Five time-effective strategies to exercise when you have a busy lifestyle
Nowadays, life is hectic. Work, family, travel, social life, and housework are extremely time-consuming activities. For most people, trying to fit exercise into their schedule is a real challenge. Even so, there is a substantial amount of "busy people" that seem to be able to make everything "fit" in their agenda. How do they do that?
The reality is that there are many ways of maintaining a healthy lifestyle while still taking care of all the other aspects of your life.
First of all, people that exercise regularly have more energy to do all their other activities.
In fact, according to an analysis of the University of Georgia, exercise plays a significant role in increasing energy levels and reducing fatigue.
There are also many overlooked ways of making exercise time-effective. These five strategies are some of the best tricks to make exercise "fit" into your busy schedule:
Using a bicycle to commute to work
When time is scarce, making your commute your workout can kill two birds with one stone. A study from the University of Copenhagen looked at the effect of cycling to work versus hitting the gym for weight loss among overweight people.
They divided the participants into two groups Group one was asked to cycle a 14k commute to work twice a day when group two was asked to exercise five days per week at the gym from 35 to 55 minutes per session. Surprisingly, the group that cycled was the one experiencing the highest amount of fat loss.
This is quite an impressive finding considering that the group that cycled to work didn't have to give up a single minute of their time to fit those exercise sessions. They simply traded their commuting means. This goes to say that, if you don't live too far from your office, cycling to work can be your best time-effective ally to lose weight and stay fit.
Walking your commute to work at a fast pace
What if your schedule requires you to start working already during your commute? This scenario is pretty common amongst city professionals that start their day by sorting out emails and call while taking public transport.
If that's the case, you should try to do what LinkedIn's CEO Jack Dorsey does every morning.
The super busy (and apparently health-obsessed) Jack, walks five miles each morning on his way to work. He claims that since he started doing that taking the time to walk to work every day is the most worthwhile investment he's ever made.
While Dorsey likes to unplug and listen to audiobooks to stimulate his creative thinking, you could walk to work while processing emails or making important phone calls.
Fast-paced walk has been shown to be extremely effective for fat loss, burning up to 400kal per hour in an average 200lbs individual.
Once again, another way to make a healthy use of your precious time.
Spending the weekends doing outdoor activities
There are many important health benefits to being outdoors, both physical and mental. Being in nature has been linked to increased overall energy, reduction of pain, improved Vit. D levels but also better mental focus, reduced stress levels, improved creativity and even improved vision.
Instead of going to restaurants, bars or clubs, you can try to book some outdoors getaways more often. Both Country walks and hikes are a great way to escape the stress of the city and move your body.
Walking up one hour earlier and having a morning PT session
Nothing beats the accountability that a personal trainer gives you. Keeping true to your commitments is much easier when you have to schedule a meeting with another human being.
Despite not saving time, having someone that actually does all the thinking for you can save you some precious mental time that you can dedicate to more important matters like work or family.
Since the typical workday can get messy, getting you PT session done first thing in the morning can be a smart way to take care of your health without risking to miss out on it.
Playing a sport with your colleagues
Mixing your typical social activities with some team sport sessions can be a great way to bond with your team or colleagues while getting some exercise done.
Football, tennis, squash or basketball are all great ways to instil some good competitive spirit while burning some extra calories.
All these activities may seem complicated to implement in your schedule at first, but with time it's possible to put them on autopilot and make them a part of your routine. It doesn't really matter which one you choose, but finding the time to exercise should always be amongst your top priorities if your goal is to be healthy and sharp.