5 Ways to Squeeze in Exercise Time if You Have a Busy Schedule

Having a hectic schedule is the major reason why people don’t exercise. Finding the time to do it seems almost impossible. Usually, after a hard day’s work, you only want to go home and rest and perhaps stuff yourself with something unhealthy.

Based on our survey of 500 fitness buffs, about 28% of them exercise anytime they can, exactly the same percentage of people who prefer to workout in the evening. The most popular time to exercise is in the morning. Two hundred of those included in the survey train during that time of the day while the least preferred time is the afternoon.

The body has a natural rhythm which means that our energy levels fluctuate throughout the day. What is interesting is that our bodies adapt to our daily schedules of sleep, work and rest. We have more energy during the time of the day when our bodies anticipate a lot of work to be done based on previous behaviour.

If you train at 6 a.m. everyday, then your body will get the most from a workout that takes place at that exact time of day. Since your body has been conditioned to do work in the morning, exercising at any other time would not be as effective. Fortunately however, the difference is only minor and working out at a time that you are not really used to is still better than not working out at all.

Ideally, it would be best to exercise during the time of day when your energy level peaks, however you don’t really need to rearrange your life around this detail. The bottom line is: Just exercise, regardless of what time of day you do it!

The following are five tips to help you get some exercise time out of your hectic schedule.

1. Shorten your workout.
Do a 15 or 20-minute session instead of your usual hour or hour and a half. You can increase the intensity to make up for the shortened exercise time. Such “short but sweet” workouts can yield dramatic results.

2. Get up 30 minutes earlier.
Wake up half an hour earlier and do your exercises. Your body will adjust to the new schedule soon enough.

3. Have a 30-minute lunch.
Divide your lunch hour into two with 30 minutes of exercise and another 30 minutes of eating. Working out before eating will also curb your appetite enabling you to consume fewer calories.

4. Maximize baby’s nap time.
If you are a work-at-home parent, squeeze in some exercise when your baby goes down for a nap. A ten or 15-minute routine is fine. Do this at every opportunity, and by the end of the day you would be able to log in a total of about 20 or 30 minutes of exercise.

5. Create a complete workout routine.
Use your creativity to design a combination workout that you can perform 3 or 4 times a week. Your program should include both strength training exercises and cardio. A sample workout would be 10 minutes of weight training and 20 minutes of aerobic activity per session.

Don’t let your hectic schedule keep you from working out. You only need to be flexible and be ready to do what you can, when you can. If you’re serious about getting fit, your efforts will pay off. As they say, “If there’s a will, there’s (always) a way.”

About the Author
Charles Volcolatte is a health and weight loss researcher for www.skinnyASAP.com. He writes and researches actively on Healthy Dieting Information and shares his knowledge at www.skinnyASAP.com where he works as a staff writer.