Exercise for those who are time poor - How you can improve!

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Do you find it hard to fit in the time to exercise?

Do hours on a treadmill bore you?

Has structured exercise been something you find hard sticking to?

Maybe you hate the idea of a gym environment?

If so this blog may be of interest to you! The following points will explore some options that might fit into your lifestyle or make the time you do have more efficient, effective and rewarding!

Did you know completing up to 30 minutes of exercise a day can help reduce your risk of early death by 29%? [1] . in the same study researchers also highlighted that only 3% of people achieved the required amount of exercise through your traditional exercise means, walking, swimming, running etc.

This could suggest that the majority of us don't have enough time to get to the gym or go for a run regularly? So how can you fit in your 30? Below we will discuss a few different strategies and techniques you can adopt to make this easier!

PACE Health Management Top Tips To Get Time to Exercise

  1. Exercise for your daily commute - You’ve all probably heard this before but the general notion here is: kill two birds with one stone. We’re sure most people will have to find their way to work or other any appointments on a daily weekly basis.

    This doesn't mean that you now have to start walking 20km to work and allowing two hours to do so, it can be as simple as getting off one stop before you usual to increase your daily walking minutes by an extra 15 to 20 minutes. This could also mean walking or cycling to your appointments and leaving the car at home! I'm sure with the forever increasing Melbourne traffic it may be quicker!?

  2. Roll your workouts together - So you've got one hour at the gym to smash a workout! Where do you start? Are you goals purely cardiovascular or is strength a focus to? Why not combine all these modalities into one! Compile your normal weekly workouts together, sure a split program might be ideal but if you don't want to miss out any elements of your program and you find yourself with limited opportunity this could effective and efficient.

    As a suggestion, start with a warm up on any cardio equipment and progress into some of your bigger movements focusing on a basic push/pull and lower body circuit and then finish with some HIIT training! Did you know that 10 minutes of HIIT training can yield the same changes in oxygen uptake as 50 minutes of conventional continuous walking! [2][3]

  3. Exercise when you kids/family or partner are exercising - Do you have children? Do they exercise or play sports? Maybe this is the perfect opportunity to exercise yourself!

    If you find yourself taking the kids to swimming or soccer, perhaps taking the dog for a walk to the park use this time efficiently and exercise while they’re exercising this could provide you with a huge portion of your weekly exercise minutes without making any more time in your week!

  4. Standing more - Do you sit all day at work? Are you stuck behind a desk?  A study by exercise scientists at the University of Chester in the UK found that simply standing at work for three hours a day could burn an extra 602 kilojoules. Doing that five days a week adds up to more than 3000 kilojoules a week (equivalent to a 10km run) and more than 125,000 kilojoules a year or 3.5kg of weight loss – all that without even leaving your desk!

  5. Find something you enjoy and make a habit - This might sound like an obvious point but asking yourself whether you enjoy the activity you do can make it easier to adhere to a structured exercise program. Finding an activity you enjoy and look forward to can make exercise something you look forward to doing.

    A large body of research suggests that it can take anywhere between 21 and 66 days to establish a habit. This solely depends on the complexity of the task. e.g Drinking a glass of water may only take 3 weeks to establish but running for 3kms a couple times a week may take up to 2 months [4]. But when you break it down is it really isn't a huge amount of time to invest when we’re talking about the longevity of life?

  6. Develop a program you can do anywhere any time with little to no equipment - You might be a person who prefers to exercise at home or perhaps you have an extra unplanned 20 minutes at any point in your day. It could even be at work in your lunch break! Simply developing a program with the help of an accredited exercise physiologist with a focus around your current goals and with little to no equipment at all could be something that might suit your busy lifestyle. The amount you could achieve in just 20 minutes any place any time will surprise you!

    So don't hesitate to contact the team at PACE Health Management if you feel overwhelmed or unsure on any of your exercise related goals to develop a plan tailored to you!

References:

  1. Lear, S. A., Hu, W., Rangarajan, S., Gasevic, D., Leong, D., Iqbal, R., ... & Rosengren, A. (2017). The effect of physical activity on mortality and cardiovascular disease in 130 000 people from 17 high-income, middle-income, and low-income countries: the PURE study. The Lancet, 390(10113), 2643-2654.

  2. Milanović, Z., Sporiš, G., & Weston, M. (2015). Effectiveness of high-intensity interval training (HIT) and continuous endurance training for VO 2max improvements: a systematic review and meta-analysis of controlled trials. Sports medicine, 45(10), 1469-1481.

  3. Gillen, J. B., Martin, B. J., MacInnis, M. J., Skelly, L. E., Tarnopolsky, M. A., & Gibala, M. J. (2016). Twelve weeks of sprint interval training improves indices of cardiometabolic health similar to traditional endurance training despite a five-fold lower exercise volume and time commitment. PloS one, 11(4), e0154075.

  4. Lally, P., Van Jaarsveld, C. H., Potts, H. W., & Wardle, J. (2010). How are habits formed: Modelling habit formation in the real world. European journal of social psychology, 40(6), 998-1009.

Mark Simpson