ARTICLE: GETTING THAT WORKOUT IN!
Time is the most precious commodity in the 21st Century. Naturally, having children leaves you feeling as though you have much less time than ever before, but to be honest those without children struggle with time just as much. Before having a baby, I struggled to fit in workouts due to long working hours. I regularly worked from early in the morning to late in the evening. This often meant training in the middle of the day, which I hated because it meant using my down time to not only workout but also to shower for the 2nd time that day and do my hair and make up for the 2nd time that day, how annoying! The only alternative was to train after work at around 8.30/9pm when I was already tired. Neither option was ideal but I just did it and I regularly used a few tricks to help me get my workout done. Now I am facing the same challenge, albeit for different reasons, but my approach is exactly the same.
It is fair to say that if you are looking for a reason to skip your workout you will mostly definitely find one. You will actually probably find 5 or 6! Therefore, you cannot give yourself any excuses! When I look at my week I try to think of the best possible time to train. This does not mean that it is the perfect time to train, more usually it is the time that provides the least number of barriers. As I mentioned I used to only have 2 times in my day to train. More often than not I would opt to train in the evening because Giulio was home later than me and, despite the negatives of training after a long day, it meant I would train and then have dinner with Giulio when he got in from work, filling some valuable time. Now I train in the evening, again despite the tiredness, because it is the only guaranteed time that Paolo will be asleep. In both scenarios the temptation to sit on the couch with a cup of tea at the end of a long day is far more appealing, even for me who loves exercise! The key though is to not sit down! I used to walk in the door from work, go upstairs get changed and start. Now, I put the baby down, get changed and start. My clothes are always laid out ready to go and I always know what workout I am going to do. This stops any time wasting, hesitation or even decision making. All of which are barriers to training!
It is also so important to stick to the schedule. I do not try to train every day, I look at my week and schedule workouts for the days that I think are the most suitable. Again, no day or time is likely to be ideal, but there will always be more suitable days and times. Once I have scheduled them the schedule is not subject to change unless something really unforeseen or unpredictable happens. Swapping the workout for a different day because I do not feel like doing it is simply not an option. If I start doing this, I will put it off each and every time. My rule is schedule it and do it.
Finally, I focus on the positives. As tired and stressed as I am at the moment I know for sure that when I am training I feel more energised and much less stressed. In fact the biggest benefit of training at the end of the day is that it releases all the stress and frustration that may have built up over the day letting me enjoy my down time more than I would have before, plus I am able to sleep far better. My mind is clear and my body is tired, the perfect sleep combination. So, whenever I have a little wobble and think I cannot be bothered doing a workout, I simply focus on all the reasons I should do it and then go for it.
Finding the time to train is never going to be easy, that is why removing the barriers to getting your workout in is so important. Some of them may seem small, like leaving your clothes out ready to put on, but each one helps put you in the right frame of mind and makes it a little more difficult to simply skip it. Now, go get that workout in!
Fit Bird
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