At least that’s what you tell yourself.
I know we are all busy. Between getting to and from work, balancing responsibilities and having time for yourself, there’s little left over for workouts.
With summer in full swing your busy schedule is sure to get even busier. There will be vacations, cookouts and family gatherings. It’s no wonder that exercise quickly takes a backseat to summer activities.
You don’t have to succumb to weight gain this summer. Escape the time crunch excuse in three easy steps:
Step One: Schedule Your Workouts: You’ve heard this before, and it makes so much sense. If you treat your exercise time with the importance of a work meeting then you’d never skip a workout and you’d be in amazing shape.
While the scheduling concept is brilliant in its simplicity, you have to put it into practice to reap the benefits. Pull out your calendar and a pen. Don’t laugh, I’m serious! Just do it. If you want to get into shape it starts with committing to a revised schedule with a set exercise time.
Identify three 40-minute time slots and mark them on your calendar. That is when you’ll exercise.
Remember this: if the thought that you should exercise this week is floating around in your head, but you haven’t anchored it down to a specific time and date, then it will quickly disappear.
Step Two: Get the Most from Each Minute: The days of endless, mind numbing cardio are over. A great workout can take place in under an hour, when done correctly. The idea is to burn more calories each minute. This is done through short, intense bursts of exercise.
Use the following three tips to bring your routine up to the next level:
1. Be Unstable: Use your entire body, and target your core, by performing exercises that engage stabilizing muscles. To do this use an exercise ball, a balance board, a balance disk, or you could simply stand on one leg.
2. Add Resistance: The more resistance that you incorporate with your routine translates into higher intensity and more calories burned. Some ideas for adding resistance include: carrying dumbbells while doing lunges, wearing a weighted vest while walking or jogging, or putting a weight between your feet while doing leg raises.
3. Use Intervals: Interval training is an amazing tool for creating short yet effective workouts. Don’t worry, it’s not complicated. Interval training is simply alternating between different short bursts of activity.
Here’s an example: Let’s say you want to focus on your legs and abs and to also get an effective cardiovascular workout. This would be a great interval routine for your goals:
- Lunge while curling dumbbells, 15-20 repetitions
- 30 seconds of intense cardio: sprint, jump rope, or jumping jacks
- Squat while pressing dumbbells overhead, 15-20 repetitions
- 30 seconds of intense cardio: sprint, jump rope, or jumping jacks
- Crunches on an exercise ball, 15-20 repetitions
- 30 seconds of intense cardio: sprint, jump rope, or jumping jacks
- Leg raises off the end of an exercise bench, 15-20 repetitions
Step Three: Twice the Results in Half the Time: What if I told you that there is a proven way to deliver twice the fitness results in half the time? It’s simple really… When you attempt to lose weight or meet a fitness goal on your own, the odds are stacked against you. Sure, you could do it over time – but it’s a long and lonely road. A road lined with detours that threaten to undermine your progress.
