"I don't have time to workout!"
Ok, here we go.
My statements about life, scheduling, time management, and circumstances aren’t going to be perfect. They may not even represent your personal situation. That said, my hope is that the underlying message below can help jumpstart your journey to a healthier life.
We all have 24 hours in a day. That's a fact.
We all have different lives with a variety of responsibilities. That's also a fact.
Some people have kids. Some people don’t. Some people have split custody. Some people don’t. Some people work 20 hours a week. Some work 40. Others work 60+. Some people work 1st shift. Some work 2nd. Some work 3rd. Some people work Monday through Friday and no weekends. Some people work 7 days a week. Some people work rotation schedules with 3 days on and 4 days off. These factors and plenty more play an integral role in how we manage our overall wellness.
So how do we attack this scheduling dynamic, challenge, excuse, or whatever you'd like to call it when it comes to our health/fitness?
#1 Self Audit/Time Management:
When is the last time you did a self-audit of your time?
No, seriously. When is the last time you printed off a sheet that has every 30 minutes of the day marked off and you tracked what you did with that time for 3 days straight?
Even though you may have a lot on your plate, are you really optimizing your schedule? Are you utilizing the time you have every day efficiently?
If we as adults are using our schedule/time as a reason why we aren’t reaching our health and fitness goals, then explain how there can be room to watch TV 3 hours a day with or without our children?
Give this an honest shot and don’t lie! Odds are you’ll be in for a pleasant surprise.
#2 Prioritization:
Once you truly see where you spend your time, you’ll understand where your priorities lie. You might be surprised at the list. You may say working out is important and that you have health/fitness goals, but if you spend more time watching Game of Cards on Netflix than you do working on those goals then (I hate to break it to you) your priorities aren't in line with what you’re saying.
Yes, I made a joke about watching Game of Thrones (I know it’s not Game of Cards) on HBO and/or watching endless shows on Netflix. But the point is this... if you reallllllllllllly want to work out, you’ll make the time. Instead of going to bed at 11pm and waking up at 7am, could you reallllllllllly start going to bed at 9:30pm and attend a 5am coach led group class?
It’s simple (not easy), but you could possibly…just maybe…reallllllllllly make that a thing and turn it into a priority?
If you’re saying “well that just doesn’t f**king work for me, Austin. I have kids, a 50 hour a week job, sports games to attend, and you don’t!” please go back up to the top and reread what I said about everyone’s situation being different. I'm not, whatsoever, trying to bash those who aren't currently making time for working out. I’m just trying to get you to really analyze every hour of every day and see where your priorities can be optimized. You really might only have 15 to 30 minutes a day to work up a sweat, and that’s ok… which leads me to #3.
#3 Overcomplicating Fitness
As many of you know, I own a gym. We run 60 minute classes. If you live within 10 minutes of our gym, realistically, all you need is about 80 minutes to come and attend one of our classes 3-5 days/week. We are extremely efficient with our time at 1031 Fitness.
A lot of people who go to other gyms and do not take coach led group classes like ours will spend more than 80 minutes doing what?
-Twenty minutes on a treadmill.
-Water break.
-3 x 10 bicep curls with a water break between each set.
-Walk by one of the 10 TVs and catch about 5 minutes of HGTV before moving on to another 20 minutes on the elliptical followed by more 3 x 10 sets of some other isolated muscle groups.
-Oh yeah, and you have to take some time to find THE perfect song for each new movement you do.
Look, I’m not knocking that. I’m just saying, it’s a highly inefficient strategy if time is a limiting factor in why you aren't reaching your fitness goals.
You do NOT need to join a gym to be efficient with your workout time. You can do burpees in your living room until you break a solid sweat and call it a day. It’s not rocket science. We have tons of body weight exercises we could recommend, and show you how to burn A LOT of calories in 20-30 minutes while your kids nap. Stop overcomplicating fitness. Get your heart rate up, sweat a little bit, and move on with your other daily responsibilities .
Do you have 15 minutes? Put your running shoes on. Go outside and jog for 2 minutes, then for 10 minutesrun 0:30 and jog 0:30 . That gets you to minute 12. Walk for a minute then stretch your hips for a minute each side. 15 minutes. Simple as that. Maybe you have 60 minutes, and the sun is out? You’ll be amazed at how good of a sweat you’ll get just walking briskly under the sun for 60 minutes (please stay hydrated). That, ladies and gentlemen, is better than nothing, and with the right nutrition plan you’ll see better results than neglecting movement/exercise completely.
To wrap this up. I really don’t know what your schedule looks like on a day to day basis. But have you really tried to make it work? Like really tried? Or have you just let yourself get overwhelmed by every little thing you have on your schedule that you tell yourself you need those 3 hours for Game of the Rings reruns in order to “relax” and “decompress”?
Still confused on how to start? Feel free to text me directly at (309)292-1993 or email me at Austin@1031fitness.com. I'd love to help 😜
-AT