Squeezing Exercises into Your Busy Schedule

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I’ve got my cardio workout schedule down pat. I get up early to do my cardio before I go to work, so always get it done. Many days I don’t have a solid extra 30 minutes in my day to doing the other exercises I should do, like weights and physical therapy exercises, so they don’t get done.

 I needed to come up with a way I wouldn’t skip those exercises, so I experimented blending them in with my day.  The key to making sure you get the exercise done is to trigger the exercises by picking a specific event and time that is always part of your schedule. That way you don’t forget.

Doing the exercises throughout the day has the added bonus of boosting my metabolism several times a day. Below is my plan. I have physical therapy exercises I’m trying to squeeze in, but you can substitute the exercises in my plan with the exercises you want to squeeze in.

Match the exercise to a daily activity

• If you take the stairs at the same time everyday (e.g., to go to the cafeteria), you can do step-ups,  dips,  or side-step-ups.  Note: you can do these on the stairs without weights.
• When you first arrive at work in the morning or leave at night, before you sit down, do squats.
• Use your washroom trips to sneak in an exercise, e.g., corner chest stretches.

Use your breaks and lunch

• Before going for a cup of coffee, do chair dips.
• Before or after lunch, find a private place (e.g., a conference room) and do five or ten minutes of resistance exercises such as lunges,  push-ups or wall slides.

Use dead time

• Use standing wait time (e.g., grocery store lines, waiting for the bus or train) to do exercises you can do discretely, such as calf and Achilles tendon stretches (you don’t need to put your hands on the wall, as many diagrams suggest) . If you aren’t self-conscious, you can also do calf raises.  I’ve found people aren’t paying attention anyway.
• Use wait time in the car (e.g., at stoplights) to do hand and wrist exercises  (see Chicago Tribune’s 2 Moves to Strengthen your forearm and grip).

Multitask

• During a teleconference, do sitting exercises such as leg extensions. Do them without bands or take a resistance band to work.
• While on the telephone, do isometric abdominal exercises. Livestrong.com has a series of Ab Exercises You Can Do at Your Desk.
• While watching a specific program on TV (e.g., the news), do weight training or resistance exercises such as leg lifts.

Do you have tips for making sure you get your exercises done? Share them with us.