How To Make Time For Workouts In Your Busy Schedule?

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itting fitness into fast life is never so easy. Traffic jams, long days of work at the office, household chores, and taxing kids around can make you strapped for time and find it challenging to fit in any exercise into your daily life. Especially now, with schools starting back after the coronavirus pandemic and businesses opening again, you may be juggling priorities than ever before, and opportunities to exercise can get derailed. When priorities start piling up, fitness is the first thing that gets overlooked.

In our blog, Fitness Resolution For New Year – These Tips Will Help It Sustain that we had posted at the end of the year 2020, we provided tips on how to keep up on your fitness resolution. While there are 15 days more left to welcome 2022, it’s yet another time of the year we all should plan on our New Year fitness resolution…

For all those conflicted by the desire to be fit and not able to find time for exercise, this blog post will offer simple measures you can take to introduce some activity into your busy life.    

At the outset, you don’t need to workout an hour or half an hour for an efficient body workout… instead of skipping workouts altogether, even short-duration workouts can make a great difference when it comes to fitness.

AIM FOR A QUICK WORKOUT  

A quick, intense workout can be more effective than a non-intense, low-impact workout. Compound exercises that work multiple muscle groups at once, allow you to maximize your limited workout time. Either you can opt to do a 10 minutes HIIT workout, or you can split your exercise routine into small workouts throughout the day or the week. On the weekdays, you can try a short HIIT workout that lasts only a few minutes and spare your long specific workouts for individual muscle groups for less busy days. Short workouts can add up and contribute to overall health and well-being.

Also read:  15 Minutes Skip Rope Workout For Fat Loss

TAKE THE STAIRS

The increased mechanization means a long sedentary phase in waking hours. Climbing stairs can be a very convenient, effective workout that uses 8-10 times the energy requirements of the resting state and help increase overall fitness. Aim to take the stairs over the lift in your apartment, workplace, malls, or other places. Climbing stairs has aerobic benefits, can help burn fat, strengthen your lower body, from your calves to your glutes, and also tone your abdominal muscles. Short bursts of stair climbing can be a practical approach to increase feelings of energy, since it is a weight-bearing workout, it helps build bone strength.  

Also read: 10 Minutes Wall Workout To Tone Your Arms, Shoulders & Legs

WORKOUT WHILE YOU WATCH TV

If you have 30 minutes in the night to watch your favourite show on TV, probably you can fit in a few simple exercises that you can count on when commercial breaks come on. Instead of sitting on your couch and watching the TV in mute mode during the commercial breaks, grab a jump rope, dumbbell, resistance band, or do some bodyweight exercises. If you have a treadmill, a stationary bike that has long been kept unused, position it in front of the TV. You can do 2 sets of 10-12 reps sit-ups, planks, pushups, lunges, leg lifts, jump rope, jumping jacks, burpees, or do some strength training with dumbbells.

Also read: 5 Easy Total Body Chair Workout You Can Do Sitting Down

WORKOUT IN KITCHEN

The kitchen is normally thought of as a place where we cook up calories, why not use that place for burning calories while cooking. When your meal simply sits in the oven for baking, or water boils on the stove, you can do some activity instead of watching the meal bake or water boil. Do arm rotations, toes raises, squats, bicep curls, march in place, do wall sits, oblique twists. You can place your hands on the counter, extend your arms and feet behind and do push-ups.

Also read: 6 Best Hamstring Exercises For Lower Body Strength

WALK TO WORK PLACE/SHOPPING

One great way to make time to workout when you are super busy is to walk as much as possible instead of using bikes, cars, or public transport for the commute. If you stay a few miles away from your office, consider walking or biking to work. If this is not a feasible option for you, consider going back home by walking at least two days a week. In case; you take public transportation to work, try getting off one or two stops before your destination and walk the remaining distance. If you regularly commute to the workplace by car, park your car farther from the office and walk the rest of the way. If you have a local park accessible near your office, spend 15 minutes of your lunch hour having a nice walk with your colleague. Walking even for as minimum as 10 minutes can boost your stamina, increase your lung capacity, tone up your muscles, and improve your metabolism.

Also read: Walking 30 Minutes Daily Benefits Physical & Mental Wellbeing

BE ACTIVE AT THE OFFICE

While at the office, walk over to your colleagues rather than email them or call them over the intercom. Rather than sitting at your desk day long, consider standing for 10 minutes every one hour. Stroll outdoors or on your office balcony during your lunch break. Long hours of a desk job can mean a lot of strain on your back, wrists, neck, and eyes. Do simple stretches to relieve muscle tension, do leg lifts, fake jump ropes, tricep dips, arm rotations, bicep curls, chair squats, wrist flexes, ab twists, chest and shoulder openers, and toe raises. During your coffee break, you can do a few reps of wall pushups, desk pushups, do calf raises, do neck twists, eye closure, move eyes upward, downward a few times.

Also read: Stretching Exercises For Office Workers

WAKE UP EARLY

Try going to bed 30 minutes earlier so that you could wake up 30 minutes earlier those mornings. If you kick start your day with a workout, you’ll be more disciplined and cultivate consistency to workout. As per research, those who do early morning workouts have a higher chance of making exercise a habit since they don’t let lack of time, work schedules, or other events stand in the way. Starting your day with a workout will ride your endorphins high and makes you feel good about completing one task before you even start your day.

Also read: Jumping Jacks – The Fun Way To Work Your Wholebody

HAVE A PLAN

Most women start their day in confusion about what to cook, they have things unorganized. If you keep things organized and have a plan for the day, you’ll be saved from time. What you can do is sit down on your weekend, and plan the menu for the week, so you can start each day well-prepared. Also, on the night before, keep things like your coffee maker, the ingredients that you would need to make your morning supper on the kitchen cabinet. If you cut down your unproductive late-night activities like social media, Netflix, and sleep early, you’ll wake up a few minutes early the next morning, and have time to exercise. If you eliminate anything that holds no value in your life, you’ll possibly be able to workout three times in a week or at least you’ll be able to workout Friday evening, Saturday morning, and Sunday evening.

Also read: 6 Important Tips To Boost Your Metabolism

SOCIALIZE

Workout means physical activity, and physical activity need not have to be with fitness equipment alone. On your weekends, you can invite friends and neighbours for biking, swimming. Working out with people creates a high level of motivation, enhances consistency, duration spent working out, and is filled with encouragement. You can play group games like hiking, running, tennis, basketball, football, cricket, badminton.

Also read: Top Benefits Of Cycling Towards Improving Your Fitness   

Now, tell me, is it that you run short of time for exercising, or that you’re not trying to use time wisely? Trust me, positive change starts with trial and error, persistence, and making little adjustments to our daily routine…

If you want to exercise, you’ll make the time even in your busy schedule! Hope you found the tips mentioned in the blog useful… Wishing you all a fitter and stronger year 2022...

Also read: Intermittent Fasting Is On The Rise - Does It Work For Weight Loss?

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