Ask anyone why they don’t work out when they want to and need to and they’ll say “I don’t have the time”. Lack of time is probably the number one excuse for not working out. Sure, everyone is busy but look around and you’ll see someone busier than you who’s also managing time for fitness. You deserve the time for a workout and it’s essential for your health – here’s how to fit in exercise even when you have no time to spare.
- Get up earlier. Don’t miss out on hours of sleep to work out because sleep is also important for your health. But you can go to sleep 30 minutes earlier and get up 30 minutes earlier – force yourself to get out of bed earlier than usual and pretty soon it’ll be a habit. Plus, once you’ve exercised in the morning you can quit worrying about how you’re going to fit your session in.
- Cut down your screen time. You may think you are only spending a few minutes every day on the Internet or that you only watch one TV show a day but keep a record of how much time you actually spend checking emails, looking at cat videos on Facebook and playing games – you’ll see it adds up to an hour or more. Turn off the devices and you’ll find at least 15 minutes for working out each day.
- Don’t sit still for too long. You’re not going to give up TV entirely and you have to work at your computer but you don’t need to vegetate there – sit on a fitness ball to work at the PC or get yourself a standing desk for web surfing. While watching TV do some crunches and jumping jacks during commercials. The minutes quickly add up so you are fitting in 20 minutes of exercise for every few hours of TV.
- Create a fitness routine. If you make fitness a part of your life you’ll find it much easier to find time to exercise. You do things everyday almost as habits – like brushing your teeth or showering – add fitness to the routine. Walk the dog every day, do 10 minutes of yoga when you wake up, go for a walk every day after dinner.
- Get your exercise fix doing chores. Cleaning can really burn calories if you try to do it quickly and thoroughly. Try to be as efficient as you can but do it really fast – set a timer. Throw in some squats and lunges for extra points.