Work or family commitments means you have no time to exericse or keep fit? Do you go for convenience food over healthy meals? If any of those ring a bell, worry no longer as personal Trainer and blogger Alexis Fletcher rounds up some useful tricks to eating well and keeping fit for those of us who are time-poor.
Like most of us, you probably don’t have a lot of it! (Well spare time anyway!)
People struggle with committing to exercise and diet plans because of time constraints… But there are no excuses!
OK so I know you’re busy, you work long days, its dark when you go and finish work or you dedicate all of your time to looking after your children and home.
FEAR NOT!
Ask yourself can you spare 10 minutes a day, four times a week? I’m sure you can!
What you need is an anywhere, anytime, short all-over body workout. A combination of body weight resistance training for strength, and plyometrics for cardio and power would work best.
Et voila!
Choose 1 exercise from each group – do the body weight exercises for 10 reps (as slow as possible) and the plyometrics for one minute with a rest in between
Body Weight
Tricep Dips
Squats
Lunges (alternating legs)
Full Press Ups(on feet, not knees)
For progression – add weights to these exercises if you have them.
Plyometrics
Squat Jumps
Airborne Lunges
Plyo Press Ups (lift hands off floor in between reps)
Burpees (with a star jump in between)
When on the concentric phase (i.e. on the way down) aim for the earth, and on the eccentric phase (i.e. on the way up) aim for the clouds! Add in alternative training such as stair sprints, shadow boxing and skips when you’re in need of a change.
Resistance bands also provide a great workout tool for those with confined space and/or time.
Short on time? Try intense classes such as spinning or HIT (high intensity training) classes such as GRIT…. And if you are a constantly busy person with a racing mind, as a yoga lover you will know I always recommend giving it a go!
Nutrition
Having no time to contribute towards dieting can be a downfall. As long as you can be organised and consistent you should be able to stick to some simple rules. There are just five of them so you can count them on one hand!
1) Start your day with a hot water and lemon drink and have protein for breakfast so porridge, eggs or a green juice.
2) Stick to salads or soups for lunch and if you need to have carbs, go for complex, low GI carbs such as rye bread or sweet potato (always within one hour after a workout).
3) For dinner stick to lean meat and fish with dark green leafy vegetables.
4) Avoid carbs in the evening, stick to one coffee a day and one to two pieces of fruit a day.
5) Choose healthy snacks such as unsalted nuts, olives and celery.