One of the things I often hear from people around town is "I don't have time to train". Time is a precious commodity, it waits for nobody and part of me can certainly appreciate the stresses, demands and time restrictions people are faced with in this city.
I have lived in a few different cities around the world and Sydney is truly a major one nowadays. It is currently ranked in the top 10 most expensive cities to live in the world and as a consequence people are working longer hours to keep up with the rising living costs associated with living in such a great city. However, another part of me (fitness pro's hat on) struggles to understand why people do not prioritise regular movement, healthy eating and getting to bed on time as a foundation to having a productive week, month and year. I will leave this to another post though.
The purpose of this post is to give some basic tips for people who understand the benefits of regular movement but are finding it increasingly difficult to fit some sort of exercise in their week. I hope the ones mentioned below will provide some inspiration to get out and move regularly:
1. Train with somebody - Grab a friend and organise to meet 3 times per week for 30 minutes. Lock in those times. The sheer act of involving another party means that you will less likely to cancel or forgo time for exercise
2. Get up 20 minutes earlier - People often ask me what is the best time to train? There has been studies done that says you burn more fat by working out in the morning but, you are stronger in the afternoon. So it can be a bit confusing. I think it really varies from person to person. What I will say is that it doesn't really matter what time you move but, you actually consistently do something. I think by getting up 20 minutes earlier 3 times per week is a very do able and practical for most. The feedback I get from people that train regularly in the morning is that they feel more productive at work day, have better concentration levels and mostly importantly make better nutrition choices.
I have previously worked in the finance sector and sometimes the last time I felt like doing was working out after a stressful day. Fast forward to current day and I know that I have had many client cancellations as a trainer due to a late meeting called or somebody feeling 'not up to it' after a bad day in the office. So set yourself a goal of getting up a little earlier 3 mornings a week and don't risk that meeting coming up or you having a bad day. Organise your training gear before you go to bed and set your alarm so you have to physically get out of bed to turn it off
3. Your body is your tool - The beauty about CrossFit is that a good percentage of the movements we try and master are gymnastics based ones and the older we get the greater control and command we need to have over our body. So it makes sense to use it as a training tool v's any other apparataus. If your body is sound you can do a great workout in a small amount of space with no additional equipment. 100 burpees for time is an absolute brutal workout and should take most of us less than 10 minutes. The tabata series which involves 4 movements takes around 16 minutes to complete and is also very taxing. Mix and match push and pull movements (dips, push ups, pull ups, renegade rows) with bending ones (squat, lunge, back extension etc) to engage the whole body. These can be done during lunch or after a brain sapping board meeting. If you are unsure how to program these make sure you ask your CrossFit coach, I am sure they will be only to happy to assist
4. Intensity is greater than time - Some people think that in order to get an effective workout they have to grind away for an hour or two. Nothing could be further from the truth. That mindset only stops a lot of people from even putting there trainers on. I personally have had some awesome workouts over the years that have gone no longer than 8 minutes. This doesn't mean I don't advocate training for 45 or 60 minutes straight but, don't think for a minute that this means you are getting a better workout. So ditch the long road runs and instead do 10 x 100m sprints on the grass. Grab a pair of dumbbells and do 6 mintues of clean and press and tell me how you feel afterwards. It will take you 1/4 of the time but, will give you 3 times the results. It is what you do, at what endeavour that counts the most
There are many more practical tips for the time pressed athlete. Please feel free to ask me for more on how to fit in a workout every second day. It is achieveable and it will help you more than you think.
See you on the training track!
Nicholas
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