EXPERT INTERVIEW: Quick-fire ways to improve your fitness for the super busy.
It’s no secret that successful people consider regular exercise integral to their success. Yet for many, finding the time to work out is a challenge.
To help fresh inspiration, we spoke with Brett McCarten from The Training Club. In this interview with Monument, Brett shares his top advice to improving your fitness when you're pressed for time.
Here's what he had to say:
After a decade in the fitness industry, I've worked with thousands of people, and more often than not, in that time, the number one reason for not getting something done is always the same, "I just don't have the time."
While this is a completely understandable frustration in the modern world, where work can seep into our personal time and the boundaries are blurred, it’s my role as a Coach to challenge that reasoning.
During my time as a Coach at The Training Club, I have encountered individuals from many walks of life who struggle to find the time. There is no universal solution for everyone. I have to understand the source of their challenge and apply the right recommendations and suggestions that are realistic for them, therefore increasing the chances they will apply my advice and progress.
I have compiled my toolkit of advice and suggestions that will help busy people begin to make changes towards improving their fitness. If you can identify and apply even just one, you’re taking the biggest step towards your personal fitness improvement goals.
1. Assess and analyse
Start by breaking your week down into 24 one-hour slots. Block out the times you're working and sleeping. Now block out the time you travel to/from work, when you're eating, and when you’re tending to family responsibilities and quality time.
What do you have left?
This is your free time - the time where you decide what you do. Is that time being spent wisely? What can you do in that time? People often underestimate what they can do in 30 to 60 minutes. 30 minutes is less than an episode of most TV shows and less than the time spent by the average person browsing the Internet on their phones.
2. Reduce your expectations
I want you to improve your health and fitness - genuinely, I do - but I'm not going to ask you to train seven days a week. That's what people think they have to do to begin. They then struggle to keep up that consistency and end up falling at the first hurdle a couple of weeks in. Reduce the pressure on yourself. Can you only get in 3x a week to train? Fantastic, let's make those sessions count.
3. Be accountable
What usually happens when someone asks you to get some work done by the end of the day? You get it done. Now imagine that you have to speak to somebody at the end of the day about the decisions you made today and how your training went. That's a Coach. That's what we do at The Training Club. We hold you accountable. Have you done everything you said you'd do? If not, we help you set out a structure for your workouts and your week that suits and benefits you. We believe in advice, observation, and if something goes wrong, we help you identify what went wrong and why, so we can adjust your process to fit.
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4. Be efficient
"I don't have time to work out for two hours at the gym." Trust me, me neither. I'm not sure what those people are doing spending that long there. What if I told you that you could be in and out of the gym in 30 to 45 minutes? Giant sets (four or more exercises performed one after another without rest) can be extremely effective in helping you get the results you want. Pair that with a fun finisher to get your heart rate up and test yourself on some cardio equipment or kettlebells, and you'll be out of the gym in no time, wondering how you ever convinced yourself that you had no time to train.
5. Stop wasting your time
This one is a little on the nose, but bear with me. The same people who, in the past, have told me they don't have time to get in shape are the same ones who are up to date with Series 5 of Cobra Kai, or know exactly what's going on with I'm A Celeb. This isn't to shame anybody. I'm all for having "you time," but could you be using that time more effectively? If you've got that time, why not jump on the bike at the gym and plug in your favourite TV series to watch then and there? Two birds, one stone. You don’t have to sacrifice as much as you think.
'Workouts on the Go' with Member Services
We’ve partnered with the Training Club to deliver a custom package of complimentary taster work outs that can be done in a gym or home environment with little or no equipment, Pay As You Go workouts, and an exclusive, custom-designed training programme – Train Anywhere – for Members who are busy but looking to commit to improving their fitness programme through regular guidance and accountability.
Join Member Services to access 'Work outs on the Go'
Member Services is a contemporary lifestyle platform to support time poor clients.
Experience this new service with no membership fees until further notice. You can cancel at anytime.
Membership is open to new and existing clients. There is no need to have a savings account or loan with Monument to apply.