FIT IN FITNESS!

In today’s world, everyone is “busy”.  Busy, busy, busy!  Sometimes it would appear that being busy is a badge of honour and we find ourselves trying to one up each other as to just how jam packed our lives are.  In reality though, we do all tend to live heavily scheduled lives.  Between work, family, kids (if you have them), all your kids activities, your own activities, your social life, volunteering, committees, appointments, grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning, etc etc. it can feel impossible to add in a workout routine.  Just writing that list is exhausting!  If you are feeling that you don’t even know where to begin to add a fitness routine to your life, it’s ok! You are not alone, and you are in the right spot!  I am here to give you some tips and tricks on how to add more movement to your life, and before you know it you will be craving exercise and rocking your fitness goals!

Most of us have daily non-negotiables that we automatically complete every day, whether we feel like it or not.  Think: waking up to an alarm clock for work/school, getting lunches packed and kids out the door, showering and beauty routines, meal planning and prepping, cleaning and more.  We do these things as part of our lifestyle, even if we don’t specifically schedule them on our calendar.  Until you can incorporate fitness into your daily non-negotiables, I encourage you to treat working out as an appointment, like you would with a dentist/doctor appointment, car maintenance, etc.  This means actually writing it into your schedule, adding it to your phone calendar and treating it as an appointment that you have made with yourself.  Give yourself a strict cancellation policy too for good measure : if you cancel it, or are a “no-show”, it will cost you $25 - go ahead and give that money to charity!  You need to get very specific with the days and times that you are scheduling, including time to shower after.  Give yourself enough time so that you don’t feel rushed and therefore would be more likely to opt out the exercise for fear of being late for something else!

Once you have this fitness appointment on your calendar, you need to figure out in advance what you’re going to do.  Some options include a jog, a walk with body weight resistance exercises thrown in (hello burpees!), a fitness class, a video, or hopefully you already work out with me at Dart Fit! Now that the weather is turning nicer it is even easier to get outside and move your body.  You will get the added bonus of incorporating fresh air and Vitamin D into your day.  Embrace the convenience of time efficient high intensity workouts.  These workouts usually incorporate full body strength with cardio advantages due to the maximum bursts of energy you use.  You will benefit more from a 20 minute HIIT workout than you will with a 1 hour workout that you cancel because you don’t have enough time to do it!  The benefits of HIIT workouts are many and well researched, and because I’m so fond of them I will definitely devote another blog post to this topic!

Take advantage of technological advances to both get your workouts in and to track your daily fitness goals.  Using pre-recorded and live virtual workouts is an easy and effective way of incorporating fitness into your busy life.  Many fitness apps and websites such as Dart Fit offer a variety of workouts to keep you engaged, help you feel supported, and allow you to workout at a time that works best for you.  The library at www.dartfit.com that you have access to as a member provides you with literally hundreds of workouts with a range of focuses and intensity levels.  We also do monthly challenges at Dart Fit to keep you motivated and inspired and I am always available to chat one on one about your fitness goals and needs.  

You may also find that wearing a smart watch that you personalize with step, calorie and movement goals is an innovative way to monitor how well you are keeping up with your fitness targets.  Seeing your progress can be a great motivator, especially if you are an innately competitive person!

Get a workout accountability buddy!  This can be one of the best ways to hold yourself to your goals!  Even if you don’t actually workout together, telling someone your goals is a fantastic way to keep yourself accountable and motivated.  This is even better if your buddy also has fitness goals, that way you can share them with each other, check in with each other daily, give feedback and provide a person that you can workout with some or all of the time!

One of my favourite ways to fit in fitness, and to expand on the fitness I do daily is to sneak in “micro workouts” throughout the day.  Take for example a current Squat Challenge I’m doing where I commit to doing 30 squats a day, every day, before noon!  Not only will you burn an additional 30-40 calories doing this, but you will be strengthening important muscles in your glutes, hamstrings and quads and improving your posture.  This is just one example of sneaking in extra fitness to your day.  Other examples could include: lunging while brushing your teeth, squats while making dinner, running up instead of walking up the stairs, doing 5 push ups before you go to bed…there are SO many ideas out there.  Choose what you enjoy doing first and then add in the less enjoyable stuff later…..burpees??

Now, more than ever, it is imperative that we prioritize our health.  The world around us makes it so easy to be less active and to eat convenience foods that are not ideal for our health.  I’d love to hear some of your tips in the comments about how you ‘fit fitness’ into your life.  Make sure you check back weekly for my blog posts and if you’re not already a member of Dart Fit, grab a Trial Membership and give it a try for free!  

Melissa