Time Management for Health and Fitness Goals

[DavideFitbit]

It's very important to have a consistent fitness schedule and to incorporate different routines rather than doing the same exact thing every time. 

Good time management allows us to accomplish a lot more in a shorter period of time, which leads to more free time, which lets us take advantage of learning opportunities, lowers our stress level, and helps us focus. 

Do you have any tips for time management while working out? What do you do to create a balanced and effective workout schedule? 

[ThumbedCat]

Planning. I subscribe to Cathe Friedrich - she has hundreds of different workouts through her apps. In my Evernote before the month starts I plan it, alternating cardio, spinning, weights total body, weights specific body parts, yoga, barre and bootcamp. I aim for 6 days a week, although they're not all hard workouts. One day a week I'll do something lighter. Cathe also had monthly rotations if you don't want to do the planning yourself. Nothing better than turning that workout green in my Evernote to show I've done it.

[DavideFitbit]

Thanks for the suggestion, @ThumbedCat! I'll definitely check Cathe Friedrich. 

That's a great idea, to plan the whole month before it starts. At least in my case that's easier than doing it weekly or daily! 😎

[Dzeguze]

I just get up and do it. Since the start of the pandemic, I got into a habit of exercising every day right after waking up. I run every other day and do a home workout when I'm not running, usually in the range of 20-60 minutes, depending on how I feel. 

Despite everything that happened in the past year, I have never been in better shape in my life.  

[t.parker]

I find it hard to squeeze in all the sports activities into my regular week. Right now, I'm training for the upcoming half-marathon race, want to do more rock climbing (just no time to pop into the climbing gym, and even less time to drive somewhere to the real crag), trying to maintain strength training whenever I can and do enough of one of the most important sports activities - sleep. 24hrs is not enough and the feeling that I need to choose and focus on one thing is frustrating. I don't want to downgrade in rock climbing but climbing means less running. Strength training, stretching - whenever I find any time for it. I pretty much had to abandoned cycling this year. What helps to manage things is a simple calendar so I can plan things. It's more "agile planning" which can change as I go. I need to be flexible with planning. For example, my training plan expects me to do an "easy run" today but the weather is really bad so I canceled it. Since I did an unscheduled "easy long run" yesterday so my mileage won't suffer much and it gives me a rest day from running. Also, I got an opportunity to visit the climbing gym after work (otherwise, if I ran, I would be out of any juice in the evening). Despite following the training program, the training program must be adjusted to my day, there is no other way. If I need to reschedule or even cancel something - so be it. Since I moved to the new town, there's a swimming pool nearby, and wish I had time to add yet another sport into my routine 😄 Shortly, calendar, planning ahead, and being flexible (and not feeling guilty because you canceled a workout) is the way to go.

[Heather-S]

I have a gym membership and I like to run.  So I try to alternate gym days and run days, but the run days are weather-dependent.  I also like yoga, but prefer to do it in a class setting rather than at home, so I try to find a yoga class that works with my schedule.

[emili]

I have a no option policy. Unless something really drastic happens, I workout everyday at my designated times. If I have a busy day, I will go out and do my miles early in the morning and then after work gym or park. Most days, I take my lunch on the treadmill. I can always eat while I work, I can't run or walk at my desk. I get a good hour in before I have to get back to check if I can take a quick shower :). At night I go to the gym and park to finish off my activities. My rest day is Sunday but I clean the house that day so not all sitting all day.. if you make this a priority and you have a partner who will help you with making it a priority, the reason for not doing it has nothing to do with time and everything to do with not wanting to.. 

[DavideFitbit]

Excellent, thank you for taking the time to share your routines and the things that have worked out for your to properly manage your workout time, @Dzeguze @t.parker @Heather-S @emili. 

It's definitely important to find a routine that works for us and to be disciplined in the moment, while being flexible at the same time if we're not feeling great. Last year was rough for so many people, but it was a good opportunity to re evaluate what we were doing and if the routine we had actually worked for us! 😀