While many people make excuses on why they don’t exercise, sometimes these reasons are completely valid. One of the main reasons people don’t regularly hit the gym is a genuine lack of time. When there are so many hours in the day to check work, personal, family and household tasks off of your to-do list, exercise can fall even lower on your list of priorities.
Fortunately, even those with the busiest schedules can change the way they think about moving their body on a regular basis. For tips on how to stay fit when you’re short on time, this guide is here to help.
Use Your Lunch Break
If you regularly sit at a desk all day at work, take any opportunity to get up, stretch your legs and get moving. If possible, take a moment when you’re already seated to eat your lunch, and then use the rest of your break to head outside for a walk around the area, or even head to the stairwell to go up and down if the weather outside prohibits a comfortable stroll. A simple metabolism support can help you to make it through tough work days so you can find time to get your heart rate up even during the most tiring weeks.
Wake Up Earlier
If your days are jam-packed with necessary tasks, try to start them a little earlier. The night before, prepare everything you will need to hop out of bed and get a workout in before you begin the rest of your day, including a healthy breakfast, a set of exercise clothes, shoes like the white air force 1, a water bottle and anything else you may need to get a quality workout completed. Even if you just work out for a few minutes, it’s a lot better than nothing.
Rethink the Commute
While you can get some extra exercise if you forgo your car, bus or train commute for one that requires a little more physical effort, it isn’t possible to run every errand or make it to work on foot. Try to take another look at the way you get from one place to another. Some find that it’s helpful to make a guideline that if any errand or destination is within one mile or 20-30 minutes walking distance, that it’s best completed on foot or by bike.
Talk on Foot
Rather than take every conference call or host every meeting in your office or in the conference room, suggest that some meetings be held while in motion. Walking meetings can even help you to focus and retain information better, as studies have shown that people who moved their bodies while learning or listening to new information retained the data much better than those who did so while stationary.
Use the Time You Have
If you are waiting for water to boil in the kitchen, try to do a few pushups. If you have a moment to yourself after dropping the kids off at school and before sitting down at your computer to work, do a few squats. It may not seem like much, but even a few reps per day can help your body to stay strong. Try to work up to doing a few rounds whenever you have a moment to wait for your coffee to brew or internet video to load, and soon you’ll be performing regular exercise throughout the routines you already incorporate into the day with consistency.
Schedule It In
If you find that you can’t find time to exercise, you may find that you need to make time. Rather than wait for an opportunity to present itself, pencil it in ahead of time. As soon as you have a time scheduled during each day, or every other day, to exercise, treat it like an appointment that can’t be moved or shifted around. Exercise is crucial to maintain good health, and it should be interpreted with as much importance as a doctor’s appointment or an important work meeting.
