Welcome back to this week’s edition of 2-Minute Tuesdays where we are talking about one exercise topic for two minutes and giving you three reasons why you should follow our advice. Now this week, we are talking to those of you who have kids who are back in school. Their after-school activities are increasing, and you still need to find the time to workout. How can you do this with the increased schedule demand in the afternoon hours?
1) You Have To Schedule Your Exercise
Our first tip, and this is always a tip no matter what is going on, is you HAVE to schedule your exercise. Just like how your kids’ sports practices are scheduled, when things get scheduled, they happen. Make sure you are taking the time to schedule your workouts, whether it is during school hours, after school hours, or during after school activities. Make sure you find the time to schedule your exercise.
Action Step: Open up your weekly planner and find the three days over the next week when you can definitely get a workout in. You may need to be creative about how you use and manage your time. Once you find those time spots, take out a pen and write down “EXERCISE” in your schedule.
Related: How to exercise when you “have no time”
2) Utilize Your Weekends
Our second tip is to make sure to utilize your weekends. While there still may be sports activities for your kids on the weekends, if you can find 30 to 60 minutes on Saturday and/or Sunday to work out, that will free up your schedule Monday through Friday. It doesn’t have to be super early in the morning, either. Go out for a run or hit the gym mid-morning on a Saturday to get the weekend off to a great start.
Action Step: Plan to get a 30 to 60-minute workout in this upcoming Saturday morning. You don’t have to wake up at the crack of dawn, but get up and get moving before the day takes you away. Create the habit of doing this every Saturday and you will be well on your way to getting in your exercise before the school week starts back up.
Related: The Minimum Exercise Necessary To Improve Health
3) Make Sure You Are Still Going To The Gym
Our last tip is to make sure you are still going to the gym. The gym provides a very unique opportunity for your body that is different than exercising outside of the gym. Often times, when you are busy, you may just want to throw on a pair of shoes and go for a fast walk. But, you get a very unique opportunity to challenge your body when you are doing focused resistance training that cannot be matched if you do not go to the gym.
Action Step: Make sure your gym membership is up to date or sign up to get one if you don’t already have access to the gym. Then, find at least two days each week where you can get to the gym for 30-60 minutes of focused resistance training. While you may feel stretched for time, there is no substitute for this, so it is an absolute must to put into your schedule.
Want to learn how to exercise on your own? Download our free 5-Minute Mobility Check to create a customized exercise plan for yourself!