This is a guest post from Luke Douglas of the site Ripped.Me a site dedicated to all things fitness and health related be sure to check it out for plenty of great fitness and health advice. In this article Luke lays out a plan for busy guys to stay in shape. Enjoy!
“Man, I wish I could train like I used to” is a sentence that’s quite commonly heard among all us busy dudes. And gentlemen, if this is the case, it means that we have to do something about it as soon as possible. Working out is not only important for staying in shape, it’s a great activity that’s first of all physically healthy, but it can also do wonders for our mood and help us release the stress. This day and age and our busy lives have definitely taken their toll when exercise is concerned, but you simply have to allocate a couple of hours during the week to hit the gym, pump those muscles a little bit and do some cardio. Now, if you don’t know how to achieve that because of the lack of time on your hands, worry not, as there are a couple of simple tips and tricks to help you achieve exactly what you want!
1 – The Early Bird Catches The Worm
Even though it’s not our goal to catch an actual worm, a short workout session might be it. Due to the fast pace of life, it’s almost impossible to plan your day ahead, so telling yourself that you will hit the gym after work might not result in the way that you imagined. And if that happens today, and then tomorrow, and then the day after, we definitely lose our gym spirit. However, there is a small trick here – getting up early and hitting the gym just before work. Surely, this means sleeping less, but if you play your cards right and go to sleep a bit earlier the night before, you will be able to wake up approximately an hour and a half earlier and get ready for a good workout session before heading for work.
2 – Always Be Prepared
Unless you have a ton of time on your hands (which is definitely not the case since you’re reading this article), the next thing you need to do is actually prepare everything in advance. Not only is this the right way to save yourself some extra time, but a good workout always comes after carefully preparing the equipment that you want to take with you to the gym. Make sure that you also pack your professional gym supplement – these are always important for success, especially if you lack time. If you need to make a checklist, you definitely should – but don’t forget to plan your meals in advance as well. Since we have that much time to think about what we are going to eat, let alone cook, it would be an excellent idea to prepare meals in advance or simply know what you will eat tomorrow. It doesn’t work to exercise and eat junk food, does it?
3 – Shorter Is Sometimes Better
You probably think that a longer workout is always the best, but you would be wrong. Sometimes, all you need is a 10-minute warm-up and a 45-minute training session to achieve the best results. This means that you simply need to allocate a bit more than an hour each day before work to complete your workout in the best possible way. However, this is a double-edged sword – even though the workout is supposed to be shorter if you’re a busy guy, you need to intensify it a little bit more. There is a plethora of examples online on how to intensify your training according to your needs, so make sure not to waste time watching girls at the gym or peeking to see how somebody else is doing their exercises. You can also ditch crunches for example, as you will get to work on your legs and abs by doing heavy deadlifts instead.
4 – Visualize Your Goals
Sometimes setting a specific goal and working hard to actually achieve it is the most important thing. It doesn’t really matter that you can’t devote yourself to exercising as much as you want to; if stick to your goal and plan you will definitely succeed in achieving what you want. Moreover, you can always hire a personal trainer to be there by your side and help you even more. What’s also important is to be quite realistic and set a reasonable time limit for your goals. If it’s losing a couple of pounds, give it some time, and if you don’t achieve the goal in the time limit that you set for yourself, don’t feel down – sometimes it takes a bit more time than expected, but that doesn’t mean that success won’t come.
And finally, make sure that you exercise with music, as everything’s much more fun with your favorite tunes playing in your ears. Nothing’s impossible, gentlemen, just make the best out of your busy situation, plan your schedule ahead and prioritize!
