I know time can get tight when holidays wind down and the kids head back to school.
Most parents are constantly running around in fall as they try to balance work and home responsibilities with all the activities their children do.
I want to remind you that you can accomplish a lot in just 15 minutes—especially if you put that 15-minute block right at the beginning of the day, before the race starts.
I’ve talked to lots of parents who say “there’s no time to work out,” but I think we can find just a little time if we look for it. On some incredibly busy days, you might not be able to travel to the gym and do a one-hour workout with a coach, but you can still work on your fitness if you create just a little extra time for yourself. You deserve it!
Here’s how make time for fitness on the busiest days.
Fast Fitness
I know it’s preferable to come to the gym and work out with our expert coaches, who can help you reach your goals fast. But I also know that isn’t always possible, and I want to help you keep your momentum. That’s what a coach is for: We keep you moving forward no matter what, and we want you to win outside the gym, too.
So here’s what you do on busy days:
Get up 15 minutes earlier and perform a very short workout.
“That’s not enough time,” you might think. But it is, and something is better than nothing!
Instead of hitting snooze and getting 15 extra minutes of broken sleep, get up and start moving.
It’s a great investment. You don’t have to move fast, and you don’t have to crank up the intensity. The goal is just to do something.
Here’s one of my favorite short, early morning workouts:
5 pull-ups (if you have a bar) or 5 sit-ups
10 push-ups
15 squats
Start very slowly: Just move, as if you’re warming up. No speed, no intensity. Just take the joints through their ranges of motion and get moving. If you choose pull-ups, you might just hang from the bar for 5 seconds to get a good stretch. Push-ups might become a plank hold, and you can just sit in the bottom of a squat for 15 seconds while your muscles wake up.
That circuit might continue for the next 15 minutes—and that’s fine. You’ll still be fitter for it!
If you start to loosen up and feel more energetic, work up to the full movements and perhaps speed up a little. Maybe, after 10 minutes or so, you feel great. In that case, go a little faster.
Either way, you’ll spend 15 minutes moving, and you’ll get your heart rate up a little. You’ll feel like you did a short workout, and you’ll score a big win even if the next 14 hours are packed with stuff.
Here’s another one:
For 15 minutes, do “burpees”
I know, I know—everyone hates burpees. But hear me out. With this one, you just stand tall, bend down to put your hands on the floor, step back into a plank and then lower to the floor.
Then reverse to come to standing. Add a small jump and clap overhead if you like. You can almost treat this like yoga: Stretch your way through slow, deliberate movements. You’re just waking up your muscles and joints.
Maybe that’s all you do for 15 minutes. But if you start to feel loose and limber, add some speed. Who knows? Maybe you’ll finish the last 3 minutes at a brisk pace, with your heart pounding. (Three minutes of quick burpees will do that!)
I can assure you that even this small amount of activity will help you keep moving toward your goals.
Here’s one more workout in case you have a piece of cardio equipment at home:
Walk/jog/bike/row/ski/step for 5 minutes at a warm-up pace
After that, slightly increase the pace for the next 4 minutes
Increase the pace for the next 3 minutes
Increase the pace for the next 2 minutes
Increase the pace for the final minute
Here, you can absolutely stay at a slow pace for all 15 minutes. But you don’t have to. If you start to feel it, boost the intensity just a little. You can stay at that new pace for the rest of the workout or crank it up even further when you hit the next interval.
The goal here is not max effort. We’re just trying to get you moving and then add a little intensity.
Trust me: Any one of these workouts will do wonders for your body and mind. Then, no matter what happens for the rest of the day, you’ve already hit a workout. You can take a lot of pride in that, and you won’t feel like you’re sliding away from your goals.
Remember this: You can make time to work on your fitness. You only need 15 minutes, and something is always better than nothing!
I hope this helps. If your fall schedule looks packed and you need a few more “fast fitness” ideas based on the space and equipment available to you, email me at brandon@noexcusescrossfit.com and we can chat!
Coach Brandon
P.S. These workouts are also great in a hotel room if you’re traveling and haven’t got a lot of time!