Originally published on personal-development.com
There are 24 hours in a day, and when your life revolves around a tight-knit schedule, sometimes 24 hours feels far from enough time to make everything fit. From balancing friends and family to early mornings and late nights at work, it is obvious why unsought physical exercise revolves around a lack of time. Is there a solution when time is so limited?
David Reagan, Atlanta local and certified personal trainer who specializes in personalized workout plans, is very familiar with this common issue. However, exercise is vital in helping keep your health stable and possesses multiple health benefits, both mentally and physically. To maintain such an essential key to living central on your schedule, Reagan passes on seven tips on how to insert physical activity into a busy schedule.
It’s easy to talk yourself out of exercising when you look at your daily schedule and think there is no hope in sight. Take a realistic step back, and don’t think daily. Sacrifice one or two lunch breaks out of the week to fit in a workout instead.
If you loathe going to the gym, you most likely won’t go when your time is limited. Humans are more prone to opt-out on things they don’t want to do when daily living already requires a lot. Why not make exercise fun? The gym isn’t the answer for everyone. If you love to dance, find time to dance to music at home. If you like to ride your bike, think about riding to work over other means of transportation. Whatever it is, get moving and have fun with it.
When you might only have five minutes to spare for exercise, work out efficiently. High-intensity interval training and bodyweight exercises such as Tabata or sprints are excellent options to consider.
Balancing friendships and staying social can be challenging with a busy schedule. However, choosing dinner with a friend seems more appealing to most than a night at the gym. What if you could do both? Instead of dinner, make the gym social hour and invite a friend to come to work out with you. It never hurts to find a workout buddy to help you stay motivated.
We set goals in multiple areas of our lives to stay on track and motivated. If you have that mentality with physical fitness, too, you will be more likely to make room in your schedule for it.
Don’t be afraid to do two things at once. If you’re doing laundry, try bodyweight exercises such as calf raises or squats while folding clothes. Ending the day with your favorite show on Netflix? Watch while doing push-ups, crunches, or even leave fitness tools such as dumbbells or a jump rope by the television to remind yourself to stay moving.
Take every opportunity you can to choose walking upstairs overriding an elevator. Power up your stair climbs by increasing your pace as you go or take two stairs at a time. Every little opportunity counts when it comes to a busy schedule.