Short on time
Short on Time?
We live in a hectic world at the moment, COVID changed the very nature of our day to day lives and although we may be working from home with more and more work/family pressure all fighting to take up our time it can be hard to fit in some self care work in terms of workouts.
More and more people are feeling the rising pressure of working from home, zoom and Microsoft teams seems to take up most of the day, not to mention caring for the family, it can seem like there’s just not enough time in the day.
So with so little time to spend on ourselves, training and going to the gym can seem like a daunting task. Coupled with the fact that there are so many workouts out there to choose from its hard to know what to do and even harder to fit a lot of them into your schedule; which is were training smarter comes in to your advantage.
Make A Plan
Firstly have a plan for the week, use a Sunday to look at your diary and see on what days you could fit in a workout; be it before work, at lunchtime or after work and for extra accountability why not say to a friend that you will be training at these times and ask them to join you.
Preparation
Pack your bag the night before so even if the worst should happen and you hit the snooze button by mistake in the morning, you have everything ready to go and theres no excuse. Why not even prepare a pre-workout snack so that you are fuelled and ready to hit the gym or home workout hard.
Cut Out
One of the biggest killers in the morning is checking your emails (especially your work ones) aim not to check your emails until after your workout is completed ideally check them within normal business hours, that way people get into the routine of emailing you at at all hours and expecting you to reply.
Structure
Knowing what to do when training in a gym or at home can be a daunting task, coupled with the fact if you're short on time can lead to a lot of waisted time. Investing in a trainer in person such as the team from Everyday Athlete Gym in Glasgow or being coached Virtually will give you the instruction and accountability to keep you on track and making each and every second of your valuable time effective.
Workout
Performing Circuits with a set work to rest ratio can be your greatest ally allowing you to get an incredible amount of work done in a short amount of time allowing you to be not only efficient with your time but also get incredible results. Some of my favourites are EMOM’s which stands for every minute on the minute and gets you to perform a set amount of work every min for a set amount of time such as 20 or 30 mins. Not only is this extremely challenging its a very simple structure that gives a hell of a lot bang for your buck, from increasing your strength and sending your metabolism into overdrive making you a fat burning machine.
For instance you could pick a set no. of exercises and perform a challenging no. of reps each minute eg. Set a clock for 30 mins and perform the following:
Min 1: 10 Barbell Deadlifts
Min 2: 10 Push Ups
Min 3: 12-15 Cals Rower
Min 4: 10 KB Goblet Squats
Min 5: 6-10 Burpees
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Now if it takes you 30 seconds to perform 10 deadlifts then you have 30 secs rest before you complete 10 pushups at the start of the 2nd min. The faster you get through you work for that min the more recovery you’ll have before the top of the next minute and the start of the next exercise.
Utilise high return functional movements and equipment in your circuits, barbells, dumbbells, Kettlebells and Suspension Straps are your biggest allies here and again if your not sure how to use any of these, don't be shy and ask a qualified personal trainer to show you how to get the best out of them.
It’s Not How You Start, But How You Finish
At the end of your workout perform a short HIIT style interval to help boost fat loss after your circuits, one of my favourites is a tabatta style format whereby you perform 8 rounds of 20 seconds of hard work and 10 seconds off, this adds ups to 4 mins and a great way to finish your workout and get your heart rate up. These can be done on any piece of CV equipment such as the bike, treadmill, rower or x-trainer.
Next time your in the gym choose your favourite cv kit and give it a go, just be sure you are safe to exercise and cleared by your doctor prior to starting any new training regimen.
Recovery
The magic happens when you’re not training. Ensure you recover adequately and for every 2 intense workouts take an active recovery day (low intensity cardio day such as walking or swimming to flush your muscles) or rest day. This will allow your body to recover better and will allow you to protect the intensity of future workouts.
Recovery – Next Steps
Utilise extra recovery techniques to get you feeling refreshed and ready to hit your next workout hard, such as eating good nutritious food, drinking plenty of water, foam rolling, booking a massage, taking an epsom salt bath and getting plenty of sleep.
Tracking
Finally be sure to record all your workouts using a Virtual Workout Tracker such as the EDA+ Virtual App, or with a notepad and pen, keeping note of the weight you used to lift and the sets and reps used on each, that way you will have an accurate note of how you are progressing but also allows you to look back and reflect on what went well, and what you perhaps could improve on.
Then each Sunday when making your plan for the week (See Tip 1) you can tailor your new plan for the week to hit your goals based on the previous weeks performance.
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Follow the above steps and you will be guaranteed to spend your workout time more efficiently and get the best out of your training.
