How to make time to exercise

If feeling like not having enough time is the main reason stopping you from exercising, then you are not alone. But I challenge you to ask yourself, is finding 30 minutes in a day really that hard?! We certainly don’t have trouble finding it when we need to binge watch a series on Netflix…

Common advice tells us that finding time to exercise is as easy as waking up 30 minutes earlier. But if you’re anything like me, that is NOT going to happen and will just make you start resenting the process. So here are six realistic ways to get more movement in to your day…

Break up your 30 minutes

This is especially helpful if you are building up your fitness or find working out boring… A 10 minute HIIT session in the morning followed by a walk with the dog after work. Or even breaking up a 30 minute workout across the day. It doesn’t matter how long it takes, just get it done!

Mark it in your daily planner

We don’t think twice about scheduling meetings and appointments, so why not schedule an appointment with yourself? Think of it the same way you would with a Personal Trainer (knowing you had paid for that session!) and it may feel less Type A!

Increase your step count

Take the stairs, park a few streets away or hop off the train one stop early and walk that extra block… You know all this, yet somehow still don’t follow through. Time to actually make today the day that you start!

Multi-task

Perhaps you can watch TV whilst doing some exercise? Listen to a podcast? I’m not saying that you will be able to achieve great things, but depending on the type of movement or exercise, you may be able to at least catch up on some viewing time!

Make it enjoyable (well relatively anyway!)

‘Choose a job you love and you’ll never have to work a day in your life’… In the same sentiment, if you get bored working out, then why not try find something that might be, well, less boring?! Dance style exercise? Swimming? Yoga? The point is - give things a go and you may just surprise yourself at what you do enjoy.

Make it social

Some activities may not be feasible during the week due to work and family commitments, but instead of having your weekend as ‘rest days’, flip your week to have a ‘rest day’ on your busiest week day and aim for exercise or movement on weekends when you can do it with friends. Soccer matches, bike rides, hikes, tennis… There are endless options! Also don’t discount challenge style fun with friends that can be done throughout the week (think plank and squat challenges).

There are 24 hours in the day and 30 minutes is all you need to benefit from exercise. Reframe how you think of exercise using some of the tips above, and you may be surprised just how easy it is to find that time across the day!