Thursday December 8th 2016
Personal Trainer Tracy Griffen
Written by Tracy Griffen, Personal Trainer
One of the most common obstacles that new clients bring to me is that they don’t have time to exercise. It seems a fact of our modern world that despite the proliferation of ‘labour saving’ devices, we have even less time than before.
The approach I use is to find out everything about an individual’s lifestyle and then maximise ‘exercise opportunity’.
For example, could you get off the bus a few stops early and walk? Use the stairs instead of the lift? Stand up when working instead of sitting down? Do a simple strength workout when watching your favourite soap opera? There are countless solutions you can come up with to make your everyday life just a bit more active.
We have got to the point where we have made our lives so easy for ourselves (i.e. online shopping and delivery, washing machines instead of washing clothes by hand, driving instead of walking etc) that we now need to make our lives deliberately a bit more difficult to ensure we’re getting enough physical movement to stay fit and healthy. Just moving a little bit more can make a difference in your energy expenditure, and therefore your fitness overall.
If you’re chained to a desk during the day, this means you need to be extra canny and plan your exercise breaks. It has been medically proven that sitting for long durations can increase your risk of heart disease and ill health; we’re not biologically designed to sit in chairs all day. If you can request a standing desk at work, do so. Soon it will be more commonplace in offices to see people standing up to work.
Another way you can get fitter in limited time is to do a ten-minute workout. For example, ten different exercises for a minute each… A simple workout could look like this:
1. Jogging on the spot (warm up)
2. Press ups (upper body strength)
3. Tricep Dips (upper body strength)
4. Jack jumps (pulse raising)
5. Squats (leg strength)
6. Striding lunges (leg strength)
7. Shuffle / ‘Spotty dog’ (pulse raising)
8. Sit ups (tummy toning)
9. Roll downs (tummy toning)
10. Planks (overall abdominal strength)
The only equipment required is the stopwatch function on a smartphone, or even a kitchen timer. There are oodles of workouts on YouTube, however I believe it’s best to be taught excellent exercise technique personally from a qualified fitness professional to ensure you’re doing it right (and not risking injury).
Personal Trainer Tracy Griffen can show you lots of different ways you can fit fitness into a busy schedule. Visit her website at www.getfitandnejoyit.com Find her on Twitter @tracygriffen or on Facebook /griffenfitness
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