Why December Isn't a Write-Off

It's October 26th as I write this, and I'm already hearing people talk about what they're going to do when they get back into training in January.

JANUARY!

We've still got five days of October left. November hasn't even started. Christmas is nearly two months away, and somehow people are already making plans to stop training.

Not plans to train a little less. Not plans to work around a few Christmas parties or family commitments. Plans to STOP.

I mean, I get it. December is busy. There are work functions, school concerts, Christmas parties, family gatherings and all sorts of things happening. But surely we can find a way to enjoy those things without deciding that the next two months of training are a lost cause?

When did December become a write-off?

And more importantly, why are we making that decision in October?

December Is a Month, Not a Holiday

Somewhere along the way, we've managed to turn a handful of celebrations into an entire month where our normal routines apparently no longer apply.

Christmas Day is one day. New Year's Eve is one day. Throw in a Christmas party or two, a family gathering and perhaps a few other commitments, and sure, there are going to be some days when getting to the gym is difficult.

But what about all the other days?

There are still plenty of perfectly ordinary Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays scattered throughout December. Days when you get up, go to work, come home and do pretty much the same things you've been doing all year.

Yet somehow we've convinced ourselves that because a few days are going to be difficult, the entire month is impossible.

And I think that's where we get ourselves into trouble. We start looking at the things we CAN'T do rather than making the most of the opportunities we still have.

Something Is Better Than Nothing

Let's say you've been training four times per week. You've established a good routine, you're feeling stronger, your fitness is improving and you're enjoying yourself.

Then December arrives.

You've got a work Christmas party on Friday, a family commitment on Wednesday and something else happening on Saturday morning. Suddenly, your normal four-session week looks a little unlikely.

So what?

Train three times. Train twice. Move a session to a different day. Come to a class you wouldn't normally attend.

The important thing isn't whether you manage to follow your usual schedule perfectly. It's whether you continue to make training part of your week.

Because there's an enormous difference between a month where you train a little less than usual and a month where you stop training altogether.

One requires a small adjustment to your routine. The other means you're going to have to rebuild that routine when January rolls around.

And rebuilding something you've already worked hard to establish seems like a pretty unnecessary way to start the new year.

And Don't Forget About Sunday!

Here's something else worth remembering. There are seven days in a week. Not five. Not six. SEVEN.

I know Sunday is traditionally the day to sleep in, catch up on things around the house, spend time with family or just generally recover from whatever the week has thrown at you. And I'm certainly not suggesting everyone should be training every Sunday.

But there are 52 Sundays in a year.

FIFTY-TWO!

And if your training week has gone completely pear-shaped because of work commitments, Christmas functions, family obligations or whatever else has popped up, there's absolutely nothing wrong with sneaking out for a make-up session on Sunday.

It doesn't need to be your hardest session of the week. It doesn't need to be anything particularly special. It's simply an opportunity to get some training done when the rest of the week hasn't worked out the way you'd hoped.

I'm not suggesting that Sunday becomes another training obligation. Quite the opposite. I want people to recognise that it's another opportunity.

Your training routine should be something you can adjust to fit your life, not something that falls apart the moment life gets in the way.

Maybe December Is When You Need Training Most

There's another part of this conversation that I find a little strange. People often tell me that December is too busy, too stressful or too exhausting to keep training.

But isn't that precisely when having a regular training routine might be most valuable?

When work is getting hectic, when family commitments are piling up and when it feels like everyone wants a piece of your time, having an hour where you can switch off from everything else and just train can be a pretty wonderful thing.

You walk into the gym, see a few familiar faces, have a laugh, do some work and walk out feeling better than when you arrived. We've talked recently about the gym being a social anchor. Somewhere familiar, where you know the people, understand the routines and feel like you belong. That doesn't suddenly become less valuable because Christmas is approaching.

If anything, I'd argue it becomes more valuable.

And while I understand that sometimes something has to give when life gets busy, I'm not convinced that giving up one of the things that helps you manage everything else is always the best solution.

What Was the Point of Building the Habit?

We're currently in the middle of our 42-Days Challenge at Round 1 Fitness. Six weeks of encouraging people to train regularly, make the most of their time in the gym and establish habits that will carry them forward.

And that's really what the challenge is about.

It's not about seeing how much punishment you can squeeze into six weeks. It's about creating a routine. Making training something you do regularly rather than something you have to constantly convince yourself to do. By the time we finish on November 20th, we'll have spent six weeks working on those habits. Wouldn't it be a shame to throw them away ten days later because the calendar says December?

In fact, I'd argue that the real test of the 42-Days Challenge isn't how many stickers you collect between October and November.

It's whether the habits you've been building are still there when Christmas arrives.

That's when we'll know whether we've actually achieved something worthwhile.

January Isn't a Magic Reset Button

Every year, January arrives with a whole collection of promises. This is the year I'm going to get fit. This is the year I'm going to be consistent. This is the year I'm going to make training a priority.

And there's nothing wrong with setting goals or wanting to make improvements.

But I've always found it a little strange that we treat January as the month when we're going to become better versions of ourselves, while treating December as the month when we give ourselves permission to abandon the things that were already making us better.

Why? Why not arrive in January already doing those things?

Imagine getting to January 1st without needing to start again. Without feeling like you've lost your fitness. Without needing to find your motivation or rebuild the routine you worked so hard to establish. You simply keep going.

Maybe you increase your training frequency again. Maybe you set yourself a new challenge or decide to work towards a particular goal. But you're building on what you've already done rather than trying to recover what you've lost.

That's a much better place to start.

Just Keep Showing Up

I'm not suggesting that you organise your entire Christmas around getting to the gym. Enjoy the parties. Spend time with your family. Go away on holidays. Have a few lazy mornings and make the most of the festive season.

That's all part of life, and it should be enjoyed.

But don't make the mistake of thinking that enjoying December and maintaining your fitness are somehow mutually exclusive. They aren't.

Some weeks you'll train four times. Some weeks it might be twice. Maybe you'll find yourself sneaking into a Sunday session because the rest of the week went completely off the rails.

That's fine.

The goal isn't to have a perfect December. It's to have a December where training remains part of your life, even if it looks a little different from usual. Because when January arrives, wouldn't it be nice to be thinking about where you're going next rather than worrying about how to get back to where you were?

December isn't a write-off.

And we certainly don't need to start writing it off in October.