If you’re someone who is acutely aware of the importance of regular exercise yet time always seems to be against you, read on as the solution is at hand!

We all have the same 24 hours in the day, yet more often than not, exercise ends up on the backburner and we find other things to fill those 24 hours. Sure, we need to organise the kids for school, we need to go to work, we need to do the shopping, prepare dinner and get ready for the next day, but before you know it another day has gone by and yet we’ve neglected one of the most important things we can do for ourselves - exercise!

Therefore it’s not surprising that the number 1 reason for not exercising is ‘I’m too busy.’

But here’s the thing..

The reality is that there are individuals who have the same number of commitments as everyone else (sometimes more) and yet they still manage to make the time to exercise most days of the week.

Did you notice I used the words ‘make time?’ Because I absolutely guarantee that if you try to ‘find’ the time to exercise, it just won’t happen! When you take this latter approach there will ALWAYS be circumstances and deadlines requiring your attention and exercise will continue to be an after thought.

Dispelling the ‘Working Out for Longer is Better’ Fallacy!  

Most of us have been led to believe that when it comes to exercise we need to work out for at least an hour 5 or 6 days per week. And I’m here to tell you that this just simply isn’t true!

The fact is, you don’t need to work out for hours on end to achieve amazing results when it comes to fitness, fat loss and good health. It’s about working out intelligently and maximising your precious time.  

The new guidelines from the ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine) recommend that you work out for a minimum of 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise 5 times per week for optimum health.

That’s only 2.5 hours per week!  (There goes the ‘I’m too busy’ excuse!)

What do we term ‘moderate to vigorous?’ exercise? On an intensity scale of 1-10 - with 1 being very easy and 10 being very hard, you should be working at your perceived 7 or 8. It’s based on your level of fitness. However, as an indication, this level of intensity would be sufficient to break a light sweat and be relatively difficult to maintain a conversation.

For good cardiovascular health we need to develop ‘reserve capacity.’ This means that if we’re in a situation where we need to exert ourselves suddenly (as is often the case in modern day life) we can draw on the reserve capacity of our heart and lungs to accomplish the required task.)  

Side note: Heart attacks occur when there is a sudden increase in cardiac demand that exceeds your heart’s capacity, therefore this reserve capacity is very important. Unfortunately long duration, low intensity cardio does not develop this reserve capacity.

The Best Type of Exercise for Maximum Results

If you’re a busy person, have limited time yet still want maximum benefit from your exercise programme (cardiovascular fitness, strength and maintenance of a healthy bodyweight) the solution is to integrate the following components into your fitness plan.  

1)     Resistance training utilising multi joint, compound exercises.

Benefits include increased strength, improve muscle tone, increased bone density plus a host of others.

2)     Circuit training

For increased cardiovascular fitness.

 3)  Interval training

To create reserve heart and lung capacity.

Putting it All Together

Here’s an example of how you might incorporate your five 30 minute workouts into a weekly exercise plan for maximum benefit.

When is the ‘Best’ Time to Exercise?  

Many studies show that working out early in the day is more favourable as you'll have an increased metabolic rate for the remainder of the day. However, the best time to exercise is when it’s best for YOU! The important thing is that you make it happen! One of the best ways to achieve this is to schedule exercise into your diary -  just the way you would schedule an important business appointment or meeting. This is YOUR time. And if this means going to bed 30 mins earlier so that you can wake 30 mins earlier for a morning workout, then so be it!

Conclusion:

You can achieve fantastic results with as little as 150 mins of exercise per week. Forget about ‘finding’ the time to exercise. Instead ‘make’ the time to exercise starting right NOW! Your health is your number 1 priority and far too important to be neglected.

Schedule your 30 minute workouts into your diary and start reaping the enormous health benefits starting NOW!