No Time to Exercise? by Soulfit Director & Personal Trainer, Gyles Abbott

‘No Time to Exercise’

 If you think you don’t have time to exercise, it’s worth taking a step back & re-evaluating your current day. No doubt many of us are time poor, but what does your day actually consist of? How much time’s spent scrolling through Instagram? What parts of your working day are productive? When you consider your day as a whole, how many activities are adding value? Are there any you could afford to substitute for a little exercise?

When re-evaluating your day, if you’re completely honest with yourself, you’ll most likely realise you’re spending too long on something & not being as productive as you think you are. Many of us are working from home currently, so this may provide a real opportunity to re-structure your day.

Little & Often

Often after a particularly heavy week we decide, right that’s it I’m jumping straight in – 7-workouts a week, 5-litres of water every day, green smoothies daily etc.

Try not to over-plan as this often leads to disappointment.  Very quickly, you’ll start to miss a couple of sessions, then three & so on. I’d suggest starting small & building. The recommended amount of moderate cardio exercise is 150-minutes a week - this could be broken down into 30-minute sessions, or even less across the week – little an often is much more effective for body & mind. You’ll soon start to feel the benefits of consistency, at this point you can start to build the number or length of the sessions. And remember, a ‘session’ doesn’t mean going to the gym, it could be a walk, a stretch by your desk, running up & down the stairs a few times. 

Have a Plan

A plan can be as simple as: Tuesdays cardio, Thursdays Yoga, Friday Swim, Sunday Long Walk - but whatever it is, try & stick with it.

Group Classes are great because the content is planned for you, the only planning you need to do is the allocation of time.

I’ve come across many gym goers that attend 5-times a week for 2-hours a time, but it is very rarely quality time. Arriving without a plan, drifting from one piece of equipment to another, scrolling through Facebook, never reaching the required level of intensity to have the desired effect on the body.

Mix It Up

Mixing activity can really benefit your body. Ideally try to include Cardio, Strength & Stretching, here’s some ideas of what activities would help with each

Cardio – Running, HIIT or any higher intensity class that makes you puff!

Stretching – Yoga, Pilates

Strength – You don’t need weights, you can just use your body e.g. Press Ups, Tricep Dips on a chair. For the more adventurous aerial hoop lessons!

Some other benefits of mixing it up:

-       Prevents Injury – Persistent overuse of certain muscle groups can cause injury. To continue doing the activity you love for longer it’s really beneficial to mix it up – You may need additional core strength for running - try Yoga, more strength for your Yoga practice - try resistance training

-       Posture – One activity can lead to imbalances in the body & reliance on certain muscle sets. There’s a great deal of pushing in most Yoga practices, try pulling occasionally by rowing. This doesn’t mean you need to physically get in a boat, but find some weights, cans, full bottles & create a rowing action – working your back muscles – sometimes under used in Yoga https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcYPkHJId98

-       Mental Health – All activities release endorphins, the natural ‘happy’ drug into your body. Try HIIT to help combat your frustrations, or a long run or yoga to help slowly release the stress within your body.

-       Recovery – Active recovery can be just as beneficial as a day off. When you’re not doing your regular activity try a slower practice of yoga to increase blood flow around the body releasing tension and soreness

Get Up Earlier

Even if it’s 10-minutes earlier to stretch. It’s so satisfying knowing that you’ve bagged that quality time without eating into your day. If the day runs away with you, it’s not a problem. 

How to Make Exercise A Habit

I run a lot, not because I’m super dedicated, or always training for something. I do it because I enjoy it, I like the way it makes me feel. I run because I want to. It’s so much easier to form a habit doing something you enjoy.

Often exercise is thought of as a chore, something unpleasant - it shouldn’t feel like this, it doesn’t have to be painful. If you’re doing the activity because you feel you have to it’s unlikely you’ll stick with it, it won’t become a habit.

Even when you find something you enjoy there will be times when you just don’t feel like it, but remember that 99% of the time you’ll never feel worse for turning up & getting on with it - you will only ever feel better. Next time you’re close to not going, make a pact with yourself to give it a go anyway, maybe just for 10-minutes? See if you can get into the flow, you probably will.

Also, don’t worry about performing in every class, every time. It’s better to go consistently & ease back a touch during the class, just a little movement can exercise the ‘habit’ muscle.

In a nutshell, making a little time to exercise will improve your physical & mental wellbeing.  It’s worth shifting workout time further up the list & then the rest of the day/week/month/year will fall into place.

To help get you started here’s a 10-minute mini full body workout to try – Instagram can wait!