It’s so easy to get out of our fitness routine this time of year. Between time pressures and all that delicious food and drink, it’s no wonder many of us start January with a goal of losing a few pounds. To help you stay active over the Christmas holidays, I’ve compiled a list of 15 Christmas workouts from my favourite YouTube fitness channels.
These Christmas workouts vary in length from 8 to 30 minutes so it will be easy to squeeze in a quick burst of activity. So get ready to crank up the sound and dance like an elf!
10-minute (or less) Christmas workouts
Fun and easy winter wonderland workout adventure – Lucy Wyndham-Read
This one is more of a winter theme, but Lucy is awesome so I had to get her in this lineup. The video is just under 8 minutes long and features Lucy doing simple movements against a snowy, winter animated background. Perfect for when you just want to fit in a little light movement without breaking a sweat.
10 Minute Christmas Workout – Improved Health
Improved Health is a YouTube fitness channel I discovered this year. That annoying American singer may have declared herself the “Queen of Christmas” but I’m declaring Jules the “Queen of Christmas Workouts” because she has added several new ones just this year. Her videos are all low-impact and perfect for anyone new to exercise or just looking to fit in a little light movement.
This is another short low-impact video that’s perfect when you don’t have a lot of time but want to get in some quick full body movement. You don’t even need to change your clothes for this one.
15-minute Christmas workouts
Christmas Combat Walking Workout – Get Fit With Rick
All of Rick’s videos are fun and fast paced. This shows as 13 minutes but add a little time for a short warmup and cool down. It fell a little short of the 2000 steps but got my heart rate up.
15-Minute Full Body Christmas Workout For Women Over 50 – Fabulous 50s
This video from 2021 starts with 5 minutes of arm exercises, followed by 5 minutes of cardio, and then 5 minutes of standing ab work. Pay attention to the cute graphics on screen. They will make you smile.
Christmas Walking Workout – Get Fit With Rick
Unlike a lot of Rick’s videos, this one has no talking…just awesome music. It’s fast paced but don’t get hung up on steps and just have fun. Rick bills this one as “family friendly” and it definitely is. His wife is in the video and his daughter makes an appearance, too. Oh…and you might just see Santa drop by.
14 Min Christmas Dance Party – Grow With Jo
If you’re a fan of more modern Christmas music, this quick video from Jo is probably just what you’re looking for. It’s fast paced with short bursts of different moves to really pump up the energy.
15 Min CHRISTMAS Dance Workout at Home – Brand Fitness
This one features more traditional Christmas songs that you’ll be sure to recognize. It’s short and sweet and a quick energizer.
Winter Wonderland Workout – Lucy Wyndham-Read
Another winter wonderland workout from Lucy. This one is 11 minutes but comes in at 15 with the intro and outro. Set against a wonderful animated winter backdrop, it features eleven 60-second scenes, each with a different exercise. Like all of Lucy’s workouts, it’s suitable for all fitness levels and the only equipment you need is you!
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20-minute Christmas workouts
Holiday Walking Workout – Brand Fitness
Like all of Marion’s videos, I love the music selections and that Marion lets you listen to the music. This one is billed at 2300 steps, and I found that to be pretty accurate.
20 Minute Full Body Standing Christmas Workout – Fabulous 50s
After taking a break for much of this year, Schellea is back with some new workouts! Because Schellea is from Australia, I enjoy her videos because they always include music I haven’t heard. I especially like that she includes simple instruction while letting us mainly enjoy the music.
Christmas Walking Workout At Home – Improved Health
This low-impact cardio workout lets you listen to the music with no talking. The pace is fairly easy with the moves changing every 30 seconds to keep things interesting. Pay attention to the fun Christmas-themed names Jules gives the moves.
Christmas Workout – Improved Health
This is the 2021 Christmas video from Improved Health. It’s 20 minutes of cardio set to upbeat music. The moves change every 30 seconds and work all major muscle groups. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself having so much fun dancing to the music that you forget to switch up the moves.
Slightly longer Christmas workouts
Christmas Walking Workout | 3000 Steps – Get Fit With Rick
Time: 24:46
If you love to dance, this is the video for you. This family-friendly workout starts slowly and then the pace ramps up. Rick says a few times “No rules. Steps don’t matter. Just keep moving.” so just have fun and enjoy. The workout itself is 15 minutes followed by two bonus tracks featuring choreographed routines with Rick and his family and friends. I didn’t quite get to 3,000 steps but I had a ton of fun and worked up a sweat.
Christmas Walking Workout – Brand Fitness
Time: 28:04
Another fun Christmas workout from Marion Brand. It features upbeat contemporary music and no talking so you can enjoy the music. It’s billed as 3,000 steps in 25 minutes, and I did get pretty close to that.
Fun Seated Christmas Workout – Improved Health
Time: 29:31
Perfect for anyone with mobility or balance issues, or just for a fun change of pace, this is a full-body workout you can do while seated. I love how Jules gives all the moves fun Christmas and winter-themed names like throwing snowballs, and taking the cookies out of the oven.
Keep it going in the New Year
Once you’ve established a routine, check out these posts to keep active in the new year:
- 15-minute YouTube workouts to keep you fit all year round
- 10 fabulous 30-minute YouTube workouts you’ll love
After a slow fall on the fitness front, the best part about putting together this post was it motivated me to do all these workouts again. In addition to my daily walks, last week I got in 230 minutes of exercise, and I’m well on my way to the same this week.
How do you keep fit over Christmas? Tell me your tips and ideas below.
These all sound like great mini workouts, I just wish I was well enough to workout and have the space to even try. Happy holidays!
Thank you and happy holidays to you too.
Interesting how we were just talking about Atomic Habits because these short duration workouts are great for people who don’t plan to work out in the first place. A lot of people may say that short workouts are useless, but I say we should do whatever we actually _will_ do. Great list, so thanks for sharing!
That is very true. With exercise, I always believe that any movement is better than none at all. You have to take a first step to get anywhere. Thanks Stuart!
These are really great ideas. I like that they can be done from anywhere.
Me too. That’s the best part about YouTube workouts. Not to mention the huge variety that’s available!
Love these ideas – thank you for the inspiration 🙂
Thank you for dropping by. I hope you enjoy them.