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Fitting In Workouts When Busy

Up at 5:55 a.m. Make tea, eat breakfast, and wave to the kids as they run out the door. A few minutes after 7 a.m., I am in front of my computer—still in my PJs—checking email and putting out fires). “As soon as I finish this one little project, I am going to work out and shower.”

Suddenly it’s midnight. Dinner’s been served, homework supervised, client projects delivered, social media updated, and I am still in my PJs…no workout done.

Has this ever happened to you?

So how do we keep our bodies moving, the blood flowing, and our metabolisms firing while trying to fit everyting else in?

I recently spoke in front of a professional business women’s organization and shared my “secrets” to keep workouts going even on our busiest days.

One of the super easy, effective tips I talked about was to use an online-, egg- or kitchen timer. Set it for 55 minutes. When the timer goes off you get up and do something. Walk around, squat, breathe deeply, do big arm circles, walk up some stairs, hula hoop, step, dance, sweep, vacuum one room…do something, anything.

On my busy ‘desk days’ I try to exercise one muscle group during each break. At the first ding of the timer I do 3-5 hard sets for a muscle group, then go back to work. The next ding of the timer goes off, I hit another group. And so on. (Just don’t work the same body part two days in a row).

Squats, lunges, jumps, mountain climbers, pushups, dips, and skipping are awesome, too. The only way this is effective, though, is to work hard during those little breaks. You want to feel the burning in your muscles, and start feeling warmish all over.

You won’t believe how effective these little exercise bursts are.

When you think about it, if you work a 7 hour shift in front of your computer and you fit in even 3 minutes every hour, that’s 21 minutes a day you are working your body fairly strenuously. If you move for five minutes every hour, that’s 35 minutes a day. Add 10 minutes in the morning to get you going and maybe 10 minutes of stretching or yoga in the evening, and you are up to almost an hour of exercise a day, with barely an effort. This is something you can fit into even the busiest day.

It might not seem like much, but this little trick really works.

Helen M. Ryan is an author and fitness pro. Visit her at www.realworldweightloss.com  or www.helenmryan.com , or follow her on Twitter at @aspinchick.

Written by Helen M Ryan

Helen M. Ryan is a freelance writer, marketing pro, and the co-founder of Open Access Digital. She is also the host of the walking podcast Walking & Talking with Helen.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenmryan •
Instagram: https://instagram.com/realhelenmryan

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