How to Exercise When you are Pinched for Time

Why is it that we KNOW we need to exercise for wellbeing, yet still have so much trouble making it happen? The deepest roots of this conundrum are probably buried somewhere in “energy conservation” or “time resource allocation” but unfortunately, that knowledge won’t help us stave off chronic diseases, cognitive decline, or muscle loss.

On a more practical level, “I just don’t have time” is an all too common barrier to getting in our daily dose of Vitamin E (the other one).

Dr. Theresa Larson was LIVE on LinkedIn on Aug 19, 2024 to teach you how you can still get the benefits of exercise even with a tight schedule.

Watch the full recording to dive into the details and keep reading below for how to reframe your idea of exercise to fit it into your day.

1. Find your WHY.

Simply put, healthy leaders last longer AND  have healthier businesses. So though it may be surprising, if your sole purpose is to improve your bottom line, prioritizing your health and exercise CAN move you in that direction.

How? Exercise is a scientifically-backed cognitive enhancer. As little as 10 minutes of exercise can boost creativity by 60% and mental performance by 20%.

Exercise can also provide a “pattern interrupt” if you’re in a rut feeling lethargic, anxious, or stuck on a problem. Shifting from this unhelpful pattern to a 10 minute exercise break can break that lethargy or anxiety loop and quickly boost blood flow to your brain so you can come back to your task restored. We tend to work best in 90-minute cycles anyway, so you can transition between 90-minute work blocks using a movement break.

But even if your work performance doesn’t motivate you, your health and longevity probably do. And exercise is the “#1 longevity drug.”

Some of the biggest predictors of our longevity are our: thigh strength, grip strength, and cardiovascular fitness. You can bet these things aren’t improving without direct training. We all want to be strong enough to lift our kids or grandkids (up to 50# for a 5 year old), or to be able to enjoy nature into our later years. Maybe you’re most motivated by the other health benefits: blood sugar control, hormonal health, reduced cancer risk, weight management, or anti-depressant/anti-anxiety effects.

Whatever it is for you, once you’ve got your WHY, commit to working up to these numbers:

• Cumulative 150 minutes Zone 2 cardio per week (breathing hard, but still able to talk)
• 2 x 45 minutes sessions of full body resistance training per week

2. Determine how to infuse Zone 2 exercise breaks into your daily routine.

If you’re tight on time, we know you’re not about to squeeze in an hour long workout at the gym with a 15 minute commute on either end. Enter the “mini-workout”, or the “movement snack.”  These are small doses of that “Zone 2” exercise that add up toward that 150 minutes over the course of the week, such as:

• Walking briskly during an office call
• While watching a favorite show: can you bike, work on planks, walk on a treadmill?
• Decompressing from the work day by walking and listening to an audiobook
• Walking to the mailboxes (vs. driving)
• Increasing the speed of your morning dog walk
• Take the stairs instead of the elevator.
• Parking far from the grocery store and walking briskly to the entrance

In addition, for your overall wellbeing at work, you can also build up to using a standing desk for as much of the day as you can, though your body will still require movement breaks. Periods of deep work may still require sitting, but what about reading and responding to emails??

3. Resist the urge to ignore resistance training!

One of the biggest mistakes we see leaders make is forgetting to include resistance training in their exercise routine. With that is a missed opportunity for improving metabolic health, testosterone levels, lean body mass, body composition, joint health.

This is probably because it’s a bit harder than just speeding up your walking pace or getting together with friends for a game of pickleball. However, resistance training is a major pillar for longevity as your body loses about 8% of muscle mass per decade after age 30!    That’s why you NEED 2 x 45 minute sessions per week to maintain your muscle mass for the long haul.

So if you’re short on time, where can you start?

Start with a bite-sized amount. Really bite-sized. 7-10 minutes max.

Here’s how. Choose any TWO compound (multi-joint) movements: one for the upper body, one for the lower body.

Here are some examples:

• Lower: Squats
• Lower: Deadlifts
• Lower: Lunge
• Upper: Overhead Press
• Upper: Push Up  or Pull Up
• Upper: Bent Over Row

Now that you have your TWO movements, set a timer for 7-10 minutes.

Perform Movement 1 (Lower) for 20 seconds. Rest 10 seconds.  Perform Movement 2 (Upper) for 20 seconds. Rest 10 seconds.

Continue until your timer is done.  Now you’ve completed 10 minutes to put toward your weekly total! And you’ll probably feel better for your next 90-minute work block.

Bottom Line: For those on a tight schedule, long bouts of exercise may not be realistic. However you can and NEED to make small spaces in the day to perform some exercise. Your life depends on it. Literally.

How to dive deeper?

At Movement Rx, we are in the business of creating teams that lead and work better from a place of wellbeing. Because if you don’t make time for your wellbeing now, you’ll have to make time for disease later. Let us help your team build and leverage their well-being.

Schedule a Well-Being Strategy Call.