Maintaining Fitness When You're Super Busy

Being busy seems to be a badge of pride these days, but being so busy you forget to take care of yourself is anything but. So what do you do when you're so busy doing everything for everyone else –from your boss to the baby– that you somehow forget to carve time to exercise or even go for a walk? I've found that taking even a few minutes to move, quite literally, shakes things up and gets me moving (pun intended!). If I have something in the microwave, I'll jog in place until the timer beeps.

Some other ways to get moving:

Plan Ahead

Retrofit’s lead exercise physiologist Scott Brunning says, "Find spots in your schedule to fit in short bursts of exercise. Take the stairs, visit a co-worker in person rather than sending an email or take 10 minutes out of your lunch to go for a walk."

Use a Timer

At the office, Brunning suggests setting an alarm, "To get up and walk for three minutes at the end of every hour. Walk during your breaks and take advantage of standing desks if your office has them."

Be Flexible

Don't have time for an hour long sweat-filled work out? Phillip Hagspiel, head of R&D of Freeletics training says to be flexible enough and choose activities you can complete in 15-20 minutes "and consider activities that won’t require you to shower after, like 20 minutes of yoga, 5 minutes of stretching or a 10-minute walk. Anything is always better than nothing."

On the Commute

Brunning says, "If you take a bus and a train to work, see if you can leave a little earlier so you can walk to the train station instead of riding the bus. If it is too long of a commute, try walking half of the way. At the train station, use stairs instead of the escalator. At the airport, "Try not to use the moving walkways. If your luggage isn't too heavy, carry it instead of rolling it."