Time Saving Exercise Tips

The second conundrum – time.

There are only 24 hours a day. Take off 10 for work plus commuting, eight for sleep, three for chores and life’s mundane tasks, a bit more for sorting out the unplanned things that come up and you’re left with about 38 seconds.

First thing’s first – can you organize your time better? Perhaps there are things you do in the day that simply waste time?

Picking up groceries each day rather than doing a big weekly shop could save you at least two hours a week. And while sitting down to watch TV every evening may be relaxing, it’s not getting you any fitter.

If something’s important to you, you can always make time for it. By getting your head into that mentality, you’re in the perfect place to start.

Even if that only gives you an extra 90 minutes a week to play with, that really is all you need. Implement these time saving tips to make sure that a lack of time is never an excuse for not exercising again:

- Forget long, moderate-paced cardio sessions and start doing high intensity interval training instead. A steady run probably doesn’t take you out of your comfort zone and really, you probably need to be running for a good 45 minutes to break a sweat and get your heart rate up.

Change your jogging to a sprint session however and you can burn the same amount of calories and create a far bigger impact on your fitness levels and metabolism in around a third of the time.

- Train in a circuit style.

Instead of always resting between your exercise sets, pair exercise together or group a few back to back to save time. A set of squats, kettlebell swings or pushups might take a lot out of you, but there’s no reason why you can’t throw in a plank, some side bends or jump rope in the 30 seconds you’d usually just sit down, talk with a friend or check your phone.

- Pick exercises that give you the most “Bang for your Buck.”

Big, multi-joint movements work more muscle groups and burn more calories, so should be the foundation of your routine.

If you decided to keep your gym membership, that means back or front squats, deadlifts, bench presses, clean and presses or barbell rows. If you’ve opted for the home training route, then lunges, body-weight squats, pushups, chin-ups and burpees are your new best friends.

- Add in exercise where you can.

Still think you haven’t got time to train? Try adding in sets of body-weight exercises while you’re cooking dinner, cleaning your teeth, waiting for the kettle to boil or talking on the phone. Even a few stretches in the office is better than nothing. You’d be amazed at how many chances you get to exercise every day.

Excuses needn’t be an issue any more.