5 Tips for Fitting in your Workout!

Fitting in your workout

Life can often get in the way…especially when it comes to your workout!

As women, we tend to put everyone else (and everything) first! From washing and cleaning, to cooking and looking after the kids, which often leaves little time for yourself.

But it’s important to remember that in order to keep looking after everyone else, you need to look after you.

 

So with our busy lifestyles, how can you fit in a good workout?

Firstly, here are our Top 3 Tips on making sure you stick to your workout:

 

  1. Make sure it’s something you enjoy. First and foremost, if you’re going to stick with it (and potentially rearrange other things around it) you have to believe it’s worth it, afterall, if you don’t enjoy it, you’ll always put off going. You could always try a few different forms of exercise and see which suits you best, whether it’s: running; heading to the gym; or joining in classes. The majority of people will love one form of exercise, but hate another, and it’s just about finding the one that’s right for you. If you’re lucky enough to have a friend that’s into the same type of exercise as you (maybe you both love Zumba classes) you might find asking this friend to join you will help too. This can make your workout more enjoyable as you have someone to chat to, and provide extra motivation to go as you won’t want to cancel and let your friend down. BUT you also need to make sure it’s convenient, if the class is 1 hour, and the drive is 10 minutes both ways, this adds up. Home workouts are a great option if you’re short on time, or want to complete your workout around other things.
  2. Schedule your workout in. Now you’ve found your favourite workout, you need to schedule it in your diary EVERY WEEK! Plan your workout just as you would a doctors appointment, and arrange everything else around it. This can be pretty easy for classes that are at a set time each week. For example, you can easily remember that at 7pm every Wednesday you’re at a Zumba class. However, this can become more challenging for workouts that aren’t at a scheduled time, such as going to the gym or heading out on a run. So it’s even more important to make sure you plan your exercise time at the beginning of the week, block the time out in your diary and don’t rearrange it. This will help keep you committed and motivated, rather than getting to the end of another week thinking “I’ll start again on Monday…”. At W Fitness, we also use a booking in system for our circuit which definitely helps our lovely ladies stick to their workout.
  3. Find your reason why. If you don’t truely have a realistic goal you’re aiming for, you’re never going to commit to a workout schedule, especially if you’re busy and have a million and other things you could be doing instead. Now, we want to go one step deeper than just “I want to lose weight” – that’s a great aim to have, but you need to think about why you want to lose the weight. Do you want to finally feel comfortable in certain clothes? Do you want to be able to play with your kids without becoming out of breath? Do you want to achieve a long term goal you’ve had, such as, running that 5K without stopping? Whatever it is, you need to really want it – as this is what’s going to keep you motivated. Once you’ve got your ‘why’, this is what you need to think of everytime you can’t be bothered to workout or you think you’ve not got time to fit it in. Afterall, you’re never going to achieve it if you don’t commit yourself to your exercise programme.

Now you’re able to fit your workouts in, enjoy them, and motivate yourself when you need to, here are some extra tips to help you…

  1. Short workouts can be just as effective. If you don’t have the time for an hours workout – that’s okay! Shorter workouts can be just as effective, you just need to make sure you’re doing the right type of exercise. In fact, at W Fitness we run a 30 minute circuit, which only needs to be completed 3 times a week for you to be able to see results! In fact, over on our online site, TonedIn10, we offer just 10 minute home workouts! Which yes, can be super effective at getting you results and improving your health – you can read more in our blog ‘Is 10 Minutes Exercise A Day Enough?’.
  2. Find the time of day that suits you. There will always be a study suggesting that one time is better than the other, for example: MORNING workouts can have the advantage if you’re looking for fat loss. Anthony Hackney, a professor in the department of exercise and sport science at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill states that “In the early morning hours, you have a hormonal profile that would predispose you to better metabolism of fat,” This is due to the naturally have elevated levels of cortisol and growth hormone in the morning—both of which are involved in metabolism. AFTERNOON workouts, however, have been shown to be better if you’re wanting a rigorous workout (like a HIIT or even a long run / bike ride). This is because they give you a performance boost as you’ll have eaten a meal or two before your workout – this causes your blood sugar levels to rise which is needed when trying to work at a higher intensity. Plus, one preliminary paper from 2018 found that your body naturally burns about 10% more calories in the late afternoon, compared to the early morning and late night – although they haven’t concluded whether this could affect calories burnt during your afternoon workout. EVENING workouts also have their perks – many people believe that an evening workout can make it difficult to sleep, but unless you’re working out, showing and going straight to bed, research suggests otherwise with exercise actually aiding sleep. Plus, the evening does tend to be the most common time for a workout as it’s once people have finished work. So, don’t worry about when the “best time to workout” is, as no matter when you choose there’ll always be a positive. The best time to workout is just when it is most convenient for you as it means you’re more likely to stick to it – plus, there’s no need to force yourself to do a 6am workout if it’s going to end up impacting your mental health negatively (I love a lie in!)

Hopefully these tips can help you fit in your workout no matter how busy your schedule is!

Love, Hannah & Caroline xx