Exercise for those who don’t have the time…

Posted in Muscle Exercise on 14. May, 2010

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Many people struggle to fit in regular exercise and feel guilty
if they don’t fit in an hour at the gym several times a week.
One of the key reasons my clients give for not getting or
managing to stay fit is lack of time and not being able to fit
regular exercise into their busy lives. As with most things, if
it becomes a priority in your life then you will fit it in but
it’s often not until something goes wrong with your body or
health that it becomes a priority.

What riles me is that going to the gym has become synonymous
with getting fit – yet despite the rise of the gym in today’s
society (and there have never been more than there are today) we
are more unhealthy than ever. You do not need to go the gym to
get fit and you certainly don’t need to spend hours there
slaving away.

What is more sustainable in the long term is increasing your
daily activity levels and having achievable and realistic goals
and expectations that fit into your lifestyle. Whilst more is
invariably better than less, it’s not always possible and so to
help those of you who struggle to fit exercise into your life,
I’ve suggested a number of 20 minute sessions that can easily be
fit into a busy day, leaving you with no more excuses!

Interval training sessions: Pick an aerobic activity – such as
running, cycling, swimming or even skipping. Rather than stick
at the same pace for 20 minutes, try alternating between
sprinting or all-out effort for 1 minute and then slowing down
till you get your breath back and then speeding up again. If you
count this as 1 set (a sprint then a rest period) you can repeat
8-10 sets in a 20 minute session.

Circuit Session: Choose 5 or 6 compound (multiple muscle)
exercises – such as the Squat, Lunges, Stability Ball push-up,
Bent over row, wood chop or Stability Ball Jackknife – and
perform 10 repetitions of each exercise one after the other,
without resting. When you have completed 1 set of each exercise,
rest for 1 minute then repeat another set of 10 reps for each
exercise. Repeat this up to 4 times and you’ll have completed a
great fat-burning session by keeping your heart rate up and also
incorporating resistance exercises.

Body part workout: If you want to improve your strength or
reshape your body significantly but don’t have time to spend an
hour or more lifting several sets for each body part, then split
up your routines and focus on a single body part each session.
For example, in a 20 minute session you could focus on your pecs
(chest) and perform 3 or more sets for 3 or 4 exercises, such as
bench press, incline press, pec fly or cable crossover. This
also just about gives you time to complete adequate rest periods
in between each set. Always be sure to perform each exercise
with prefect form and do not compromise quality for speed.

Stretching: If you have to choose, then perform a stretching
session over a resistance session to help re-balance your body.
If you are pushed for time (and even if you’re not) it’s only
really necessary to stretch muscles that are tight and need
stretching rather than completing a whole body stretching
routine. If you’re unsure of which muscles you should
concentrate on it’s worth getting a qualified trainer to perform
some assessments on you to identify the imbalances in your body.

Relaxation: If you’re feeling stressed but feel you should do
some exercise to help de-stress or have 20 minutes to spare in a
hectic day, try performing some relaxation techniques instead.
Find a comfortable sitting or even lying position, loosen tight
clothing and get as comfortable as you can. Close your eyes and
start breathing deeply through your diaphragm. Allow your lungs
and diaphragm to fill as much as possible – try counting in for
4 – and then slowly exhale – counting out for 5. You may also
like to try focusing on specific body parts – start at your toes
and clench then relax them, move to your calves and clench and
relax and slowly use this technique for all of your body parts
to help relax tight muscles.

Lea Woodward is a qualified personal trainer and director of
activOne ltd in the UK. activOne provides fitness, nutrition &
lifestyle coaching to private clients & corporate wellbeing
services in the East Midlands as well as virtual training to
clients worldwide. Check out the website

http://www.activone.co.uk

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