How do you fit in workouts when life gets busy?
The idea of doing exercise is easy. I mean it’s not like lifting weights requires special skills or talents. There’s also strong evidence on the benefits of exercise.
Despite knowing the benefits, why can it be such a struggle?
Maybe you don’t feel like it. Maybe it’s because you think your workouts need to be optimal or perfect. Maybe because you think you need hours.
This can lead to all or nothing thinking. In reality a little is significantly better than nothing.
I combat this with two rules. 1) Do 15 minutes. 2) Make it ridiculously easy. 15 minutes is short enough to slot into even the busiest days. It’s also long enough to create an impact.
It’s so embarrassingly simple that I almost didn’t write this. It’s not groundbreaking but it works. It works because it gets past one of the biggest mental hurdles….STARTING.
When to do it
To make your 15 minute workout automatic, link it to something you already do. This is what James Clear calls habit stacking. Here are some times you can try:
- After you’re morning shower
- Do it before you shower
- As soon as you finish work
- Before you eat lunch
Workout ideas
There are so many different things you could throw together. Here are a couple ideas to get you started.
Workout #1:
4 sets of Dips or Push up
This one is great for home. Push ups can be done for high reps or do chair dips if you want to make it harder. I like this one because you don’t really get sweaty so I can squeeze this one at any time.
Workout #2
100 Burpees
If you want to work up a sweat and get those endorphins going then this is for you. This one can be done anywhere.
Scale the number to your ability. Remember the second part of the rule. Make it easy. So if that means you can only do 50 burpees on a good day then target 40 instead.
Also if you are truly trying to stay within the 15 minutes. You might want to put a 10 minute time cap on it so you have 5 mins to have a shower.
Workout #3
4×10 Back Squat
Superset Chin ups for max reps
Here’s a full body workout for those with home gyms. Work up to a heavy set of back squats and do any chin up variation between sets. These exercises complement each other so you can get a lot of work done in a tiny window.
There you have it. If you are struggling with time or motivation. Give 15 minutes a go. These little efforts add up.
