The Beginner's Guide to Fitness in a Busy Schedule

Being too busy to exercise can be pretty frustrating. On one hand, we are aware of the benefits of exercise and how it can help us in all other areas of life, think more energy, clarity of thought or less illness, but on the other, we're just too busy in those other parts of our lives to fit it in. With a little thought and preparation, however, it is possible and as your fitness improves you will be so glad you made the time for it. Here's our guide to improving your fitness even when your schedule is jam-packed.

1. Decide how many times a week you want to exercise

To fit getting fitter into your schedule, you need to create space for it. That means that you need to decide at the onset exactly how you want to do it and get it into your schedule in a way that works for you. Have a think about what you need from exercise and investigate how many times a week that might mean that you need to train, There is plenty of advice to be found to help you with developing a weekly exercise schedule.

2. Decide how you would like to exercise

This is all about deciding what type of exercise you will actually enjoy. If you like a particular exercise you are more likely to want to do it and will, therefore, stick to your plan better. If you absolutely hate running, for instance, going to a running group just isn't going to happen, you will find every excuse under the sun not to go. If you like boxing or other combat sports, you could find yourself a club and use that as your fitness routine, if you enjoy it you are more likely to make the time for it. Plus, here's a great boxing shoes guide to give you a boost.

3. What time will you exercise?

You need to find a time for exercise that will work for you. It's no good saying you will get up early to fit a session in if you are not a morning person. Likewise, if you are tired in the evenings, you are just going to find every reason to stay at home on the sofa. Think about your body clock and when you can fit exercise in and devise a plan that you can stick to. Remember though, to try and get as much outdoor time in as possible, our recent blog post highlighted the benefits of being outdoors.

4. Plan your day

If you plan in exercise it will become part of your routine and will become harder to ignore. If you just make a vague commitment to exercise more in the evening, you are just setting yourself up to fail. Actually, writing down your plans helps to solidify them in your mind and makes it more likely that you will work through them. There are many benefits in planning your day out the night before.

5. Write down your priorities

This works in much the same way as planning your day. If you can't allocate timings for the things you need to get done you could write down your priorities and include exercise among them. Writing down what's important should help you focus on those tasks before anything else in your day. It helps you achieve what's really important to you first, where you might have otherwise got caught up in the other things that crop up as we go through our day.