolonged inactivity often leads to increased stiffness, weakness, reduced balance, and worsening pain over time.

Gentle, well-prescribed exercise helps:

• Reduce joint stiffness and morning pain

• Improve circulation to sore or arthritic joints

• Maintain muscle strength to support painful areas

• Improve balance and reduce falls risk

• Increase confidence with daily activities such as walking, stairs, and getting up from a chair

Importantly, exercise for pain should not be about pushing through discomfort. It should be carefully tailored, progressed gradually, and adjusted when symptoms fluctuate. This is why professional guidance is especially valuable during periods when routines change.

Maintaining even small amounts of regular movement over the festive season can make a significant difference to comfort, confidence, and function in the weeks that follow.

Exercise Helps Manage Festive Indulgence, Without Guilt

The festive season is often associated with indulgence, and that’s not inherently a bad thing. Food is an important part of culture, celebration, and connection. Exercise should never be used as a punishment for eating or drinking.

That said, movement helps the body manage the physiological impact of richer foods and altered eating patterns. Regular activity improves insulin sensitivity, supports digestion, and helps regulate appetite hormones.

Staying active also tends to encourage more mindful decision-making. People who maintain movement habits over the holidays are often better able to listen to hunger cues, enjoy food without guilt, and avoid the extreme restriction-overindulgence cycle that commonly appears in January.

Protecting Your “January Momentum”

One of the most overlooked benefits of maintaining exercise over the festive season is how much easier it makes the transition into the new year.

People who stop moving entirely in December often find January physically and mentally challenging. Muscles feel sore, motivation feels low, and restarting exercise can feel overwhelming. This can lead to delayed starts, injury, or abandoning goals altogether.

In contrast, those who maintain even a modest level of movement tend to return to structured exercise with greater confidence, capacity, and consistency. January becomes a continuation, not a restart.

Making Movement Work During the Festive Season

Staying active over the holidays doesn’t require perfection. A few practical strategies can make a big difference:

• Lower the bar: Aim for “something” rather than “everything.”

• Schedule movement: Treat walks or short workouts like appointments.

• Use social opportunities: Walk with family, play with kids, swim at the beach.

• Focus on function: Prioritise strength, balance, and mobility.

• Listen to your body: Adjust intensity based on fatigue and heat.

For those managing injuries or chronic conditions, guided exercise remains especially important during this time. Modifying rather than stopping exercise is often the safest and most effective approach.

Need support to keep moving safely over the festive season?

If you’re an older adult living with ongoing pain, joint stiffness, or a chronic condition, stopping exercise altogether can often make symptoms worse — not better. The right type of movement, tailored to your body and your health conditions, can help reduce pain, maintain independence, and improve confidence during the holiday period.

At Innovate Exercise Physiology, our Accredited Exercise Physiologists specialise in designing individualised exercise programs for older adults, including those managing arthritis, osteoporosis, back pain, balance concerns, diabetes, and heart conditions. We focus on safe, evidence-based exercise that fits around your lifestyle — even during the festive season.

Whether you need a short-term “holiday maintenance” program, guidance on home-based exercises while routines are disrupted, or support returning to exercise in the new year, we’re here to help.

Book an appointment or speak with our team today to keep moving comfortably and confidently through the festive season and beyond.