How to fit your workout into your busy life

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The most common reason people give as to why they don’t exercise is that they don’t have time.

I can understand, people have busy lives. Between work, friends, family and hobbies it can seem like there are not enough hours in the day to get to the gym. Here are a few ways to help you find time to get your workout in.

Workout early in the day

By getting in a workout first thing in the morning, you have less time for life to get in the way. There may be completely legitimate reasons for not being able to exercise like you forgot to take your gym gear to work, or your boss needs you to stay late to finish a project. By working out before life has a chance to derail your exercise pans you ensure that you have ticked that box for the day and can focus on whatever else life has to throw at you.

Break up your workout

Workouts can take a long time - I get it. My workouts can take 90 minutes or more sometimes. This is especially true if you are training for a specific event such as a half marathon or a tournament of some kind. Often training for these types of events involves both resistance training and some form of endurance training. This can be tough to fit in back to back at the gym so it can help to split these up and do them at different times of the day. This can help you have the energy for both workouts also. I would advise doing your strength training first if possible and endurance later as this means you will be able to have better technique when hitting the weights as you are not already taxed from your endurance work.

Use your lunch hour

The notion of a lunch hour in today’s workplace seems like a distant memory but the idea remains valid. Take some time during your day to get outside and exercise. It doesn’t have to be a full gym session or 30km run, but even a half hour walk away from your desk is beneficial. It will leave you refreshed and also help improve your concentration in the afternoon.

Cut down your TV and/or social media time

I feel people rolling their eyes at me already for this one. There are many people who complain about having no time to do something but are able to recall exactly what happened on the latest episode of every reality TV show currently showing on TV, or spend 3 hours a day on social media. Simply spend an hour less time in front of a screen and you could have your workout done and dusted. Or if you must watch your favourite program – watch it on the treadmill at your local gym, at least then you will be burning some calories at the same time.

Get up earlier

Again, I am sure some of you are contemplating sending me hate mail right now. I understand that sleep is vital – it is one of the 3 big rocks I have spoken about in other articles and something I repeatedly tell my clients. But if you can afford it, getting up 30-45 minutes earlier and getting a workout in can improve your whole day. Also, gyms are less busy at 6.00am than at 7.00am, and the streets are less busy too which means no traffic.

These are just five ways in which you can help make the most of the time you have available and get a workout or some exercise in. 

I would love to hear what other tips you have so feel free to leave a comment, send me a message on Facebook or send me a message in Instagram.
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I would love to hear what you think about this article.  Feel free to comment or recommend this post to a friend via social media.  It would mean a lot to me.

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