Life has a way of getting in the way. We have work, family and life commitments we cannot avoid and it can be very challenging to incorporate a healthy lifestyle into the mix when your mental and physical reserves are drained. How can busy professionals tackle this challenge without letting the important things slide?
I don’t have time to read this…yet. What’s the TLDR? (expand)
Fitness tips for busy professionals to incorporate a healthy lifestyle into a hectic work/life schedule:
Shorten your workouts and make time. The fitter you are the better you perform all round
Build better food habits. Make a concerted effort for a few months so ti becomes habitual. Tell others and get them on board to support you and hold you accountable
If you are truly tired and worn out, rest. Sleep, eat and relax. Treat yourself to that cheat meal. When you feel human again, get back into it.
Hire a PT when you have no mental capacity to think about training. Outsource the problem.
Start now. Things won’t get better by themselves. Muscle aches and stiffness require movement. So move.
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No Time to Train
You wake up at 7 am. You’re at your desk by 9 am unless you’re lucky enough to work from home, in which case you’re at your desk by 8 am. You work a full day or, more often than not, a full day plus a few more hours, followed by the joys of other obligations and demands of your time. From 7 am to 9 pm, your time isn’t yours. Try inserting an hour-long workout into a routine like this…
The solution: Find the time or shorten your workouts
Workouts do not have to be marathon sessions lasting an hour or more. In fact, studies have shown that, while the optimal length for weight training and cardiovascular workouts seems to lie between 30-60 minutes (1), that time period doesn’t necessarily have to be one continuous block. For example, you could go for a 15-minute brisk walk in the morning, another brisk walk on your lunch break, and finish the day with an intense 20-30 minute resistance training session.
Sometimes work or life takes priority over our time. Committing part of our day to ourselves can feel selfish - our time is needed elsewhere at the end of the day - but take a second to consider this: a fitter, healthier you might be able to offer more, in less time, than your current self.
Benefits from an increased level of health and overall fitness include (3):
Improved mood
Increased energy levels
Improved cognitive function
Improved sleep quality
If someone were to offer you a magic pill for the above benefits, I’m betting we would all take it. It exists, it just involves cutting the fat out of your day and carving out some time in your busy schedule.
Properly planned and executed, it is amazing how efficient workouts can be, making it easier to fit into your day. There is a caveat to this point which we explore more in section 3, but essentially if you’re totally drained, then it might be a better idea to rest than exercise.
So, shorten and increase the intensity of your workouts to maximise your time, and prioritise health and fitness, and thus yourself, to make yourself more efficient.
2. Poor Meal Choices
You’re on the run. You have a few minutes to grab a bite to eat. You’re probably a bit stressed, a bit tired and running on autopilot. Are you going to make a healthy meal choice? Probably not. You’re not alone. One of the main challenges my busy clients face is this one and there’s no magic fix (sorry).
The solution: Make healthy food choices
Yep. Captain Obvious here. Look, we are creatures of habit. That split second, unconscious decision to reach for a convenient, low-quality meal is borne out of habitual repetition. On some level, you can’t help it. The conscious brain is occupied putting out the latest fire or planning for your next presentation so menial tasks are delegated to the unconscious.
How do we change habits? By forming new ones. (He’s back). The best way to break a bad habit is to form new, beneficial ones. Studies have shown it takes, on average, 66 days to form new habits (4). By making a concerted effort for a comparatively short period of time it is possible to rewire the brain to make better, healthier meal choices.
Another useful tip is to be more open with your efforts with your diet. Telling colleagues, friends and family you are trying to eat better has two benefits: you develop a support network around you who hold you accountable for your actions and choices; and you set a great example for others who look up to you.
So, form new habits by taking an extra minute to decide healthier meals and tell others about your efforts to expand your support and accountability network.
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3. Low Energy to Train
You’re tired, stressed and flat. Work has been particularly punishing and your sleep has been compromised. You feel like, for lack of a better word, shit. The thought of exercising when you’re feeling this way evokes a sensation akin to dread. What is the optimal approach to exercise when you feel this way?
The solution: Don’t.
The best thing you can do in this situation, where you are well and truly drained and not just being lazy - you know you know the difference between the two - is to do less. We have two opposing systems which work in the human body: the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system - essentially, our 'on’ and ‘off’ modes.
Stress, movement and work all place demands our sympathetic nervous system - our ‘on’ mode - and increase our levels of fatigue which can accumulate over time if we are not careful. We can lower the levels of cumulative fatigue by doing things which complement our parasympathetic nervous system. Sleeping, eating and relaxing all help to lower our levels of fatigue.
Eating you say? Yes, eating. Assuming you have are trying to lose a few pounds and, therefore, assuming you have been reducing your calories slightly to aid in this pursuit, now might be the time to treat yourself to that cheat meal. Ensure you get sufficient protein, carbohydrates and fats in your meal and try not to feel too guilty. When you have your energy levels back and you can attack your workouts with renewed vigour you will put the extra calories to good use.
So, listen to your body. You know when you are truly tired, and when you are, relax and unwind…and eat properly.
4. No Mental Capacity
Alice from product needs your input on a feature she’s working on. Paul from HR needs you to review two new job offers. Helen from legal just raised an issue regarding a previous employees pension plan. You have your own board presentation to finalise by the end of the week. Your kid was off school because they were sick and your garden fence just broke. Fancy planning your workout?
The solution: Outsource the problem - Hire a trainer
Shameless plug? Yes. Genuinely a good idea? Also, yes. In business, it is generally a good idea to hire to your team those who are better than you at something. Sometimes we need the help of others to fill the gaps in our knowledge, proficiency or willingness. Could I take the hours upon hours to learn the ins and outs of corporate and personal tax accounting? Yes. Would I rather pay someone else to do it for me? Also, yes.
For busy professionals, hiring a personal trainer can be a real game-changer. All of a sudden you have someone who has designed, developed and will deliver a programme based around your needs and time constraints. Every workout is planned, every session is booked and you are held accountable to your time slot. You just have to turn up and get on with it, no thinking required.
So, get the most out of your time by hiring someone to get you the best results with minimal mental activation on your behalf.
5. Low Starting Point (very broken)
Your back hurts, your neck hurts, your hips are stiff, your legs are stiff and going up a flight of steps leaves you weirdly out of breath. “How did this happen?” Sitting at a desk for 10 hours a day certainly doesn’t help. We’re designed to move, not to sit. Will this get better by itself? Nope. How will it get better? You guessed it…
The solution: Move. Start now.
Prolonged inactivity can cause a myriad of issues. Without going into too much detail, the simple act of actually being seated for long periods of time causes detrimental physiological changes in our body leaving us aching and sore. Our instinct tells us that we need to limit our movement in order to avoid discomfort. However, in fitness as is the case in the life itself, the answer to the problem is found often where there is most resistance. It was Carl Jung who said “that which we need the most will be found where we least want to look”
Ok, enough philosophising for a second.
With general bodily aches and pains the way forward is often through, and corrective exercise should help alleviate them. Unless, of course, there is something acute which is causing these issues, in which case you should visit your GP or healthcare provider. More likely than not the solution is simple enough. You need to start moving more, through full ranges of movement, with resistance and in a safe manner to improve your overall strength, mobility and flexibility - the three go hand-in-hand.
A good personal trainer will be able to develop a programme which combines remedial exercises designed to rectify your aches and pains whilst improving overall strength, mobility and flexibility. There is no better time to start than right now, so get in touch and book your free consultation to find out how I could help.
Conclusion
By changing the parameters of your workouts, listening to your body and making a short-term concerted effort with your diet, you can take great strides towards incorporating a healthy lifestyle into a hectic work and home life. At the end of the day, the healthier we are, the better we perform so take the time to look after you. And if you need some extra help, reach out and see how I can help you.
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