Time isn’t something that my clients have in spades. We’ve got families, jobs, hobbies, travel plans and side hustles.
But what my clients do know is that you don’t need a lot of time to have consistent exercise habits and great workouts.
The key isn’t finding more time in your day, it’s getting clear on your priorities and more efficient with the types of workouts you do.
My workouts are key in me feeling more productive at work, more patient with my baby girl and stronger in my body. When my workouts happen regularly I have more energy and less aches and pains. I am short on time, but I am committed to getting my workouts in, and here are four of the tips my clients and I use regularly.
Hint: We’re going to talk a lot about how to be less perfect and more consistent with your sweat sessions.
You can watch the video of this post below or scroll down the page to read my tips below.
Embrace the idea that short workouts are great workouts.
If you are struggling to get workouts in at least 2-3 times per week, then you need to embrace the idea that short workouts are great workouts. We often skip workouts due to lack of time or energy, when the truth of the matter is short workouts don’t take much time and will actually give you more energy once you are done.
We often think that exercising for 15-20 minutes at a time isn’t a productive use of our time, but it’s short workouts (anything under 30 minutes) that are easier to complete day after day, week after week because they don’t completely disrupt our schedule. We can do them in the morning before work or on our lunch hour, or even after we’ve put the kids to bed.
There’s a pretty good chance you need to get more clear on your priorities.
If you are spending more than 30 minutes a day scrolling on social media (or you’re average and it’s 2-3 hours a day on social), and you say you don’t have time for exercise, then it’s time for a priority check!
If we make a small amount of time for our workouts on our lunch hours, before work, after work with the kids, or even after bedtimes then it instantly becomes a priority for us.
Time isn’t magically going to appear, we’ve got to create it! This means we might need to say no to scrolling on our phone on the couch in the morning or afternoon. It might mean that we set our alarm clock for a bit earlier to get a sweat session in.
It’s time to choose intensity over duration in your workouts.
Strength training is the best bang for our buck when it comes to exercise and time. We will burn lots of calories, use metabolically active muscle and get our sweat on when we adopt short, strength training based workouts.
You do not need to log hours on the treadmill or elliptical in order to see results from your exercise sessions. In fact, you’re going to see better results when you keep the duration of your workouts down, and crank up the intensity with strength training.
Understand this: The opposite of perfect is done.
It’s easy to get stuck in the mindset of perfectionism. This mindset tells us that a short workout isn’t good enough, a one hour workout would be better.
But reality shows that we aren’t able to get one hour workouts in on a regular basis. So we need something less perfect, and more doable.
Here are some examples:
Not perfect, but done: You’re at the park with your kids and you bring a perform better mini band along with you to get a 15 minute mini circuit in.
Not perfect, but done: You’re traveling for work and you get a 20 minute bodyweight workout completed in your hotel room in the morning before breakfast.
When you get your short workouts in this week, tell yourself: not perfect, but done!
You want to have your workout done more than you want your workout to be perfect. Because perfect isn’t going to happen very consistently. Done equals consistent!
Thanks for reading,
Lana xox
One of the easiest ways to get your workouts in when you’re short on time is to have a solid, simple plan. Join my 7 Day Glutes + Core Challenge and you’ll get simple and effective workouts that can be completed from home in less than 30 minutes. Join HERE.
