Quick Fitness Solutions for Busy Schedules

Is there anything that a “too busy” person can do to get started with a fitness plan?

I understand how important it is and I actually enjoy working out — it’s just that every time I get going, something gets in the way.

It could be work or a commitment to my kids.

Whatever it is, I just don’t seem to have the time to work out.

We eat really well in my home, it’s just that I find myself getting more sedentary and that I am becoming a bystander of everyone else’s activities and their lives at the expense of myself.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

I love questions like this that come from someone in the “real world.”

You can watch any fitness influencer’s YouTube channel and find an endless variety in terms of workouts and exercises, but you’ll find that they are usually based on a “best case scenario” and aren’t realistic for someone with a career and family commitments.

On the other hand, I am a “realist” when it comes to exercise and nutrition. I am a super busy professional, husband, dad, and caregiver, so I get it.

There are days when I can barely think of moving my body and then there are days when I have all the time in the world.

The solution is having a contingency plan for each scenario.

For the sake of best answering your question today, I’ll assume that you’ve got the “all the time in the world” workout covered, so we’ll focus on the “no time in the world” workout challenge that you’re facing.

I would look at the solution in a couple of ways.

The first would be to come up with the perfect plan for your imperfect situation, and the second would be to concede you can only do what you can with the resources you have and that it’s “better than nothing.”

The perfect plan for the imperfect situation would mean that you look at the time that you actually do have and design a workout that brings you maximal benefit in minimal time.

This might involve “borrowing” time from other activities (watching TV, reading, enjoying social media, etc.).

You’d make a plan at the beginning of each week where you schedule these little mini-workouts and hold yourself accountable to get them done.

For example, you might have a circuit of four bodyweight exercises you complete for four rounds while doing laundry or while watching your favorite show.

The intention would be to just get moving while you are managing a busy, demanding life.

The second option would be to create even smaller workouts than these “mini” workouts, which would really be “micro” workouts that I refer to as “fitness snacks.”

A “snack” would consist of a single set of a single move that you just drop into your day at random intervals, whenever it is convenient or when the mood strikes you.

For example, when I was first learning guitar (while building a business and managing a baby and a toddler with my wife), I would randomly pick up my guitar and play a single pass through a scale.

It would last a few seconds and I would do it many, many times each week, so that at the end of the week I would have played through my scale exercises dozens of times.

I have sometimes heard this called “greasing the groove” when the concept is applied to fitness.

Greasing the groove is a training method that involves practicing a specific activity often, up to several times per day, at a low resistance level well below muscle failure.

I’ve seen people leave a resistance band anchored to a banister in their house that they would grab for a set of rows or curls every time they passed it.

I’ve also known someone who would do a set of squats every time they got up from their desk chair and also had a client who would do a set of side leg lifts every time she cooked and when she brushed her teeth.

The idea of these micro-workouts is not that they are “perfect,” but that they are “better than nothing.”

If you find yourself trying and hoping to get going and you end up doing nothing, then this is an option for you.

My suggestion would be to pick three to four moves you can easily do many times per week and then do 10 to 20 repetitions every time you have the chance. Here is an example:

• Counter pushups when you are in the kitchen
  
  
• Squats when you get up from your chair while working
  
  
• Resistance band rows from your banister whenever you go up or down stairs
  
  
• Side leg lifts whenever you wash your hands at the sink
  
  

Source: wellness

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