Fitness Friday

FORT MYERS, Fla.- WINK News Fitness Expert Mike Drumm shares his time-saving workout tips to stay fit despite a demanding job or schedule.

Maintaining an active lifestyle should be a top priority in life, as only by taking care of ourselves do we stand a chance of being our best on the job, at home with loved ones, and in our communities. But fitting exercise into your day isn’t always easy. Work in particular, can get in the way of working out. In fact, on one hand we struggle to find time to work out; and on the other hand we can’t afford to not exercise because it is integral to sustained success. Ditching the excuses and making a commitment can be the first step to a healthier you.

Hit Exercise in Your Day

Make a Schedule and Commit to It:
One of the most cited reasons to skip a workout goes something like this: “I am just too busy at work today; I can’t make it to the gym.” I call BS! Cancel a meeting, take some work home with you, do some hard prioritizing. The truth is that when we really need to, we get out of the office at the time that is necessary. Make a schedule (write it down if it helps!), stick to it, and remind yourself that working out is a priority.

Work Out Efficiently:
Pick a workout form that you can do anywhere, whether you’re traveling or getting home from the office late. Ideally, an exercise that doesn’t require much preparation (and accomplishes significant gains in a short period of time. High-intensity interval training, Tabata, bodyweight exercises, and running are all great choices.

Choose Something Over Nothing:
You don’t need an hour, or even 30 minutes to get a complete, effective workout. And some exercises is always better than none. Even a few minutes can make a difference! We can always find a few free minutes in our day! With an effective program, and done frequently enough, short and speedy workouts can do wonders to both the body and mind. Squeeze in fitness wherever you are and no matter how much time you have.

Track Your Activity Levels:
Make a note in your calendar every time you work out, and add up your workout sessions at the end of each week and month so you can monitor your progress and identify areas for improvement. Measuring your activity levels and keeping notes on your progress can help you to stay on track and realize when you’re slipping before you’ve completely lost the habit.

Time-saving Workout Tips:
When our lives get busier, we need to have strategies for providing quick, effective workouts that can be done in a shorter period of time. When designing shorter workouts, it is important to remember to make time for both a warm-up and cool-down. The warm-up can consist of the exercises done in the workout, but performed without weight, at a slower tempo and for more repetitions. The cool-down can be a few core exercises such as plank. First, one of my favorite contributions from CrossFit can have 2 different meanings:

• (AMRAP)As Many Rounds as Possible: Design a total-body workout with 4 exercises. Set a rep goal for each exercise and challenge yourself to complete the circuit as many times as possible in 15-20 mins.
• (AMRAP)As Many Repetitions as Possible: Use the same exercises 4 exercises and select a short time interval, from 20 to 45 seconds. Challenge yourself to complete as many reps as possible in that timeframe, allowing time for recovery between exercises
• Tabata-style intervals are done at 100% intensity. When developing a Tabata-style workout, choose an upper-body and lower-body exercise for one eight-rep cycle. Each cycle takes four minutes to complete, with two to three minutes of active rest between cycles, making this a very effective limited time option.