When you lead a busy lifestyle, it can be difficult to fit a healthy amount of exercise around your schedule. In fact, 36% of British women were classed as inactive in a recent report from NHS Digital, which means that they do not get the recommended minimum of 30 minutes of exercise each week. With many people employed in sedentary office jobs while also leading jam-packed social and home lives, it’s not difficult to see where these figures have come from.
Thankfully, there are quite a few ways that you can boost your fitness levels while keeping up your whirlwind of a routine, some of them quite inventive. To help you out, we’ve listed our top five tips for squeezing in a workout around your busy life. Read on to find out more.
1. Go for high-intensity over longer workouts
When time is a major factor, you may not have enough space in your schedule for a full gym session. However, a recent study found that more intense 10-minute workouts increased fitness and reduced body fat just as much as a steady 50-minute cardio session. This implies that less time-consuming sessions can be slotted into your day with the same effect as regular exercise. One great way to get in a short, but high-intensity workout, is to invest in a home gym. This way you can’t come up with excuses to skip the gym!
High-intensity workouts have grown in popularity over the past few years, mainly thanks to the convenient, bitesize chunks of time they take up, as well as the fact that most routines don’t require access to expensive gym equipment. Shapescale published a guide to their top three high-intensity training apps, each of which make practicing these short workouts an absolute breeze.
2. Jump-start a new fitness routine
Staying on the topic of time-saving fitness routines, a trampoline workout can deliver the equivalent of 30 minutes on the treadmill in just ten, according to Health.com (who also have a workout video you can follow). What’s more, bouncing up and down has 40% less impact on your joints, exercises more muscle groups, and improves your balance. It also sounds a lot more fun than huffing and puffing on a treadmill too.
Now, when you picture a trampoline, you may be thinking of those of the Olympic-sized variety and wondering how you’ll fit one of those in your home. In actual fact, all you need to benefit from this routine at home is a trampette or small trampoline to get you bouncing. Powerhouse Fitness have a selection of trampolines and trampettes in different sizes that have been selected for their quality and reliability, with free delivery available over £99 too.
3. Make fitness dates rather than drink dates
When you get some down time and want to pencil in a few cocktails or a coffee with the girls, why not skip the alcohol and meet up for some fun exercise instead? Instead of consuming calories together, you can enjoy a walk through the park or a run along the beach — you’ll still be able to get all the gossip while you get some extra exercise. If you’re feeling more adventurous, you could meet up for a weekend hike or a long-distance bike ride, both of which will still allow you to spend quality time with your friends. These types of meet-ups are very easy to organise if you have other like-minded mates who want to fit in an additional workout into their week.
4. Review your daily routine
While we’ve just discussed meeting up to take a walk with friends, it’s also something that you could probably do more of as part of your daily routine without realising. The NHS recommends you aim for around 10,000 steps each day, which equates to about 5-miles of walking. More often than not, you don’t need to travel out of your way to do this.
Last year, Transport for London launched a great campaign that took the iconic tube map and redesigned it to show the walking distances between nearby stations. The aim of this was to get more people walking around, rather than taking the easier option of staying on the train. Additionally, what many people didn’t realise was that in certain locations it took less time to get off and walk than switching to another line.
You don’t have to live in London to benefit from this type of thinking, either. Take a few moments to consider the route you take when you commute each day and see where you could fit in some walking instead of taking public transport or driving a car. Use Google Maps to work out some of the distances and you might be surprised at what you can squeeze in.
5. Turn your fitness drive into a hobby
If you find that you have a gap in your schedule each week but struggle to motivate yourself to get some traditional exercise, why not make it fun by turning it into a new hobby? There are tonnes of activities out there that can provide you with a workout, and if you can work up some enthusiasm for a new past time, you’ll find it a lot easier to get out there and do it.
Have you always wanted to try yoga? Maybe you’ve always wanted to learn how to defend yourself with a martial art? Or, perhaps you want to take up that sport back up you loved in school? There are a whole host of things to do out there, and if you look, you might be surprised at how easy it is to take them up in your local area. You could even get one of your friends on board and take a class together if you want to have a laugh too.
Take these five tips for squeezing in some extra exercise on board and you’ll be able to work them into your schedule without a hitch. Good luck!
