How to find time for training
Introduction
It’s a common problem; finding time for training. You’re busy, you’ve got work, kids, friends and maybe even a social life. Exercising is on your list of good intentions but never gets done. But it’s important to keep fit, so what can you do? Well there are plenty of ways to make sure that exercising fits in to your weekly schedule. The most important thing is still prioritizing. If you put your health and fitness first, these tips will help you to stay on track. If you don’t, you need to fix your priorities first.
Put the training times to your calendar
Call it what you like but we like to think this as a date with yourself. If it’s not planned, it will not happen. If you have a family, put your training times to the family agenda as well. And no, “something came in between” is not a valid excuse not to take this commitment seriously unless it’s an emergency. Your needs are equally important to everyone else’s needs. And health comes first on your list of priorities, right?
Make your commute into a workout
Your body does not care why you are moving and what you are wearing. Often times when we think about exercising, we think about gyms and football training. But in reality, most of our exercising can happen when getting from place A to place B or doing household chores. Leave the car home when going grocery shopping, take the stairs instead of the elevator, go get your coffee from the shop down the street and hop of the bus two stops earlier.
Find a training buddy
The likelihood of skipping training when you have committed to do it with another person is very small. Not only is it harder to cancel on someone (who has put this date into their calendar), but actually you are excited to see this person. Sometimes you can even train together over a phone. How does a nice long walk with a nice long phone call with your best friend sound like?
Plan your training times according to your natural rhythm and recognize the traps
If you are a morning person, why would you not exercise in the morning? If you know that getting off the couch after a workday is hard, why would you not go to the gym straight from work? There is absolutely nothing wrong with playing tricks on yourself if that is what it takes to get yourself moving. Some of us need to have a fixed group, time or schedule to make the training happen. Some of us need to have paid a gym membership 12 months in advance to get us going. Some of us need a challenge or a prize. Some of us need a fitness tracker. Do what works for you.
When your children move, you should move
Are you a soccer parent? Is your standing around the football field beneficial for your child? Yep, we didn’t think so. If you are not playing football with your child, go and use this time for your own training. We guarantee you; this will be beneficial for you and your children in the short and in the long run.
Find a fitness facility with childcare
Oh, come on moms and dads! This is a proven concept and your child will get used to the childcare after some practice. Remember what we talked about first? Your needs – in this case finding time for training – are as important as anyone else’s. They should also not have to wait for 18 years.
Go and move with your spouse and/or children
They say that couples who train together stay together. We think there is truth to this. A way to spend time with your better half cannot harm the relationship. And if it also has physical benefits to both, it’s a win-win.
Ever heard about spending quality time with your children? What could possibly have more quality than playing football, going skiing or hiking or just a trip to the swimming pool with the kids?
Get professional help
Not all training takes hours. Well, most trainings don’t need to take even one hour. If you join a group training that usually takes 60 minutes. If you go out for a walk or a run, you can easily utilize a 30-minute time window. But how about the gym? Most people hang around in the gym for 90 minutes or more. The reason can be that they just love the gym. The other reason could be that they do not quite know what to do to achieve their training goals. This is where professional help makes all the difference. A good trainer can make a plan just for you and pack a very efficient training into 30 – 45 minutes. You will leave the gym knowing that you got the most out of your time.
Conclusion
If you’re worried about how you’re going to fit exercise into your busy schedule, don’t. There are plenty of ways to make it work for you. Finding time for training; your health and fitness is in your hands. Finding time for sickness is unfortunately not. Make the choice while you can.
In case you would like us to help you, just book a free consultation with one of our experts!
