Working full time can eat up more than forty hours per week for most workers and after family and other responsibilities, there’s not much time left to take care of you. You may never be able to exercise an hour every day, but even the smallest efforts add up over time. Read on for some tips and ideas about getting more fitness into your busy schedule.
Think Small
Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need to exercise for a straight thirty minutes or more to achieve the maximum results. Recent studies have shown that smaller increments of intense exercise throughout the day produce the same effect as one longer workout. Therefore, you no longer have to worry about finding a large block of uncommitted time! Instead, if it works out better, plan your day to accommodate several ten-minute bursts of exercise. Fit in three of those segments and you have a total of thirty minutes for the day (which is the minimum suggested by doctors).
Once you can comfortably incorporate three segments into the day, challenge yourself to add more until your daily exercise time is an hour or more. Think of it as making deposits in your bank of health: every ten-minute exercise burst improves your health and is available for you to call on when you need it.
Equip Yourself
When you have exercise equipment at home or the office and ready to use, you are much more likely to take a few minutes to work out. There are plenty of smaller workout tools that challenge and strengthen your muscles.
Resistance bands come in a variety of tensions so you can choose the best level of resistance for your needs. These bands are practically weightless and take up less room than your briefcase or laptop, and can be used in countless ways. You can use these bands for upper and lower body strengthening exercises and stretching.
For building strength, nothing beats using dumbbells.
You may also want to consider purchasing a yoga mat. A mat can do double duty by stabilizing you during yoga and also offering comfort for regular stretching routines. Be sure to check the thickness as cheaper mats sometimes offer less padding and comfort.
Make Self Care a Priority
Too often we neglect ourselves until we can no longer deny what ails us. Trying to juggle a career, family, and more is highly demanding and doesn’t often leave much time for self-care, but in the long run this can be damaging both your physical and emotional health. By neglecting your needs, you send your body and psyche the message that you are not as important as other things. Stop it! Ignore your body too long and you may find yourself with serious health issues that could have been avoided simply by being conscious of your needs.
Realize that caring for your body is a priority and it needs to be treated with as much importance as the other concerns in your life. Schedule time, in your day planner, just for you and follow up on it! You only have one body, so invest some time and effort in making it the best body possible!
Health and happiness,
Kriss
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