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 Fitness for the Busy Person
One of the big challenges in living a healthy lifestyle is finding the time to do it. This is especially true for someone who has a busy work schedule or who has children. The people who stay in shape in spite of busy schedules are those that use time management techniques to find time or make time for fitness. Managing time to stay in shape essentially comes down to budgeting time to eat properly as well as to exercise regularly. The techniques introduced in this article are designed primarily to save time in these two areas. However, they will only work when combined with adequate preparation and a positive attitude.
If possible, choose a gym that is between your home and place of work.
This will minimize the travel time required to get to the gym. Ideally, if the gym is near to your work place or near to your home, then this is even better because changes in travel route will not affect the proximity. On that note, carry a gym bag and stop at the gym before you go home. If you stop at home first, there will be numerous distractions which will make it much more difficult to get to the gym.
Focus primarily on compound exercises.
Compound exercises are those that train multiple muscle groups simultaneously, which makes them great time savers. Examples include squats, lunges, lat pulldowns, and bench presses. Also, the intensity of these types of exercises allows them to stimulate the metabolism more effectively than isolation type exercises do. It is no surprise that someone who uses primarily compound exercises is likely to get a good workout in a much shorter time than someone who uses primarily isolation exercises.
If possible, get a home gym.
This will make going to gym much easier, and will add a great deal of flexibility to your workout schedule. Not having to commute to the gym saves a great deal of time and allows you to workout at times that are otherwise unavailable. When buying a home gym, select equipment that will allow you to use the widest variety of exercises that your budget and space will allow. Examples include a Bowflex Home Gym, or free weights combined with a power rack and a bench.
Invest in an insulated lunch box and a thermos.
One of the most important principles of proper nutrition is to have healthy foods readily available when you are hungry. This is because if there is nothing healthy available when you are hungry, then you will either have to skip a meal or eat whatever junk is available. It is obviously much easier to find healthy foods when you keep them with you, and an insulated lunch box makes this task much easier. On that note, whenever you prepare a healthy meal, prepare extra so that you can pack the leftovers for lunch the next day. You can even make a protein drink and keep it in a thermos. Both of these simple techniques are great time savers when you are trying to eat properly.
Take advantage of healthy foods that require little or no preparation time.
Examples include cottage cheese with raisins, a protein shake with whole wheat bread, or even low fat yogurt with fruit. In addition, investing in a microwave oven can be very useful. Not only will it allow you to bake a potato or sweet potato relatively quickly, but it will also allow you to prepare old fashioned oatmeal in less than 4 minutes. The microwave is also great for steaming vegetables.
Turn off the TV.
The TV is one of the biggest time wasters in the average home. It makes it extremely easy for the hours in the day to go by without you realizing it. The truth is that there are countless people who watch many hours of TV per week, who would workout if only they could find the time. An important part of health and fitness is to give it a higher priority than TV shows.
Staying in shape when you are busy is an exercise in time management and it can also be an exercise in creativity. In addition, it is also an exercise in setting proper priorities. This is because a big part of finding time for health and fitness is making time for it. When it comes to finding time, changing priorities is at least as important as changing schedules. Other articles |
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