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One of the biggest hurdles to getting fit and healthy is overcoming the perception that you don’t have enough time to train. We all have huge demands on our time and for many of us life has changed significantly of late. We are working from home more but also may have children spending a lot more time at home as well. Speaking from personal experience attempting to exercise whilst a strong willed two year proceeds to climb all over you isn’t particularly conducive to achieving those training goals. So what is the solution?
Make an appointment with yourself
Set a weekly exercise timetable for yourself and stick to it. Put the times you want to work out in your diary, like you would with a work meeting and treat them like an appointment that can’t be missed. Exercising at set times weekly works really well as it becomes a regular routine that you can stick to. If you try an adhoc approach of just working out as and when, before you know it the day has passed and you haven’t managed to make the time. If you have a partner make a trade where each person gets to make time for doing something they enjoy.
Get dressed for sweat!
Its okay to prioritise yourself. I get incredibly grumpy when I don’t exercise (not possible I hear you say!). I am a much happier, more productive person and definitely a better mother when I have had that precious time to myself to get a workout done. Put your gym gear on so you can’t talk yourself out of it. You’ll find once you’re dressed for a workout you’ll feel you need to just crack on and do it.
Have a plan of action
Make a plan, set yourself goals, otherwise you will just flounder. No matter what it is you’re doing have a specific target in mind – plan your distance and speed so you feel a sense of achievement once complete. If working on your strength and conditioning make sure you are progressing, start with lighter weights and go heavier once you feel stronger or increase the difficulty level of the exercises you are doing. If you just do the same thing over and over without adaptations you will not see any improvement and are likely to get bored and not stick to it longer term.
Nutrition and exercise are intrinsically linked
Exercise and nutrition are a marriage made in heaven, you can’t really have one without the other. If you are eating healthily you are more inclined to stick to an exercise regime and vice versa. Good food will give you more energy and help you feel better about yourself. Exercise provides those positive endorphins which give you a much needed energy boost particularly on those days when you thought you really didn’t feel up to it.
Finally even when knackered and the sofa is looking at you invitingly begging you to plonk yourself down, remember that you will never ever regret having done a workout but you will have that lingering feeling of guilt when you don’t follow through.