Lifestyle

How To Squeeze Exercise into Your Busy Day

Fitness for the Busy Bees

• written by Joy Onu
• 5 min read
• 14 Sep, 2023

Time goes by so fast, especially when you’re on that daily grind. It can’t be easy to balance your work life, love life, fun life with exercising. It’s an extreme sport to find space for exercise and that would probably lead to procrastination.

Incorporating exercise into your lifestyle calendar will do you a world of good, exercising has so many benefits, and in as much as there’s not enough hours in the day, it is very important to try and squeeze exercise into your day-to-day life.

We understand that finding time for fitness can be a challenge, especially for the busy bees among us. However, prioritizing exercise is essential for maintaining a healthy lifestyle. This is where we come in, we will explore practical tips for squeezing exercise into your daily routine, even with a busy schedule.

Create Realistic Goals

When you have a busy lifestyle, it’s easy to think you can do it all, chances are you can but time has a mind of its own. If you want to easily maneuver exercise into your schedule, you need to set a realistic goal that is achievable and somehow aligns with your busy life.

If you can do a 10-minute morning workout or a daily walk during your lunch break, plans like these mean you are setting realistic goals that work well with your day, and that means you're more likely to stick with your fitness routine.

Prioritize Time Management

It is very important for you to come up with a plan and stick to it, this is where calendars and reminders come in. In order to manage your time properly, you have to make use of effective tools that will remind you to exercise when you’re too busy to remember yourself. In order for this to work, you need to have a mindset that puts exercise as a non-negotiable part of your day.

Short and Intense Workouts

If you’re a Busy bee, the key is to stick to quick workout sessions, this doesn’t mean they will be any less harder. In fact they are intense workouts. You can benefit from high-intensity interval training (HIIT) or quick, intense workouts. These sessions can be as short as 20-30 minutes and provide significant health benefits, including improved cardiovascular fitness and fat loss.

Active Commuting Is Smart

If you’re so busy that you can’t fit anything in, this would be a perfect move. The trick is to use your commuting time as your workout time. You could use bikes or walk to work if the distance isn’t outrageous, and if that’s not an option for you at all, consider getting off public transport a few stops earlier to add more steps to your daily routine. It's a great way to sneak in exercise without allocating extra time. If you use your car to work, this might not be a solution for you at all, but you could still take the stairs at work instead of an elevator.

Lunchtime Workouts

This tip might be a little bit out of your comfort zone, but if you can, you should utilize your lunch break for a quick workout. You don't need a gym; bodyweight exercises like squats, lunges, and planks can be done in a small space or an empty conference room. You could also ensure you walk a certain amount of steps in a day.

Weekend Workouts

Okay, we get it! You can’t afford to get any of these tips done because you’re just that busy, don’t worry, we still got you. If weekdays are too hectic, consider becoming a "weekend warrior." Dedicate longer bits of time on weekends for more extensive workouts, such as home workouts, the gym, hiking, cycling, or a fitness class.

F Is For Family Fitness

Involving your family in your fitness journey could either be great or really annoying, either way, it will be good for you. Go for family walks or bike rides, or play active games together. It's a win-win, quality time with loved ones and exercise combined.

Home Gym Essentials

Not everyone can afford to get a home gym, but if you can, it would be a smart move to Invest in a few home gym essentials like resistance bands, dumbbells, or a yoga mat. This makes it convenient to exercise at home, saving you travel time to the gym.

Stay Accountable

It’s so much fun to workout with a group of people that will keep you accountable. Find busy bees such as yourself, or  a workout buddy or join fitness classes or online communities. Accountability can be a motivator to stay consistent with your exercise routine.

With the right mindset, you can make anything happen, as long as you remember how bad you want to put in exercise in your everyday life, you can do it. It just takes good planning, and finding the perfect timing you can be consistent with. Remember that exercise can be beneficial to your physical and mental health, it is essential you make a little bit of time for it.