With the holidays coming up, time can feel like a precious commodity.
Ahh, if only schedules could look more like this.
It can be a real challenge to get everything done, let alone your fitness routine!
And even when the holidays aren’t upon us, sometimes life just gets busy with work, family outings, taxes, social events, household obligations, etc.
Yeah, we know the feeling.
Driving our Ferraris, running a multi-bazillion-trillion dollar company that helps people get fit in a fun way, and solving world hunger takes up a lot of our day.
(Ok, maybe that’s not exactly the reality we’re living…)
But we know what it’s like to feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day to accomplish everything you want or need to do.
Our Posse is full of people living interesting but BUSY lives. We’re sure it’s no different for you.
So what can you do? Well we’ve never met a problem we couldn’t solve… 
Here are 5 of our best tips for helping you to integrate a consistent workout into your busy schedule.
1. Do What You Can When You Can
No time for a full hour-long session?
No problem – just do the first 20 minutes (or whatever length of time you have available) of your session and call it a day. A little bit of movement and training daily is much more effective than a full session once a week or so.
- Warm up
- Cool down
- Call it a day
If that’s all you can manage, it’s still better than nothing.
Check out these two SUPER SIMPLE YET EFFECTIVE movements that Ryan demonstrated while walking through the busy streets of Japan!
2. Prioritize Strength over Conditioning
Focusing on developing strength in your workout gives you the most bang for your buck with your training time.
Uhh…no.
It seems like everybody feels the need to be totally wiped out in their workouts, so they do hard cardio like intervals or spend an hour on the ellipitical and treadmill.
Getting out of breath and making the heart pound seems like the goal for so many people’s workout.
However, strength gains actually stick around longer than cardio gains.
Cardiovascular conditioning drops off pretty quick after a short time of not training, whereas strength diminishes much less quickly.
If you are really that pressed for time and can only get one or two sessions of training in a week, go for strength. Otherwise you’ll just be wasting your time with your cardio. (And we all don’t have much time to spare!)
3. Practice Your Skills
Our tutorials helped Posse member Simon Piff rock a handstand on a beach in Vietnam.
A lot of times you may feel that if you aren’t feeling 100% up to the task of training that you won’t gain anything from working out that day.
Well, that’s simply not true.
You don’t need to go balls to the wall every time you work out.
Those bleh days are inevitable, but rather than skipping them, working on a skill or two is just the ticket.
For example hand balances are fun, and require a different kind of focus and energy than conditioning routines.
Pick a handbalancing move (handstands, crow/crane pose, elbow levers) and play with that and just that in your training session.
I bet you’ll find both weaknesses and strengths that you may not have noticed before, and it may spur you on to more intensive training later.
4. Focus On Activities Rather Than Workouts
Given the choice, which of these two options sounds like the most fun?
- 5 rounds of a high-intensity exercise circuit
- Racing your dog to catch a ball (Ryan’s favorite)
Either one of those will get your heart rate up and challenge your endurance, but one of them looks suspiciously like play… which is why you’ll actually want to do it, even if you’re tired and busy.
And sure, sometimes the circuit routine is the better choice.
But it’s nice to have options.
5. Make It A Social Event
Multitasking can be an asset here. The next time you’re going to meet up with a friend, suggest doing something active that you both enjoy.
Got an upcoming company meeting? Take it outside and walk around your office building or stroll down to the nearest park.
There’s also another ninja tactic happening here – accountability. When you coordinate an ongoing activity with a friend or group, you’ll be more likely to commit to it regularly because you’ll now have a support system to keep you on track and ensure that you keep showing up.
Our Alpha Posse is a great community of like-minded people (good people – GMB people), all working together towards a common goal while running companies, making a difference in the world, and enjoying time with their families.
If you’re in need of a support community to help keep you on track, there’s never been a better time to join us.
Your Turn!
Got a great tip for getting your training in when you’re busy?
Drop it in the comments below.
Likewise, if you’ve got a question or challenge you need us to help you out with.
Photos via MemeGenerator and Carissa GoodNCrazy.
