Making Time For Working Out

A recent Health & Fitness Ombudsman Survey confirmed that, for most of us, lack of time is the biggest barrier to embarking upon and sticking to a regular exercise regime, with nearly a third of us quoting it as the key saboteur of our best intentions.  

There just always seems to be a number of worthy tasks, errands, commitments and temptations attempting to elbow their way into your diary and onto the priority column.  

In promising to transform your life, we’ve considered all the obstacles you’re likely to face to guarantee you are able to make that change.

Here are a few tips to help ensure you stay on the fast train to results:  

1. Use your journey to the gym as your warm-up.

Could you cycle to the gym instead of driving, gradually increasing your pace along the way, ensuring you arrive with the first bead of sweat on your brow and ready to workout. If you usually hit the gym directly from work, slip your trainers on as soon as you clock-off and powerwalk your way there. 

2. Drop the stretch before your workout.

 The key to reducing your risk of injury is to ensure your core body temperature is raised, hence the term ‘warm-up’. Beginning your session by stretching cold muscles is a very bad idea (think blue tac!) rather you should begin with movements that incorporate large muscle groups and can be incrementally increased, e.g cycling and rowing. 

3. Swap continuous pace cardio for short intervals.

Research revealed that replacing a 40 minute steady state cardio session with alternating periods of 8 seconds sprint and 12 seconds gentle pace for only 20 minutes leads to a boost in the activity of fat-burning enzymes and can result in 3 times the amount of weight lost.  

4. Only do 1 set of each toning exercise.

Whilst it’s tempting to perform 2 or even 3 sets on a particular station, perhaps in order to target your specific problem areas, this will not lead to better results. A 10 week study showed that performing sculpting exercises 3 times per week produced similar positive changes to the body whether following 1, 2 or 3 set protocols. The vital factor in kick-starting shape and strength changes is to ensure you reach momentary muscular fatigue, so keep pushing yourself. 

5. Plan your routine in advance.

 By knowing where everything is in your gym and plotting a logical route around it you can avoid those, ‘What shall I do next……’, moments and having to drag 

your backside from one end of the place to the other every few minutes. More importantly, opt for free weights exercises rather than fixed machines as then you will not have to wait for someone to finish at your next station before you can get on.