Scheduling Time for Physical Activity
How do you make time for fitness? If you are having trouble fitting daily exercise into your schedule, we’ve compiled 5 great strategies to better adhere to an exercise schedule and exceed your fitness goals!
1. Explore alternate ways to stay active
Try finding activities that are unexpected sources of physical activity. Gardening or mowing the lawn with a push mower are great ways to be active outside, while also being productive. Raking and shovelling work out your core, arms, and leg muscles. Even doing household chores can burn calories – sweeping, mopping, scrubbing at a fast pace will get your heart rate up and make you feel accomplished. Instead of sitting while watching TV, combine it with a chore such as folding laundry, or do while your stretching routine . Thinking outside the box to find different ways to be active will keep you motivated and increase your fitness, all while saving you time.
2. Add fitness to your errands
Running errands is a perfect opportunity to squeeze some exercise in without having to schedule it at a separate time of the day. Try biking or walking to the store instead of driving. If you must drive, park at the back of the parking lot. Hop off the escalator or elevator a few floors early and take the stairs, or just skip them altogether. Taking the stairs engages every major muscle in your lower body - glutes, hamstrings, quadriceps, abs and calves. This simple switch can tone and sculpt your body without you having to think about it.
3. Switch up the length and intensity
It can often be hard to fit an hour-long workout into a busy day. Try exercising in short bursts as you have time throughout the day. Even getting out for a few 5-10 minute walks will counts toward your daily activity. On particularly busy days, one shorter, vigorous workout will get you the same benefits as a moderate-intensity workout in half the time. Doing 10-20 minutes of high-intensity interval training is the best way to meet your exercise goals in a fun and efficient way.
Doing the same exact workouts over and over can get repetitive quickly. If you normally go for longer endurance runs, try doing a few sessions of sprints and plyometrics. This will make your body adaptable to both strength and endurance-based exercises. Mixing things up will create a heightened sense of novelty in your brain, activating a neurotransmitter called dopamine to be released in the body. Dopamine plays an important role in how we feel pleasure and satisfaction. The more variety you use in your workouts, the more fun you are going to have!
4. Exercise with friends or family
Recruit your friends and family to build a support system around physical activity. Working out with a friend or family member can keep you both accountable and will motivate you to stick to your exercise plans. Knowing that your friend will be there to encourage you and push you can greatly increase your confidence around exercising and it will also make it exponentially more fun. Exercising with friends and family is also a fantastic way to spend quality time with the people you care about. Being social while getting your sweat on, will make the time fly by and will leave you wanting more. Some activities you can plan with friends include hiking, biking, dancing, playing games in the park, yoga, or kickboxing classes.
5. Make it a commitment
Scheduling workouts into your GoGet.Fit app can help you create weekly plans ahead of time. Having a short and long term exercise plan will help you schedule your exercises into your week more easily. Having this in writing and even inputting it into your calendar will prevent you from skipping out on workouts due to a lack of time. With the GoGet.Fit app and your desire to continue on your exercise journey, you will be able to commit to your short or long term fitness goals.
Another way to commit to your fitness goals is to sign up for group classes. There are some online or socially distanced options available nowadays, that will allow you to be social from a distance, have a weekly plan and have fun while you’re doing it!
The little things add up, and every effort counts. It doesn’t matter if you exercise once a week, or seven days a week as long as you take the first step. You will quickly see that by starting and committing to an exercise plan, your body and your mind will feel more at ease, less stressed and better overall.
