3 Strategies When Exercising With Limited Time

Balancing a hectic schedule while trying to achieve your ultimate body and fitness goals can seem like a daunting task. Here are 3 strategies that you can implement to make your workouts fast, efficient and effective. 

Go Hard And Fast With HIIT

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is a great approach when you want to get in a quick and effective workout. 

HIIT workouts are characterized by short bursts of intense activity followed by brief rest periods. These maximize calorie burn and boost metabolism in minimal time.

Here are 5 HIIT workouts that you can jump straight into - whether you’re at the gym, at home or traveling.

Prepare Home Workouts

As well as workouts that adapt to limited time, we recommend each of our clients to have a suspension trainer, a set of adjustable dumbbells and resistance bands to get in a good workout at home. This helps them cut out the commuting time to the gym.

If you are really short on time, implement micro-workouts throughout the day - these are short 5-10 minute workouts that you can slot in whenever you have a spare moment.

Give it a shot - perform each exercise for 10 - 12 reps for a total of 3-4 sets.

Ring / TRX Rows

Banded Face Pulls

Dumbbell Deadlift

High Plank

Goblet Squats

3) Focus On Resistance Training

Resistance training / weight training sessions are the most effective way to build and maintain muscle. When you have more body muscle, you burn more fat - muscle tissue is metabolically active, so your body needs to burn more calories (use more energy) to sustain your muscle tissue throughout the day (not just when exercising…).

There are also countless other benefits to resistance training - if you want to know them, click here

With limited available time, it’s important to: 

1. Have workout plans on hand for each muscle group
2. Implement supersets for opposing muscle groups - for example, pairing the bicep hammer curl with the tricep extension exercise. As these are opposing muscle groups, it means that you are able to move from one exercise to the other without needing to rest
3. Leverage compound exercises that target multiple muscle groups such as the bench press, deadlift and squat

Summary

Leverage these 3 strategies and remember - it’s being good consistently that leads to great results. It all comes down to prioritization and making the effort - there’s no such thing as being “too busy”.

At Daily Body Coach, we understand most of us don't have hours to dedicate to working out each day and that the most successful plans balance your objective and your lifestyle. If you'd like to find out more about how we can help, let's have a chat.