11 Aug Fitting fitness into a busy lifestyle

No matter how good our intentions or commitment, sometimes there just isn’t time for fitness.
We’ve all had probably a day, or stretches of them, where so many things are on our plates that getting in our usual workout or even close to it is impossible.
If you use a little creativity, though, there are ways to still squeeze in some opportunities for fitness, or at the very least take steps to relieve your stresses.
Here are my great eight tips to squeeze fitness into a busy lifestyle:
1. Do light stretching – If you’re cooped up at work, or watching a house full of kids, you can still take a break to do stretches such as shoulder rolls, toe touches and some calf stretches. It will keep you from getting really tight and relieve stress.
2. Take the dog for a longer walk – If you didn’t make it to the gym, get a little extra exercise by taking the dog for a longer walk than usual.
3. Walk on the treadmill – If you only have 10-15 minutes to spare, you can still loosen up by walking on the treadmill.
4. Take a short bike ride – Ride your bike around the block a time or two, or take it to the store. Even a short little bike ride can help let out some of the stresses of the day.
5. Do a pushups/sit-ups circuit – Do a couple sets of pushups then sit-ups, take a rest and repeat. This is a great way to burn off some calories in a short amount of time.
6. Do a shorter weight workout – If you only have a fraction of your usual workout time, sometimes it does feel good to do an abbreviated workout. Skip certain lifts and do fewer sets.
7. Relax before bed time – I’m not always real good at this as I often watch TV until close to bed time, but a great way to ensure a good night’s sleep is to quietly unwind your day. You can lay on the floor or a couch and quietly unwind, listen to relaxing music or read a book.
8. Get back to working out ASAP – Don’t beat yourself up too badly if you get into a fitness rut. But get back on track as soon as you can. We all miss a few days or even a week or more of our regular fitness routines, but if you miss much more then you might wind up playing catch up to where you were at.

At Home Fitness consultant Aaron Dorksen’s blog deals with a variety of fitness topics, ranging from workout tips, motivational ideas and feature stories on how exercise impacts people’s lives. E-mail him with comments, questions or ideas for future blogs at aaron@athomefitness.com