Blue Star Fitness Blog

Time is the number one reason people who don’t exercise site as the problem. While that is an easy excuse you need to ask yourself: when will you have the time? Exercise will give you more energy and help you to be healthier and live longer. Isn’t that worth a little time investment each day for the benefits down the road? We’ve compiled some of our best tips to help you incorporate more exercise into your day. We’ve left out the well-known set of tips like take the stairs instead of the elevator and park your car far away from the office door so you will have to walk across the parking lot. These tips below are ones that we have used ourselves or we’ve found success with through our clients.

Break It Up Into Manageable Pieces. The first thing you need to know is that your exercise does not have to be concentrated in one 60-minute session. It can be spread out throughout the day. You’ve probably heard this theory in relation to cardiovascular activity, but it can also be applied to strength training. We have many of our clients attached a resistance tube to a door in their home or office with a door anchor (link) and whenever they pass by the door they stop for a few seconds and do one set of one exercise. This can be a very powerful way to get the resistance training you need without taking up much of your day. How many times a day do you pass a particular place in your home or office?

We also have clients that add a bit of exercise or stretching while they are on the phone. This is especially helpful on a long conference call at work.

Schedule Your Exercise Time. Another strategy is to put the exercise into your calendar. For most busy people this is the key. Think about it, if something is in your calendar it usually gets done right? Look at your schedule and find 20-35 minutes 3 times a week that you can commit to exercise.

The Snooze Button. Are you a snoozer? If so, try to move your alarm clock to the other side of the room and get up when it first goes off. If you got up the first time your alarm went off, how much extra time would you have in the morning to exercise? Even 15 minutes will give you an energy boost for the day that the 15-minute snooze will not. Doing your exercise first thing also limits the amount of time to create excuses not to do it.

Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect $200. Some people have to force exercise into their routines by not giving themselves an option. Think about your day. How much time do you waste in the morning getting ready or when you come home from work just unwinding? Revise your daily route to get up and go right to the gym, shower there and go off to work or go straight to the gym after work, complete your workout and get home about the time you would have finished unwinding.

Lunch Time. For many working parents, this is the only time they can get to the gym. But for those that make it a habit, the benefits seep into their work and home life.

Add Exercise to a Current Activity. Is there something you do already that can be turned into an exercise session? Do you walk the dog every morning? Add a few resistance training moves to your route – pushups at the corner for example.

TV. Exercise while you are watching TV even if it’s just at the commercials. How much exercise do you think you could add to your day with this strategy?

We believe that everyone can find time to exercise by incorporating some of these suggestions. They say it takes 21 days to form a habit, so commit the next 3 weeks to finding the time to exercise and let it become a habit.

©September 2005 Blue Star Fitness