How to Keep Working Out During the Holidays After 40

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If you can carve out 20, 30 minutes for a workout, it doesn't have to be full-blown, it doesn't have to be an hour-long session in the gym. If you know that you'll have a window of time in the morning or right before dinner, lock it in like an appointment. Write it on your calendar, write it on your planner, set an alarm, treat it like a non-negotiable commitment. Once you show up for yourself, you're going to feel so much better. And at the same time, you're going to show up better not only for yourself, but for those that are around you and in your space during the holiday season.

Yo, yo, yo. What is going on, you guys? Welcome back to The WarriorBabe Show with Nikkiey Stott, co-founder of WarriorBabe. On this podcast, we talk about mindset, methodologies, and tactics that will help you lose body fat, build muscle, be strong, and feel insanely confident. I am your host, Nikkiey Stott, and welcome to today's episode, episode number 216.

Today, you guys, it's probably going to be light, short, and to the point, because I know that this time of year is super busy, super hectic. Everyone's running around getting plans made and enjoying the holidays. Christmas is next week, which is wild, and New Year's is the week after. So my plan for this episode today is to help you guys stay on track with primarily your fitness routine and getting your workouts done during the holidays. I think it's really important that you still prioritize yourself and take an hour or less to get your workout completed. Because afterwards, not only are you going to feel so much better, but you're going to be able to take on all of the chaos and the stress and the plans and all the things that come with the holidays so much better.

So what I did before I even hit record on this episode today is I went into my calendar, looked at the next two, three weeks, and set exactly which days I was going to commit to getting my workouts done and exactly what time, and put it on the calendar. By the end of this episode today, I want you guys to do the same thing. I want you to look at your calendar, however you organize your weeks. If it's a daily planner and you write it down, I would highly recommend that you look at the next couple of weeks, figure out what days you can commit yourself to getting those workouts done, and then pick a time on those days that you can show up and do a 30-minute workout.

It doesn't have to be an hour. It doesn't have to be an hour and a half. It doesn't have to be two hours. All it needs to be is that you get in, you move your body, you feel good, you get some endorphins running, you show up for yourself, you keep yourself consistent and you keep the promises you make to yourself. That's it. Because I get it. Like I said, this time of year, with travel and family gatherings, the schedule feels anything but normal, and it's so easy to fall into the trap of, oh, I'm just going to start fresh in January. But here's the thing.

You don't need to have a perfect routine to stay on track. You just need consistency and intention. So that's what I'm going to talk about today. I'm going to give you guys some strategies to stay on track with your workouts, keep the momentum going, and avoid the "I'm going to start over in January" feeling. And just know there are other people out there making themselves a priority during this holiday season. It's just about what that looks like for you.

Okay, so first and foremost, I briefly talked about this right before Thanksgiving, when that episode was primarily about how to stay consistent with nutrition around the holidays. So if you need that support, I would go back to that episode and dive into what we talked about there. This one is more about fitness, but the concept is similar for both. It's ditching that all-or-nothing mentality. That is the biggest barrier that I see people face during the holidays.

It's this belief that if you can't stick to your full routine perfectly, then you might as well do nothing at all. Right? Does that sound familiar? If you feel like that is you, and you know that is the type of trap you could fall into over the next couple of weeks, hear me out, because that's one of the biggest mistakes you can make: thinking that it's all or nothing, and that if you don't follow your routine perfectly, you might as well do nothing at all.

You don't need to be perfect. You don't need to have a perfect plan to stay on track. Progress happens through consistency, not perfection. Let's say that your workouts are typically 45 minutes to an hour, but you only have 20 to 30 minutes to get it in. Here's a tactical takeaway. I assume that the majority of you, at least, are doing strength training workouts.

Let's say that your sets are four sets. Drop every single exercise down to three sets, maybe drop your reps from 15 to 10 or from 10 to 8, and challenge yourself with heavier weights. That's going to allow you to buy back time where you need to. That has you showing up consistently, and even though it's not going to be an hour workout, 20 minutes is still enough time to move your body and feel like you've accomplished something.

If you're traveling somewhere and you don't have access to your usual gym equipment, that doesn't mean that you're off track. It just means that you have to get creative. I've seen WarriorBabes inside of our community pack their bands inside their duffel bag or their suitcase. That doesn't take up much space. Okay, so here's the mindset shift I want you guys to adopt during this holiday season as you go into Christmas and into New Year's: something is always better than nothing.

If you can get in a quick workout, do it. If it's only 20 to 30 minutes, do it. If maybe it's not four days a week, but it's three days a week, do it. If you're short on time, do what I just recommended. Focus on intensity over duration. Bring down the sets. Bring down the reps. Challenge yourself with a little bit heavier weight. You're not here to be perfect. You are here to stay consistent. And trust me, believe me later, but trust me that I believe in you.

Even if you don't believe in yourself that you can do this over the next three weeks, like I just said, it's about going into it with a little bit more intention. If you can do what I said at the beginning of this episode, which is look at your calendar and intentionally set up the next two to three weeks, then that's something. And that something is always better than nothing. If you're showing up to that something and getting in what you can get in that day, you're consistent. And that's all that matters.

I know that one of the biggest challenges during the holidays is that your schedule is totally out of whack. What I want you to do, and this is what I did, is look at your calendar over the next few weeks. I'm going to tell you guys exactly what I programmed for myself over the next three weeks. This is going live on Monday the 16th. This week is the last full week without the holidays. Then the next two weeks are Christmas and New Year's, and talk about Christmas being right smack dab in the middle of the week.

So you have the whole week, pretty much. It's going to be slow moving. Really enjoy that time. Slow down. Give yourself grace. Enjoy the moments. Enjoy the memories. Have joy in your days. I personally love when Christmas and New Year's are in the middle of the week, because it really does make everyone slow down, since the majority of people's work weeks are kind of shot as well.

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Okay. So this episode is going live on Monday. This week is pretty normal for me. I'm going to get a workout in on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. The days around that, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday, are off because I have plans for the weekend. Now, moving into the holiday week of Christmas, this is what I did for myself, you guys.

I put a workout on Monday the 23rd, and a workout on the 26th, the 27th, and the 28th. I'm giving myself the 24th and the 25th off. And this is the beauty of only working out four days a week. Let's say that I don't feel like it on the 26th. I'm still feeling the holiday bliss, I'm still relaxing, I'm really kicking it back with family. Maybe there are some plans that we decide to do on the day after Christmas. I will move that workout.

I'll move everything a day back, so I would do the 23rd, the 27th, the 28th, and the 29th. It doesn't matter. Let's say you have four workouts in a week. You have seven days. It doesn't matter when you do the four workouts as long as you complete the four workouts in those seven days. So you have some leeway to move things around with the extra days in your week, right? The following week, I did pretty much the same exact thing. I committed to the 30th, the 2nd, the 3rd, and the 4th.

Look, me personally, I'm not going to say 100%, because maybe I will find myself in the gym on New Year's Day. But most likely, you will not find me in the gym on New Year's Day, because it's going to be absolute chaos. If I do go, it will be later in the afternoon when everyone's gotten it out of the way. I don't know, but it's probably going to be mass chaos. So I planned around New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.

Again, it's the same thing. I have four workouts in my week. There are seven days. I have an extra day outside of the holidays, so if I don't get it in the day after New Year's Day, I can still get it in during the rest of the week. So that's what I would recommend that you guys do as well. I know you have travel. I know you have family obligations. I know that there are holiday events, and it makes you feel like there's no time to work out. But I promise you, there's always a way.

And it's doing what I just said. If you can carve out 20, 30 minutes for a workout, it doesn't have to be full-blown. It doesn't have to be an hour-long session in the gym. If you know that you'll have a window of time in the morning or right before dinner, lock it in like an appointment. Write it on your calendar. Write it on your planner. Set an alarm. Treat it like a non-negotiable commitment. Because, like I said at the beginning, once you show up for yourself, you're going to feel so much better. And at the same time, you're going to show up better not only for yourself, but for those that are around you and in your space during the holiday season.

Okay? Another thing that I would highly recommend is, if you are with family or friends, make it a group activity. Walking. How about that episode with Jordan Syatt, you guys? Such a dope episode. I had a blast filming with him. If you didn't listen to it, it was the last episode that launched right before this one, last Friday, episode 215. As we talked about in that episode, even the power of just getting a walk in is huge.

Get the family together. Get outside, whether it's cold or not. Bundle everybody up. After a meal, go get a walk in. Do a mini workout with your kiddos. Invite a friend or a sibling or somebody to join you for a quick bodyweight or band workout if you're traveling and don't have access to equipment. Invite your family or friends to go to the gym with you. Make it fun. As long as you're moving your body, you're still consistent and showing up, right? And adding that in with family could add another memory to the memory bucket during the holiday season, which I think is so freaking cool and so well worth it.

So overall, it's about making the time, because you have the time: making it intentional, making it a commitment and making an appointment for yourself. And I think it's really important to say that you don't need to be perfect. You just need to show up consistently. And then getting over the idea that you'll start fresh in January.

This one's the big one that I want to nail home. I get it. I understand. I know that some of you guys want to prioritize traveling and plans and feel like you don't have enough time. There's a lot of chaos going on, and there's some anxiety. I totally understand that. And the holiday season feels like such an easy excuse to pause everything and say, I'll just start later. But let me ask you this.

Why not start now? Why not keep the momentum going, even if it's slower or smaller than usual? Because here's the truth. If you wait until January, you're going to feel like you're starting from scratch. But if you keep moving in these next couple of weeks, even if it's just 20, 30 minutes of daily movement, doing some light bodyweight exercises, some squats, some knee push-ups, some burpees, some mountain climbers, making it more high-intensity bodyweight exercises.

Jump lunges, pop squats, those things can make a really effective freaking workout, okay? So even if it's just for a limited amount of time a day, you already have momentum going into January. You're going to feel stronger. You're going to feel more capable. You're going to feel more confident in your ability to stay consistent. So don't let January be a starting point. Make it a continuation of what you're already doing right now.

So, as I mentioned earlier, this was going to be a really quick podcast. I think I've given you guys some tactical takeaways of what you can do, set your mindset with intention moving into the next couple of weeks, and shown how you can strategize a plan to show up consistently for yourself. You don't need to be perfect, but you can show up consistently for yourself. So really quick, here's a recap of some of the key takeaways that we talked about. Ditch the all-or-nothing mentality. Progress isn't about perfection. It is about consistency.

Plan ahead. Take the time following this episode right now, if you have the time, or later on in the day, to really look at your calendar over the next couple of weeks, whether it's digital or written, and plan out the workouts that you're going to do. Schedule it, make a commitment, keep the promise to yourself and show up. If you have to, make it effective and short. Those types of workouts can be your best friend during this time. Whether it's bodyweight circuits, a quick walk, or you have access to the gym but you're only doing 30 minutes and, like I said earlier, you lower your sets from four to three or even from three to two.

But you still make it intense over the duration that you're there. Focus on bringing people in: bringing family in, bringing your siblings in, bringing your kids in, and making it a well-rounded, fun, memorable experience. Because even if your aunt hasn't worked out in forever, her just playing around with some squats or doing something could maybe open up some type of awareness in her that gets her excited to start doing more come the new year.

You could be the catalyst for change for your family this new year. Think of it like that. And then don't wait for January to start fresh. Keep this momentum going, even if it's slow, so that January is a continuation, not a reset. All right. The holidays don't have to completely derail your progress. It's not about being perfect. It's about being consistent. Be kind to yourself. Give yourself grace during this time. Stay flexible and focus on what you can do, not what you should do.

Small efforts during this time will compound over time, and they matter way more than one perfect week. Okay. So if this helped you guys, share it with a friend or a family member who needs to hear it. Maybe somebody is completely stressed out during this time and worried about staying on track, and maybe this episode can help them. All right, guys. I appreciate you guys. I love you guys. In the next couple of weeks, you're going to hear some mashup episodes.

This is going to be one of the last episodes that I filmed before the new year. We're going to have a guest episode this Friday. Then for the holiday week, we're going to have some mashup episodes that we've compiled from season two. And then coming into the new year, we're going to have some fresh fire new episodes for you guys. I'm really stoked. Some cool guests will be on. So this is the last one. It's crazy to think about that before we hit the new year.

I want to say thank you. Thank you so much for your support over this year with this podcast, for listening and sharing it, and leaving reviews. If you celebrate Christmas, have a very merry Christmas. If you celebrate Hanukkah, happy Hanukkah. If you celebrate anything else, I just hope that you have very, very happy holidays and enjoy the time with your friends, your family, and the people around you, making new memories. That's the most important thing during this time. And have an amazing new year.

Set some goals for yourself. Set some intentions for yourself. And most importantly, come up with a word or a motto that's going to carry you into 2025, thinking about the person that you want to become in 2025. 2025 can be your year. It's just about how you show up for yourself in that year. Think about the person that you want to become. What is that person doing every day? How is that person upholding her habits, her beliefs? Bring that into an intentional word or motto for you, say it every single day, and then take the action to follow up as her now.

All right, guys. Love you guys. Peace out.

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