At AdMac Fitness we’re big believers that exercise frequency is more important than exercise duration. You’re better off training in short, regular bursts than long, less frequent workouts. Here’s a practical example as to why…
Say you train for 2 hours, once per week. You’ve accumulated all of your benefits of the training in a short window. Instead, take that same amount of time and divide it over 4 days, with 30 minute workouts on 4 separate occasions.
You’ve had 4 different endorphin hits, not 1
You’ve managed 4 separate metabolism spikes, not 1
You’ve improved circulation 4 times, not 1
You’ve exercised your cardiovascular system 4 times, not 1
You’ve engaged muscles 4 times, not 1
You’ve strengthened connective tissues 4 times, not 1
At this point you might be thinking ‘I don’t have 4 days per week to train’ and that might be true - but there’s subtle ways you can train. You can hide your exercise in amongst other tasks. It’s much easier than you think and doesn’t detract from your productivity or your social life.
Use your commute to exercise
This is the obvious one - if you’ve got to travel to work, do it under your own steam where possible. Now I’m not suggesting you get your bike out to travel 50 miles per day (although good for you if you do), or to cycle whatever the weather, but when the weather is dry, why not either get on your bike, or walk/run?
If you live within 3 miles of work, you could walk it in 30 mins… easily hit your 10k steps target every day, improve your mental health and give yourself a clear separation time between work and home.
It’s a very achievable distance to run as well - a good runner will manage a 3 mile commute in 20-30 minutes, which is an excellent workout. If you were to do that 2-3 times per week with a couple of gym sessions thrown in for good measure, you’d be in fantastic shape!
For a cyclist, a 3 mile bike ride could be completed in around 10 minutes, meaning in certain parts of London it’d be quicker to ride your bike to work than it would be to drive or get the tube!
Make catching up with friends active
It’s easy to fall into a trap of assuming anything social has to include food, booze or a combination of the two! Whilst they’re all great, you could head out for a bike ride together, a long walk, a gym session or even something like roller blading!
Anything active helps and if you can do it with a friend then you can make sure that you are burning calories and staying social at the same time.
We’ve discussed before that walking burns around 75% of the calories that running does, so although it’s easy to dismiss walking as low intensity, the reality is it’s a great hidden calorie burner, plus a great way to stay in touch with friends.
You can even do this with a business meeting - in fact walking meetings are one of the more popular ways of meeting now. There’s thinking that suggests whilst walking we’re more creative, more relaxed and more willing to express opinions, thoughts and viewpoints.
Steve Jobs famously used to complete a lot of his meetings and interviews whilst walking. Maybe you can do it too!
Home workouts
Whilst these may feel a bit retro nowadays, there’s nothing wrong with reserving your stretching to your home. If you don’t need to workout at home a la 2020, we’d suggest you don’t but there’s absolutely a value in doing your stretching and mobility work in your living room.
A full stretching session can be performed within 30 minutes and has significant injury prevention, mobility improvement and relaxation benefits and there’s no need for it to be performed in any particular location or space.
Stretching is both important and incredibly beneficial to your health and fitness, so it’s important to not neglect it. Even a 30 minute dedicated stretching session will have passable mobility and flexibility benefits, so there’s value in doing them.
Exercise efficiency FTW
We’re all busy, but being busy needn’t be an excuse for missing out on exercise - our bodies and health depends on it. By using the tips in this article you may spot a few ways to fit exercise into your daily life, which means you’ll remain active without missing out on other aspects of life.
If you ever need our help though, the AdMac Fitness team are always on hand!
If you’re in East London and would the AdMac Fitness personal trainers to train you, contact us on 07921465108 or email us at admacfitness@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you.