Sometimes it is so hard to figure out where to find time to fit a workout into a busy day!
There was a time when I made my workouts my income. This ensured I would be able to get them done! As a group fitness instructor for several years, I developed a tremendous value for exercise in my life and a serious discipline because if I was going to cancel for any reason, it had better be a huge one! – Cancelling meant I’d be letting others down!?
Fast forward. I began to decrease my teaching schedule a few years ago as my life went through many changes. I took a full time desk job to meet the needs of my family- SITTING? UGH! I began to struggle with time management for my beloved workouts. I needed time with my kids, had to work all day and had to juggle all the extracurricular activities that become a priority when you’ve got teens and preteens. To add to my ever growing list of challenges, I developed some health issues. I felt tired all the time, foggy headed, had a constant ebb and flow of pain in my hips and additional joints and muscles, just to name a few things. It was depressing and I think the lack of workouts in the worst moments made me feel even more depressed. I had spent so long coming to rely on those endorphin releases. I’ve since been lumped into the fibromyalgia category. I was also told that I suffered from trochanteric bursitis in my hips and that my soul mate workout, Zumba, was not the best choice for that. *sniffle*
I needed to find things that I could still do without causing myself more pain so I started dabbling with squeezing in a few random exercises while at work. I turned my desk into a standing one. It’s said that the sheer act of standing can double your metabolic rate! Sweet! I’d do some dips and pushups from my desk when no one was looking. Now before you rule that as being absurd, body weight exercises have several benefits which include boosting cognitive function so I’m actually doing my employer a favor in some way keeping myself sharp! *wink*
I knew I wasn’t going to be able to maintain the fitness level I’d pushed myself to in the past and began to make peace with that. I just wanted to be able to stay healthy, feel strong and if I’m being honest, keep from gaining weight, which has been a struggle for me in the past. This began the course developing a fitness schedule that works for me and it’s my hope that by sharing, it may help others find some, what I like to call, “wellness breaks” on those busy days!
I like lists at work. I make lists of what I need to get done every day so that I don’t miss something. My approach to my wellness breaks is no different. I have a weekly check sheet I print and hang on the wall next to me. Monday through Friday I do my best to check almost everything off of that list. I make it a priority. Unless I am truly not feeling well or my day gets entirely out of hand, it gets done, either at work or at home, but mostly everywhere and anywhere through the entire day!
Here’s what’s on the list:
Squats: 3 sets of 30
Lunges: 30 each side
Desk Dips: 3 sets of 15
Desk Pushups: 4 sets of 15
Tricep extensions: 3-4 sets of 30
Kettle Bell Swings: 4 sets of 45
Standing Oblique Twist: 4 sets of 50 counts
Standing Oblique Crunch: 3 sets of 30 each side
Knee Lift/Standing Crunch: 2 sets of 25 each side
Plank: minimum of 1 hold for minimum of 60sec.
Bicep Curls: 4-6 sets of 15 each side
Walking/Marching in place: 20k steps
Add to this, a morning jog if I can get my butt out of bed at 5:30am! (Or, if I have the time and energy in the evening.) I’ll usually make that consist of a total of at least 2 miles (warm up, jog, cool down).
Keep in mind, these are all things I squeeze in and have worked up to. I keep a 10lb kettle bell in my bathroom at work and an 8lb dumb bell at my desk. I pick a few things and do a set of each when taking a potty break or I’ll do a rotation of a few things while I wait on prints or copies. I’ll plank when I’m going for a shower or before bed. Nothing happens all at once and I’m okay with that, just so it happens. In fact, it keeps me from falling into an afternoon slump at work because I have to swing that kettle bell or do that lunge revving myself back up when I feel myself fading. If I’m bored of something, I’ll switch it up and find something else to do.
I literally march almost all day at my desk while typing, answering the phone, you name it…. (which, I have to warn, is not the most comfortable without supportive shoes- and I generally don’t wear proper footwear- *oops!) Please Note that it would be recommended that you wear appropriate footwear so as not to develop feet and knee problems.
I clip a JawboneUP MOVE to my shoe every day to track my steps. It has to go on the shoe in my case because of two things: a. my arms are not swinging at my side to register steps while I’m working and b. I’ve flushed one down the toilet already having it clipped to the waistband of my pants! Nuff said.
Cycling through the sets of exercises I’ve listed is usually just enough to break into a little glisten and make the heart work a little harder for a few minutes. I don’t need to get changed into my finest workout wear to get it done. In the warmer months, I’m usually doing all this in a cute dress! Do my co-workers think I’m nuts? I’m pretty sure they do. They’ve learned to ignore me if I’m marching in place while they are talking to me – it’s literally become a habit that I sometimes have to stop myself from doing! I’ll get my chops busted occasionally, but more often than not, people embrace my creativity and mostly adjust to my weirdness.
I make sure to supplement exercise on my weekends with whatever form of movement makes me content. I try to spend some time walking and jogging, hiking or biking and basically filling in with cardio more than weight exercise. I wondered when I started doing all this, if it would be effective enough. Would it help keep me feeling well and keep my weight from climbing? The reason I’m sharing is because it has! It has helped me maintain my weight, keeping some muscle tone. It has helped keep my energy levels up. It has allowed me to do what I need to in order to feel good about myself and my health, all while not interfering with my busy life!
Obviously, different forms of exercise produce different results individually and I had to work to get to the point where I was comfortable focusing on maintaining rather than building more muscle or losing more weight. Diet is certainly a huge element when defining how much movement needs to happen! I eat pretty healthy, but I splurge a lot because I like food! I can’t stress enough to everyone that it doesn’t matter where you are going on your fitness journey or where you start…it just matters that you are doing something about your well being! I’ve found there is no perfect answer or solution because we are all so different. What there are, are a bazillion options to try in getting to a healthier version of yourself. That is personal and you need to explore what you like, what you have time for and how your body handles each approach. I hope you will be encouraged to continue exploring or start if you haven’t!
I'm always looking for new ideas so hit me up if you've got something to share!!!
There was a time when I made my workouts my income. This ensured I would be able to get them done! As a group fitness instructor for several years, I developed a tremendous value for exercise in my life and a serious discipline because if I was going to cancel for any reason, it had better be a huge one! – Cancelling meant I’d be letting others down!?
Fast forward. I began to decrease my teaching schedule a few years ago as my life went through many changes. I took a full time desk job to meet the needs of my family- SITTING? UGH! I began to struggle with time management for my beloved workouts. I needed time with my kids, had to work all day and had to juggle all the extracurricular activities that become a priority when you’ve got teens and preteens. To add to my ever growing list of challenges, I developed some health issues. I felt tired all the time, foggy headed, had a constant ebb and flow of pain in my hips and additional joints and muscles, just to name a few things. It was depressing and I think the lack of workouts in the worst moments made me feel even more depressed. I had spent so long coming to rely on those endorphin releases. I’ve since been lumped into the fibromyalgia category. I was also told that I suffered from trochanteric bursitis in my hips and that my soul mate workout, Zumba, was not the best choice for that. *sniffle*
I needed to find things that I could still do without causing myself more pain so I started dabbling with squeezing in a few random exercises while at work. I turned my desk into a standing one. It’s said that the sheer act of standing can double your metabolic rate! Sweet! I’d do some dips and pushups from my desk when no one was looking. Now before you rule that as being absurd, body weight exercises have several benefits which include boosting cognitive function so I’m actually doing my employer a favor in some way keeping myself sharp! *wink*
I knew I wasn’t going to be able to maintain the fitness level I’d pushed myself to in the past and began to make peace with that. I just wanted to be able to stay healthy, feel strong and if I’m being honest, keep from gaining weight, which has been a struggle for me in the past. This began the course developing a fitness schedule that works for me and it’s my hope that by sharing, it may help others find some, what I like to call, “wellness breaks” on those busy days!
I like lists at work. I make lists of what I need to get done every day so that I don’t miss something. My approach to my wellness breaks is no different. I have a weekly check sheet I print and hang on the wall next to me. Monday through Friday I do my best to check almost everything off of that list. I make it a priority. Unless I am truly not feeling well or my day gets entirely out of hand, it gets done, either at work or at home, but mostly everywhere and anywhere through the entire day!
Here’s what’s on the list:
Squats: 3 sets of 30
Lunges: 30 each side
Desk Dips: 3 sets of 15
Desk Pushups: 4 sets of 15
Tricep extensions: 3-4 sets of 30
Kettle Bell Swings: 4 sets of 45
Standing Oblique Twist: 4 sets of 50 counts
Standing Oblique Crunch: 3 sets of 30 each side
Knee Lift/Standing Crunch: 2 sets of 25 each side
Plank: minimum of 1 hold for minimum of 60sec.
Bicep Curls: 4-6 sets of 15 each side
Walking/Marching in place: 20k steps
Add to this, a morning jog if I can get my butt out of bed at 5:30am! (Or, if I have the time and energy in the evening.) I’ll usually make that consist of a total of at least 2 miles (warm up, jog, cool down).
Keep in mind, these are all things I squeeze in and have worked up to. I keep a 10lb kettle bell in my bathroom at work and an 8lb dumb bell at my desk. I pick a few things and do a set of each when taking a potty break or I’ll do a rotation of a few things while I wait on prints or copies. I’ll plank when I’m going for a shower or before bed. Nothing happens all at once and I’m okay with that, just so it happens. In fact, it keeps me from falling into an afternoon slump at work because I have to swing that kettle bell or do that lunge revving myself back up when I feel myself fading. If I’m bored of something, I’ll switch it up and find something else to do.
I literally march almost all day at my desk while typing, answering the phone, you name it…. (which, I have to warn, is not the most comfortable without supportive shoes- and I generally don’t wear proper footwear- *oops!) Please Note that it would be recommended that you wear appropriate footwear so as not to develop feet and knee problems.
I clip a JawboneUP MOVE to my shoe every day to track my steps. It has to go on the shoe in my case because of two things: a. my arms are not swinging at my side to register steps while I’m working and b. I’ve flushed one down the toilet already having it clipped to the waistband of my pants! Nuff said.
Cycling through the sets of exercises I’ve listed is usually just enough to break into a little glisten and make the heart work a little harder for a few minutes. I don’t need to get changed into my finest workout wear to get it done. In the warmer months, I’m usually doing all this in a cute dress! Do my co-workers think I’m nuts? I’m pretty sure they do. They’ve learned to ignore me if I’m marching in place while they are talking to me – it’s literally become a habit that I sometimes have to stop myself from doing! I’ll get my chops busted occasionally, but more often than not, people embrace my creativity and mostly adjust to my weirdness.
I make sure to supplement exercise on my weekends with whatever form of movement makes me content. I try to spend some time walking and jogging, hiking or biking and basically filling in with cardio more than weight exercise. I wondered when I started doing all this, if it would be effective enough. Would it help keep me feeling well and keep my weight from climbing? The reason I’m sharing is because it has! It has helped me maintain my weight, keeping some muscle tone. It has helped keep my energy levels up. It has allowed me to do what I need to in order to feel good about myself and my health, all while not interfering with my busy life!
Obviously, different forms of exercise produce different results individually and I had to work to get to the point where I was comfortable focusing on maintaining rather than building more muscle or losing more weight. Diet is certainly a huge element when defining how much movement needs to happen! I eat pretty healthy, but I splurge a lot because I like food! I can’t stress enough to everyone that it doesn’t matter where you are going on your fitness journey or where you start…it just matters that you are doing something about your well being! I’ve found there is no perfect answer or solution because we are all so different. What there are, are a bazillion options to try in getting to a healthier version of yourself. That is personal and you need to explore what you like, what you have time for and how your body handles each approach. I hope you will be encouraged to continue exploring or start if you haven’t!
I'm always looking for new ideas so hit me up if you've got something to share!!!