No excuses! How to fit exercise into a busy lifestyle
One of the biggest challenges can be fitting exercise into a busy lifestyle. Even as a Personal Trainer I sometimes find this a difficult thing to do as well! We are all human beings and we have busy and hectic lives! Scheduling your exercise doesn’t have to be stressful, in fact there are lots of fun ways you can make sure you incorporate exercise into your life.
But remember… it is about getting active! Something is always better than nothing. Even if it’s only a 20 mins, this will always be better from a health and fitness perspective. That can be anything from a brisk walk, a light stretch at home to a frantic 20 minutes of housework. The key is always in moving your body and increasing your heart rate. You will feel better for it and look better for it too.
Have a fitness plan:
Some people love a schedule and like to know exactly what they’re doing and when, while others prefer to be more flexible. However if time really is of the essence, then it is important to schedule your exercise into your daily routine, like you would do with a work meeting. Schedule each day of the week and it will help you focus on when you can exercise. You also need to be flexible with your schedule because sometimes things come up that you have no control over and you have to skip a session, but by recording a plan you can work out when you can change your schedule around to make up for the session lost. Or sometimes it is ok that you don’t make it up and have some down time instead (just try not to make this into a habit!!)
When to exercise:
Yes more exercise in your life means you need to create more time to fit it into your day! One solution is simply to set the alarm for 20-30 minutes earlier and do your exercise before you start your busy day. Alternatively make time at the end of the day if that suits you more. You do need to think about what time of the day you feel exercise is going to suit your lifestyle, as well as your energy levels. Some people find that at the end of the day they are too tired to exercise and prefer to go to bed slightly earlier at night so they can get up earlier in the morning to complete their exercise.
Make your commute to work your exercise:
Another great way of fitting exercise into your regular schedule is by making your commute to work your exercise. Walk to the office if you can rather than take the car. If you have a fit bit / smart watch you can also monitor how many steps you walk each day and calculate the calories burned. How about cycling to work? Or perhaps run to work if that’s feasible. Using the time instead of sitting in traffic as an easy and extremely effective way of generating time to exercise that you didn’t think you had.
Use your lunch break to exercise:
If you live miles from work then turning your commute into a workout isn’t practical, but how about using your lunch break to exercise? Instead of grabbing a sandwich at your desk, take your gym gear with you and either run, walk, venture to a close park or go to the gym if there’s one at work or nearby. Alternatively you could play squash or badminton, go for a swim, or even a quick fitness class if facilities are close at hand. Even if there aren’t showers at the office, there could be a leisure centre close by where you could grab a shower before heading back to work.
Lunchtime workouts are a wonderful way of getting in some extra energy for your afternoon of work/afternoon chores and the break from your laptop/computer/phone/home is mentally invigorating too. Getting out in the fresh air and upping that heart rate is all good news for your cardiovascular system and your general wellbeing.
Exercising at home:
Thanks to the huge market of online workouts now due to more people working from home, you don’t even have to step outside your front door to do some exercise. Online programmes offer detailed advice and tips on what exercises to do and for which parts of the body. They also offer a variety of workouts/routines with and without home gym equipment to make it easy to organise your time and effort. It means there really isn’t any excuse not to exercise and you can arrange your exercise around family/home life to suit you.
Work out with friends:
This is one of my favourites and something that I have been doing for years as I know that it works so well for me. Making arrangements to workout with your friends is another brilliant way of fitting exercise into your life. It’s motivating and inspiring to be with others who share your passion for fitness and if your friends are at a similar ability level, you can motivate each other to push on to new heights. Group exercise also falls into this category, they can consist of team sports, gym workouts or something like a swim team or running group.
From a practical point of view it’s a great way of keeping in touch and if you know that skipping a session runs the risk of letting others down, you are much less likely to do it. If I know I have set up a time/place with a friend to do some exercise whether it be freezing or raining, I will still go because I don’t want to let me friend down! Plus I know that at the end of the exercise session – whatever it may be I find that I have always enjoyed it and ready to plan the next session!
