A bit of perspective about fitness and the busyness of life
As someone who works in the fitness industry, exercise comes pretty easy to me. It is something that has been a huge part of my lifestyle for the past 12 years or so. It is second nature to me to pack my gym bag, drive to the gym, and get my training in.
However, for some it may not come as easy.
The past few weeks, my girlfriend and I have been getting ready to move into a new townhouse. That being said, the past few weeks have been a little busy. Between clearing out and cleaning the old apartment, to clearing out cleaning the new place to make it move in ready, it lead to a lot of late nights. With those busy days going back and forth from apartment to townhouse, and all of the packing and unpacking into the night, my ability to maintain my exercise fell down the priority list.
Coaches and trainers (like myself), will often tell their clients that you have to find the time to get your training in throughout the week. You have to make the time if you want to get the results you want. However, what I have realized after this moving process, is that there will be points in life where you frankly may not have the time. No matter how bad you want to reach your goals.
For example, a day for me the past few days has been like the following.
Start training people at 7 am. Have sessions until 12 pm. I’d have a two or three hour break until sessions start back up again. In that time I would drop stuff of at one place, and the shoot over to the other and pack more stuff. At around 3 pm, I’d have a few more sessions, and then it’s back to packing and unpacking until we felt tired.
In the grand scheme of things, my girlfriend and I have experienced just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to life stressors. However, I say all this because to me, this is just a glimpse of how crazy life can get. Being a trainer that works with a lot of adults that have busy and time consuming careers, many of my clients have crazy schedules such as this all the time. Between their jobs, their families, tasks around the house; day after day, week after week; finding time to workout on can be a challenge.
That being said, I first want to say a huge thank you, and show a sign of appreciation to those clients of mine that still make the time to come in to train with me in the midst of all the chaos that life can create. I truly appreciate the effort that you all give each time you show up!
Second, I want to share this as a way to relate (though on a smaller level) to my clients, prospective clients, and those that are out there that are trying to make fitness a way of life for them.
It is my role as coach to help guide you through the process, and giving you the program and tools to make exercise fit into your life. Not to try and force you to make you change your life to fit the training program. My experience here has opened my eyes to how difficult it may be for some of you to make that a reality. However, working together, and through the private coaching process we can make it happen.
When life gets busy, priorities change. Yes it is true that we all have 24 hours in a day. However, what change from person to person is what we prioritize within those 24 hours. For some, it may be that we have to take a brief hiatus from training to accomplish the task at hand. But for those that still want to maintain some structured fitness program, here are 3 options that could be useful for you.
Reduce the training frequency
If your training program has you working out 5 days a week, a simple solution will be to reduce the number of days training. Instead of doing 5 days, do 2 days. Hell, I’d even say 1 day a week during a stressful period is going to be enough to move the avoid drastic set backs.
2. Reduce the time in the gym
For those that still want to maintain the same training frequency, this would be my go to choice. Consider using things like super sets and compound sets, drop sets, or density style training or timed sets (put a time on the clock and do as many sets/reps/rounds as you can). This post from a few months ago may give you more insight and ideas as well (click here).
3. Try a different training style
Travel time to the gym can eat up a lot of your time. Especially when you do have to other things to prioritize. However, this can be a great opportunity to try new things. This can be riding your bike around the neighborhood, going for a run, doing sprints in the yard, or just walking. These can be great ways to not only give your body a break from the traditional gym based training, but can still allow you to be active when time is limited.
During stressful events, or when life forces us out of our usual training routines, the trick is to have options in place to keep the progress moving forward. This may mean that your primary goal takes a back seat. But, in these times having having a plan in place is the best thing you can do to keep moving towards your fitness goals. It is my goal that this post can help you with creating your plan.
P.S.
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