Don’t have time – Fitting your workout around your day.

The number one obstacle people report when struggling to workout is time. As you begin to plan your fitness program pay attention to your time preferences – are you a morning person? Night owl? When do you have commitments you do not want to re-arrange? Then begin to fit your workouts in around those items.

For me, I like mornings better than evening workouts and I’m more likely to get them done. However, to make these happen consistently I need to have a solid bedtime routine to make sure I’m getting enough sleep. Plus, I have children who need to get on a school bus at a set time. Plus, I don’t want to dump the full morning routine on my partner which means my workouts need to fit before or after the morning school routine. I can also decide to workout on my lunch hour or after work if needed. Look at your schedule and see where you can adjust your time to fit in a workout.

Remember you can do your workout in smaller time increments. Sometimes it’s about fitting in more movement and activity throughout the day. Every hour I get up for 10 of the 60mins and do a quick set of something – push-ups, squats, arm curls (I have rubber tubing in my office), shoulder presses, etc. By the end of my work day I’ve performed 8-10 exercises in my strength routine. Since I am doing them in short bursts of activity I don’t worry about changing my clothes. Dressing out and travel are sometimes the things that kill the workout routine. They can take as long as the workout itself. In this case look for options near your location.

Can you find a hiking trail? Bring a bike to ride over your lunch hour or commute to work on? Is there space near your work space to use rubber tubing? If you are serious about making a healthy lifestyle change you need to get serious about your commitment to yourself. Where can you let go of items in your daily routine that aren’t as important to you? That don’t have as high of a priority for you right now? And replace that time with a commitment to your health and wellbeing.

Allow yourself time and space to practice making these changes to your routine. Give yourself at least 3-4 weeks while making a change – that’s how long it takes to create a new habit. When making changes remember it takes time and awareness. Allow yourself the time to study your own process of change and make small shifts toward your goal.

Author: Stacy Reuille-Dupont: Dr. Stacy Reuille-Dupont, PhD, LAC, CPFT, CNC, licensed psychologist, addiction counselor, personal trainer, and nutrition coach. She’s passionate about helping people create a vibrant life using psychology and physiology. With over 25 years of coaching people to be their best, she understands how to make living healthily easy while finding adventure, inspiration, and balance.

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