Life is busy. Way too busy for most of us.
We know we need to take care of ourselves, but in the shuffle of activities and responsibilities, that can easily fall by the wayside.Yet exercise is a great stress reliever and a good way to insert some balance in our lives. So how can we find the time to squeeze in exercise? Here are a few tips that work for me.
1) Find an activity you can do as a family. Do you all have bikes? Go on a bike ride in the neighborhood once or twice a week. Hitch the bikes to the car and head to a state park with bike trails. Instill a love for activity in your children as they join you in the activity. Find family fun runs that you can train and participate in as a family. Take the dog for walks as a family or a couple.
2) Vary your activity. Your body can become fatigued and your mind bored if you do the same thing all the time. So vary the activity from running to yoga to bike riding to swimming to workout videos. Invest in a variety of videos with a variety of time commitment. Some days you only have 20 minutes, but with the right video you can still have a great workout. I just purchased a new series because they are designed to be 15 minutes workouts. I’m shocked how sweaty and sore I can get in that time frame, but I have no excuse not to exercise when I can do it in a short spurt. Other times I want to hit one area of my body with some extra attention, so I found a pilates video that allows me to choose which areas to hit in 5-8 minute segments. Utilizing a variety of videos and magazine workouts also keeps me interested and engaged. Sometimes it feels like I’m returning to an old favorite, other times it’s the challenge of a new workout. Each time, my body gets the benefit of moving and exercise.
3) Remember to stretch afterward. This can be an easy step to skip, but if you don’t stretch you will experience extra soreness the next day which can make you less likely to exercise in the future. And I’m not talking about the good sore that comes from targeting muscles and knowing you’ve done something. It seems so simple and unnecessary, but you’ll thank me if you stretch.
4) Find an activity you can do with someone else during a season you otherwise wouldn’t exercise. For me this means that my husband and I train for the Indianapolis 500 Mini-Marathon each winter/spring and then run it together. We’ve done this for five years and it’s just become a part of our year. We’ve decided our definition of fun is very warped! I love it because it keeps me moving in the winter by giving a whole new meaning to deadline — 13.1 miles can’t just be whipped out (at least by me!). And it makes it more enjoyable to run the race together. Some years I’m pushing him, other years he’s pushing me, but all the time we’re encouraging each other.
5) Set stretch goals. Try a mini-marathon. It really is possible to go from no activity to running a mini in 3 months (Ask me how I know!) Use tools like Hal Higdon’s training schedules to get you there. There is a great sense of satisfaction in doing something you had to work hard to achieve.
6) Realize how interconnected your muscles are. Did you know that lower back pain can be caused by tight hamstrings? Stretching can help alleviate much of that and make exercise more fun and less painful.
7) Choose to live a lifestyle that focuses on activity. Are there stairs? Take those rather than the elevator. Even if you’re panting at the top, that burst of exercise is better than the alternative of none. Push the lawnmower rather than ride one. Turn an activity into a squat or a lunge.
It doesn’t have to be difficult to find time to add exercise to your life. You just have to commit to doing it. What do you do to incorporate it into your life?
This month my novel A Wedding Transpires on Mackinac Island is on sale for 99 cents in eformats. It’s a great time to try this contemporary romantic mystery set on beautiful Mackinac Island. I call it a vacation without the stress of getting there!
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Great tips! I get off the bus earlier and walk the rest of the way. And I garden. Dog walking is something I miss. Nothing like a furbuddy to get you out and about the neighbourhood three times a day. Oh and I lift light weights. Climb stairs. And I’m hunting down one of those bicycle thingys you can put under your desk so you can bike while you work.
I love the idea of getting off the bus early! What a great way to get exercise.
Some days it’s really hard to get going and I’m tempted to skip exercising. But I am always glad after I’ve done it. I think the oxygen to my brain clears my mind and helps me focus. And I mull over the next scene I’m going to write as I exercise.
I’m the same way, Lynn. I always feel better after I exercise.
Great tips! I agree with you — exercise is hard to fit into my schedule at times, but when I get it in, I feel so much better. So I make the effort.
For the past 13 years, I’ve had at least one pre-schooler at home with me. Thus, it was key for me to find a gym that offered childcare. When I was taking care of babies and toddlers all day, exercise became a little mommy-break! I decided to join LA Fitness, because they have three different gyms near where I live. I can pick and choose the classes and instructors I like at times that suit me. I mix it up between gym work-outs, yoga, and tennis. All three offer something I enjoy.
What great strategies. I’m still looking forward to joining a gym someday for classes. There just aren’t any close enough that offer what I’m interested in. I love your mix, Becky!
After reading Captured by Love by Jody Hedlund, I was excited to find your book at Lifeway for $3.97! Taking it on vacation. Now I want to go to Mackinac island but it’s so far from Alabama! My husband and I love to ride our bikes on the rails to trails. We’ve rode Chief Ladiga here in Alabama and the Silver Comet in Georgia.
Gail, you would love renting bikes on Mackinac Island!
I tend to take 60 min. for walking in my day. As the summer is upon us, I walk in the evenings.
Wow! Mackinac Island? My cousin and her husband work there. In fact, that is where they met. I should definitely read this 🙂
Mackinac Island is such a special place. How great that they work there! Love walking. Need to do it more 🙂
Great tips, Cara! I also find that when I do exercise, I not only feel better but have more energy too (have to keep myself in decent shape for when I have grandkiddos one day, LOL). 🙂
Hi Cara,
I still don’t know how you do it. And I am a runner though I don’t push myself to run more than 3 miles. I run two to three times in a week because I added swimming to the list this summer. I take my older son with me. But I just don’t have time to train for a marathon. It would drain me so much I wouldn’t be able to concentrate on anything else in between.