Want to exercise more but no time? Try these 5 Tips

For most of us, the number one challenge in our mission to get in shape is not the lack of ability to exercise but being able to fit an “exercise program” into our busy schedules. Whether your goal is to gain muscle mass, improve your mental or cardiovascular health, lower blood sugar levels (the benefits are so many) or simply to maintain your current fitness level, there seems to be one common enemy that can get in the way – time, or specifically lack of.

So how do you do it? How do you balance the demands of family, career, the ever-growing to-do list, relationships, with the desire/need to work out? Here are five keys that will help you to be able to fit a consistent workout plan into an already hectic life.

1. Commit to a specific schedule

When you fail to plan you plan to fail. Don't try to haphazardly fit a workout into your schedule without any rhyme or reason. Don't think you're guilty? If you've ever told yourself "I'll work out as soon as I get some time", you went against this key principle.

In order to set yourself up for success, you will need to take the time to write your planned exercise into your weekly schedule. To be most effective, you will want to be following your exercise program at least 3 days per week. First decide how you would like to exercise, whether walking, a yoga or dance class, swimming, or a strength workout and then pick a doable and enjoyable combination of low-impact cardio and strength or resistance. Then, decide when is the best time to work out – is it mornings before work or during the lunch hour or in the evenings. Are there classes or activities to suit? Can you work out at home? Then, right in the midst of all of your appointments, "to-do" lists, etc., come up with a written plan for your weekly workout routine, so you will never be in the dark as to what when you committed to yourself to do it. Mark it in your diary.

2. Make the most of the weekend

Take advantage of the fact that it only takes 3-5 sessions per week to put together an effective, results-producing exercise regime. Start with 3 and make them short if you’re just starting out to make it achievable and maintainable. Build your confidence and make it a regular habit before upping the ante. One trick to help you pull it all off is to do a workout or go for a walk on the weekends. One of the benefits to this course of action is that your schedule is more flexible and under your control during this time and you might be able to exercise for longer.

What it also means is that when the hectic weekdays roll back around, you will only need to plan 1-3 further sessions during the work week.

3. Make it a high priority

One of the biggest mistakes that even people who have scheduled a workout program into their schedule make is allowing it to be bumped off of their schedule too easily. Although things will occasionally come up that will cause you to have to reschedule the workout you had planned, you must be vigilant in making sure that only the most important emergencies are allowed to temporarily take you off of your plan.

In the event that this does happen and you can’t do your workout, decide to make it up on the next possible day that you are available to do so. Make your own health, fitness, and efforts to lose weight a key priority to you.

4. Enrol others in your goals

There’s no need to do this alone and without support. Let the important people in your life know what you are up to. Your spouse or partner, parents, children, co-workers, and close friends will often pitch in and help you to meet your fitness or weight loss commitment if you make them aware and ask for their support.

Can you leverage these relationships to delegate some of your normal responsibilities or even allow you to shift appointments that you have with them to make room for your workout? If any of them are into exercise or trying to lose weight themselves, don't hesitate to form a buddy system with them as you move forward with your program.

5. Don't beat yourself up

No matter who you are, there will be times in your workout program that you just aren't able to keep it up as you would like due to illness perhaps or outside demands. Don't be tough on yourself when that happens.

It is what you do consistently over a long period of time, rather than what you do in fits and spurts, that truly counts. So make sure that you get back on the horse as soon as you can and continue to press forward, doing your best to avoid veering off track again. If illness keeps stopping you from exercising, bear in mind also that exercise is hugely important for our immune systems over the long-term, the key though is not to overdo it.

No matter what goals you have for your health, fitness, it is possible to fit an effective exercise program into a hectic schedule and reap the benefits in terms of improved mood, strength and energy levels, to name just a few.

As a qualified health coach, I love advise men and women on the best forms of exercise for their stage of life and how to incorporate it into their life, alongside healthy eating, without causing overwhelm, as part of a sustainable weight loss programme. If you think you might benefit from working with me, I invite you to book a complimentary, 30-minute strategy session to discuss your goals, by going HERE and then clicking on the book a call button.