In this day and age, there can be very few of us who are not aware of the benefits of exercise, both physically and mentally. As peoples work life has changed over the past decades, and with more of us sitting in front of a computer, the need to make time for exercise has never been more important. Yet despite this awareness, many of us do not get anywhere near the required levels of exercise, on a daily, or weekly basis. The intention is often there but more often than not, the reason we do not exercise is down to us saying that we simply do not have enough time. So how can we ensure that we do actually make time? There are some great tips to ensure that we do make sure we exercise regularly.
Probably the most important, is to try and find exercise that you enjoy, or probably more importantly, avoid exercise that you do not enjoy. It is always much easier to make the excuse that you don’t have time, when you are trying to allocate time to something that you don’t really want to do. If you are struggling to find an exercise that you enjoy, perhaps go back to your childhood and think of sports or activities that you enjoyed. Most sports have local clubs run by volunteers, who will share your passion for your favourite sport and they will probably have a Facebook page. A quick message and you will no doubt be quickly back playing the sport that you enjoyed as a child. Don’t underestimate the power of childhood memories!
Following on from this, do not underestimate the benefits of participating in a group sport or activity. Such organized activities, always have a particular start time on a particular day. This takes the burden off you to organize the time and day for yourself and the inevitable feeling of “I don’t have time today – I will do it tomorrow”. You will find that when an activity is on a particular day and time, you will do everything to make sure that you will arrange your day, so that you can attend. Why? Because you really enjoy it!
If you find yourself constantly putting your walk, jog or run off to another day, there is a simple solution. Make it your business to contact a friend or friends and to do the walk, jog or run together. Nobody likes to let people down and if you have agreed to do a jog at 10am tomorrow with someone else, you will ensure that you are going to be there. Don’t be afraid to reach out to more than one person. Your walking companion maybe only available for a walk only on Monday and Wednesday mornings, but you want to also go Friday mornings. Reach out to someone else to ensure that you don’t miss out on your third exercise session of the week. That person may then want to join in on your existing Monday and Wednesday walks and before you know it, you have a walking group!
There is no doubt that work and family commitments can make it hard to find time for yourself. It will require a little bit of thought and organization to ensure that your exercise needs are met. Start with a piece of paper with the seven days of the week listed and then divide up those days into mornings, afternoons and evenings. Cross off the areas that it is simply not possible to allocate exercise. Be realistic – there will be a lot of areas crossed off but once you have the areas that are not crossed off in front of you, it will be much easier and clearer. You can even subdivide those areas in to times – e.g evenings into 5-6pm, 6-7pm etc etc
Once you have established the days and times that you are available, go all out to fit in your desired exercise into these times. If you are looking at going walking or running with friends, take the initiative and put up a WhatsApp poll listing those days and times – don’t wait for someone else to do it!
Probably the most important point is – you might have to be a bit selfish! Nobody likes to think of themselves as selfish but if you have lots of work and family commitments, you are probably going to have to be a little bit selfish, to ensure your exercise goals are reached. Most importantly, start with your own family. Put your exercise routine up on the fridge, so that everyone can see and explain that this is your time and is very important to you. In particular, make sure your partner understands the importance of these times to you. Hopefully your partner exercises too and if so, make sure their exercise routine is listed as well – its great for your kids to see that their parents make time to get their exercise fix in! Don’t me afraid to reach out to fellow parents when it comes to lifts for the kids activities, if this means that you can make your desired exercise session. They will be more than happy to pick up, if you can drop off, or do the lift for an activity on another day – again take the initiative!
Finally, remember this. There are 168 hours in a week and you are probably only looking to allocate 3 to 4 hours of those hours for your exercise. No matter how busy you are, by following the above steps, you will definitely be able to find those 3 to 4 spare hours in your schedule!