9 Ways to Stay Fit When Life’s Insanely Busy
It’s easy to resolve to exercise regularly, especially when you’re lounging around nibbling cookies and sipping holiday brews with family. It gets harder when it’s time to make those resolutions happen—and the reality of being back at work and catching up on the avalanche of post-holiday chores comes crashing down. Stay calm: You don’t have to toss your resolutions to the curb like so many crumpled balls of fancy wrapping. Here's how to manage your fitness no matter how busy you get.
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Establish a quick fit zone. Find a bright, cheery space in your house (preferably one you pass frequently) where you can set up a super mini gym—even if it’s just a single kettlebell or medicine ball. On time-crunched days, take a minute—literally—to do 60 seconds of a full-body move like kettlebell swings. In just three minutes a week, you’ll build some strength and enjoy a metabolism bump. Skeptical? Do one minute of kettlebell swings. You’ll be a believer.
Perform household boot camp blocks. No one loves housework—so reframe it as bodywork and use your to-do list as an opportunity to get some sustained exercise. Go through your chores like you would a boot camp workout. Queue up your favorite music and hustle to get it all done. An hour of doing laundry, cleaning the kitchen, or vacuuming and dusting burns off about 250 calories. Yardwork burns even more.
Ride, run, or walk there. Visiting friends or family across town? Consider walking there or commuting by bike. It won’t take that much longer than getting in the car, and you’ll get fresh air and exercise along the way. If you choose to bike, you can even count those rides as part of our 21-Day #RideStreak Challenge that starts January 1!
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Try Tabatas. When you have little time to spare, make every second count with high-intensity intervals. Tabatas—super short bursts of very hard effort—are the ticket for getting the biggest fitness benefit from every exercise moment. These intervals, developed in Japan for Olympic athletes, have been deemed the “four minute miracle workout” for their ability to increase fitness and burn fat in an amazingly small amount of time. "Miracle" might be a strong word, but they do work. Warm up, then do the exercise of your choosing for 20 seconds at absolute max effort followed by 10 seconds rest, eight times (that’s four minutes total). You can even download a Tabata timing app like HIIT & Tabata Interval Timer that lets you set your intervals to your favorite tunes and talks you through them, so you don’t have to watch the clock. Once or twice a week is all you need.
Make an active date. Bars and restaurants aren’t the only places people can (and do) socialize. Get creative and plan active dates with friends and family. Play some tennis. Go for a walk at the local park. Hit some golf balls; ride bikes; play bocce. You’re only limited by your imagination.
Get off the bench. How much time do you spend parked on your seat while you watch your kids play and practice sports and other physical endeavors? Use this as prime exercise time. Get up and walk around the field. Stride up and down the bleachers. Or, skip watching a practice or two (it’s okay, really), and do your activity of choice while they play.
Do the Netflix sculpt & stretch. Now that you can download entire seasons of shows, people are devouring multiple episodes of their favorites in one sitting. Enjoy a healthier binge by peppering it with some yoga, core moves like planks, and other living room-friendly exercises while you watch some cycling-related movies.
Park and walk. Rather than parking and driving to the post office, the drug store, the dry cleaners, and so forth, park in one central location and walk to each. You’ll save time looking for parking and sneak in some steps as well.
Stack up “fit moments." When we resolve to "exercise more," we tend to conjure up images of sweating it out in the gym or exercise classes. But research shows that folks who simply move more throughout the day are more likely to achieve their weight loss goals—and may be healthier in the long run—than those who bang out a single exercise session and then plant themselves like a potted fern in one place all day. So look for every little opportunity to have a “fit moment.” Take those stairs. Stand instead of sit when you’re on the phone. Use the restroom on another floor. Every fit moment adds up to keep you moving towards maintaining those resolutions.
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