“I am too busy”… “I have no time”… “I am so exhausted at the end of the day.”
Said most people.
Time is a valuable thing—and when you are a busy individual like you are (i.e. work, family, social life, sleep, etc.), daily self-care ‘to-dos’, such as working out or meal prep, can easily fall to the wayside if you don’t make a point to make it part of your daily routine or schedule.
I am not necessarily speaking to the gym die-hards here…but the general majority who find motivation on the gym or nutrition front less than easy.
In fact, only 1 in 5 adults get the recommended physical activity in a week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Center recommends that healthy adults get at least 2½ hours a week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity such as walking, or one hour and 15 minutes a week of vigorous-intensity activity, such as jogging, interval training, and sprints, or a combination of both.
Why do so many people worry about getting exercise; or why do so many struggle to fit exercise into their schedule?
For some, the connotation of “work” is daunting.
For others, time to formally ‘get to the gym’ is non-existent, or they ‘just don’t like it.’ And still others, worry about the gym too much—living from workout to workout; or construing the ‘perfect training plan.’
Where do you fall on the spectrum?
I for one have come full circle.
As a kid, I loved sports and playing outside. I danced, kicked soccer balls, rode my bike, rollerbladed, and shot baskets.
In my eating disorder days, exercise consumed 6-7 hours of my day. I believed I was ‘ahead’ of the curve by starting my day with an hour on the Stair Master; running like a mad-woman on the treadmill; studying and ‘ellipticizing’ at the same time; toting my fitness magazines around the gym to follow the latest butt-blasting routine or cellulite shaving circuit.
During my initial recovery, I was allowed to do…nothing. I sat on a couch and did a ton of ‘work’ mentally, spiritually and nutritionally—I was forced to take a step back and re-evaluate my relationship with exercise. Gradually, walking and yoga were introduced, followed by dance and weight training.
Coming back to fitness, later on my own, outside of treatment, I decided fitness would need to look much different. I broke up with the treadmill and Stair Master, threw out my fitness-model magazine ‘dreams,’ and stopped stepping on the scale every time I was at the gym. I discovered functional fitness, the beauty in strength, the power of intensity—not necessarily hours spent in the gym, and ultimately…FUN. Not chore. Not drudgery.
Today, I love empowering others to find a healthy relationship with food, fitness and their bodies—both those who ‘hate working out’ or struggle with a sugar addiction, to those who are fighting overexercise or a laundry list of food rules.
“Functional fitness” is a highly touted (misused) word this day in age, but in essence, exercise and movement is meant to make you a more “functional” human being.
Just as your body needs sleep and water, it needs movement in order to be functional.
Regular healthy amounts of exercise or movement is not a hobby (i.e. there are not ‘TV people’ or ‘workout people’)…it’s a basic self-care principle.
Don’t like it?
Like brushing your teeth, if you make it part of your routine, before long, you will realize when it is missing.
A general rule of thumb for training ‘for life’ looks something like this:
- Incorporate walking as much as possible. Thomas Jefferson once said “Walking is the best possible exercise. Habituate yourself to walk very far.”I knew he was smart. Now that spring is here, get outside, soak up some sun (and Vitamin D) and fresh air.
- Avoid chronic cardio. (a.k.a: ‘Hamster training’). Chronic cardio entails the hours on the cardio equipment, pounding the pavement daily for miles and miles, pushing yourself to fatigue repetitively. Chronic cardio leads to adrenal distress, and burnout
- Lift heavy things at least 2-3 days per week. Presses, squats, pushups, pullups, dips, lunges, tire flips, odd object lifts, etc. These exercises simulate natural body movements, promote muscle growth and structural strength.
- Incorporate ‘sprints’. Interval training does a body (and metabolism) good. This doesn’t necessarily mean running sprints on a track (while it can)—but incorporating work-rest ratios in your workout set over the course of 15-30-minutes. Think short bursts of high-intensity; and constantly varying your routine.
Bottom line: Don’t let time, travel, gym membership, apathy, weather, kids, money, etc. be a reason you don’t get a workout in.
These here workouts are workouts you can practically do anywhere—some with just your body as the ‘machine’ (bodyweight exercises), and others with minimal equipment, a hotel gym or at your local globo gym.
Even consider getting outside to do some of your workouts now that it’s pretty—forgoing the typical gym routine—is a GREAT way to mix it up.
15 Basic Workouts-Minimal Equipment
Recommended Equipment:
*Dumbbells-a lighter and heavier pair
Optional: Kettlebell, Jump Rope, TRX/Rings
5 Rounds
400-Meter sprint/500-meter row
50 Air Squats
20-Minutes AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible)
15 Push-ups
15 Air Squats
15 Sit-ups
Tabata
*8 rounds, 20 seconds of work, 10 seconds of rest
Squats
Push-ups
Jumping Lunges
Sit-ups
No Push-Up Burpees (Sprawls)
7 Rounds for Time:
7 Squat Jumps
7 Handstand Pushups (‘Downward dog’ push-ups)
7 V-Ups
7 Burpees
7 Box Jumps/Step Ups
7/7 Glute Bridges (Each leg)
7/7 Mountain Climbers (7 each leg)
100 Burpees, for time
10 Rounds
10 Pushups
100-Meter Sprint
*Rest walk back
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Dumbbell Squat Cleans
Pull-ups/Ring Rows or Push-ups
*60-seconds Air Dyne Sprint/10 Burpees/200-meter run or row between rounds/50 Double-Unders
50-40-30-20-10
Kettlebell Swings
Double-Unders
(Or Single-Unders x 2: 100-80-60-40-20)
100 Thrusters, for time (Dumbbells or Barbell-Scale Weight Accordingly)
*Every minute on the minute, 5 Burpees
10 Rounds
10 Dumbbell or Barbell Deadlifts
10 Push-ups
5 Rounds
Max Dumbbell Bench Press
Max Pull-ups/Ring Rows
50-40-30-20-10
Jump Squats
Sit-ups
21-15-9
Box Jumps/Step-Ups
Kettlebell/Dumbbell Swings
Hand-release Push-ups
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Thrusters
Burpees
*Finish it off with a 1000-meter run
5 x 3-Minute Rounds
5 Dumbbell Hang Power Cleans
7 Push-ups
9 Air Squats