Sometimes the best laid plans just lay there and you have to figure out how best to pick them up. Deep right? It's important both for my mental and physical health to workout routinely, but when life happens it's great to rely on a schedule to stick to the plan!
Why are workouts so hard to fit into our schedule?
In today's hustle and bustle, it is hard to find the best schedule for working out. With the mix of work and family, it seems as though there is not enough time in the day, and when there is time we're exhausted (I know I am). There is always something else we need to be doing or we can't get our workouts done during our hopefully allotted time. There are definitely other factors beyond just time, like physical and mental preparation, but that's something to discuss another time.
So, how can I schedule my workouts more efficiently?
If you're looking to get in consistent workouts, it's important to have a plan that takes into account your schedule and the time of day that gives you the best chance for success. For example, if you know that you're not a super early morning person, but there is always some quiet time in the evening, then maybe workout later in the day. If you know the bulk of your meetings are in the middle of the day, see if you can offset your schedule some and workout in the morning. For me the most important thing has been to try and find a way to make it fit in at a time that I can commit to as often as possible. For me that time happens to be right after I get the kids off to school and right before all the various time zones collide for meetings. Working from home full time definitely helps. :)
Defining what goes into your workout schedule
It's important to think about what type of exercises you want to do each week. Of course there are many different types of workouts, so it's important to know which one is the best for what your goals are, which I'll discuss my personal experience on later. Knowing how much time you can spend working out, think about what are the most important workout components you want to get done if you have maximum time versus the ones that could fall off if you don't. I personally want to work on strength training, so I set up my schedule as such. After accomplishing a week worth of workouts, I take a look to see if I had enough time to get done what I wanted to each session and think about how to adjust the plan both in terms of 'amount' to do per and the time it takes.
This cycle keeps repeating; do my best to get the amount of workouts in for the week, prioritize what I want to accomplish each workout, re-evaluate and start again!
Accountabilibuddy
One key to my own success has been to work with a personal trainer, all remote and 'virtually'. This has helped me tremendously in not only helping me stay accountable, but also helping me set goals, stay on track with recommend workouts, evaluate my lifts (extremely important) and be an overall amazing motivating force. Yes, it does cost money but it is easily the best money I've ever spent on my physical, which impacts mental, well being. If you need a recommendation let me know and I'm happy to get you in touch.
Get Your Schedule Going!
You got this and if you need help, want a virtual partner in crime to help you stay motivated, I'm here! I'll be posting more in the future on other areas I've learned as I've been on my workout journey!
ps: I don't write 'longer' posts often and would love your feedback!
