Between work, family, errands, and everything else life throws your way, finding time to work out can feel impossible. But staying active doesn’t have to mean spending hours in the gym or overhauling your schedule. In fact, just 30 minutes—or even less—of smart, intentional movement each day can make a real difference in your health, energy levels, and overall well-being. In this blog, we’ll show you how to make the most of short workouts, sneak fitness into your routine, and stay consistent even on your busiest days.

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Why Short Workouts Work

There’s a perception that you have to continuously workout for a long period time to see the results that you want to see. Whether you’re trying to lose weight or just exercising to stay fit, you don’t necessarily need to get all of your exercise done all at once and you don’t have spend hours and hours of your time. Short or mini workouts throughout the day is just as beneficial, plus they can fit better in your busy schedules.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) guideline for physical activity for adults is to aim for 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise, or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise on a weekly basis. If you break it down, that’s 5 days of 30 minutes of moderate exercise, or 3 days of 25 minutes of vigorous exercise. It’s important to note that the CDC also recommends that you get at least 2 days of strength training weekly to ensure that you are training all the muscle groups in your body.

There are many benefits to doing short workouts. Here is a list of the benefits:

• Easier to fit into the day: You can chunk your exercises into 5-10 minutes throughout the day. This makes it easy to fit into your schedule and allows you to have necessary breaks from your work.
• Improves exercise adherence: Sticking to an exercise routine can be tough. It takes a lot of persistence and patience to commit to an exercise routine/program. Most people will start a routine/program and unfortunately stop halfway through before seeing the results they want. Doing short workouts makes it a lot easier to stick to a routine.
• Boosts brain health and mood: Taking a break from your work and doing an exercise helps to relieve stress, provide better mental clarity, and can stretch your body if you’re sitting at a desk all day long. These little breaks help release endorphins to our brains and can improve the way you feel about your busy life.
• Improves overall health: We exercise to stay fit and healthy. Small bouts of exercise throughout your busy schedule accumulates all the benefits such as lowering blood pressure, reduce stress, better flexibility, and many others that helps you reach your optimal health and wellness.

To read more about other benefits, check out this link: https://www.healthline.com/health/fitness/fit-it-in-mini-workouts

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Best Types of Workouts for Tight Schedules

HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training)

 

 

 

 

This type of workout is a high energy, short bursts of exercise followed by some recovery periods for cooldown. This focuses on cardiovascular health as you are working the whole body and creates great blood flow to optimize your workouts. It is also great for muscle building as most exercises provide resistance to your muscles.

HIIT workouts can take anywhere from 20 minutes or less. If you’re at your work office or at home, be sure to have plenty of space for your workout. You can choose to use equipments such as dumbbells, kettlebells, or resistance bands, but certainly don’t have to use any equipments if you choose not to.

Bodyweight Circuits

 

 

 

 

This is a workout routine of exercises being performed in a series. One after the other with very little breaks in between. This makes for a fast, easy, and effective workout that requires only your body weight.

Bodyweight circuits can help build endurance, strength, and overall fitness.

Walking or Jogging

 

 

 

 

A simple walk or jog is plenty enough to get your daily exercise in. It requires little to no effort to get your steps in and no equipment unless you plan to use a treadmill or an elliptical machine.

Walking with a friend/coworker can certainly create a more fun exercise and take breaks from all the busyness.

Stretch + Strength Combos

 

 

 

 

Exercises such as yoga and Pilates are a great way to relax and unwind from your busy schedule. This targets flexibility, controlled breathing, core focused exercises that improves not only your physical well-being, but also your mental well-being.

All you need for these exercises is a mat for cushion and comfortability.

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How to Fit It In: Real-Life Time-Saving Strategies

Here are a few ways to actually incorporate your short workouts into your days.

1. Morning Movement Routines
   • Starting your day off with a little exercises can help give you the boost of energy you need for a busy day. This doesn’t mean to wake up earlier than usual. It just means to plan out your morning routine strategically so that you have time for a workout. Instead of spending extra time watching/reading the news or scrolling through your phone, replace that with a 5-10 minute stretch or walk.
2. Work Out During Lunch Breaks
   •  If you have a 30 minute or a 1 hour lunch break, there’s plenty enough time to get in a workout. It only usually takes 15-20 minutes on average to eat your lunch. This is a great time to take care of personal things and to fit in a workout. Bonus as doing a small workout after eating can help with digestion.
3. Combining Family Time With Fitness
   • If you have kids, they are great in keeping you active. Going on walks, playing with them on the playground, and any other activities that keeps your body moving. You don’t always have to do workouts to stay fit. Daily movements is plenty enough to keep your body in shape.
4. Using Calendar Reminder or App Timers
   • If your day is really busy, having a reminder can help you remember to get up and get some movement in. This can help create a routine for you by scheduling it in your day.
5. Turning Screen Time Into Move Time
   • We find ourselves looking at a screen for most of our days. Whether it’s a computer screen, your TV, or your phone, we spend a majority of our time just watching or scrolling. Instead of looking at screens all day long, turn part of that into some movement and get exercise in.

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Tips to Stay Consistent

Consistency is key is seeing the results you want to see. You don’t want to start something and not finish it all the way through. Here are some tips to keep you consistent:

1. Set a realistic weekly schedule.
2. Keep equipment minimal or ready to go (resistance bands, dumbbells).
3. Have a “go-to” workout for hectic days.
4. Celebrate small wins—progress over perfection.

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How We Can Help

Your health coaches at Peak Wellness are a great support system in helping you plan for your exercise/activity goals. We can help guide and come up with ideas on how to incorporate movement in your busy days.

One of the things we offer in our appointments is to do Walking Appointments. Rather than sitting down and chatting about your goals, we can walk and talk to get two things done at once!

Don’t be shy in asking your coach to exercise with you. We are here to support you in your journey and figure out ways to reach your goal.

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Conclusion

Every bit of movement matters. You don’t have to exercise all at once or exercise for a long period of time to see the results you want to see. Short workouts spread throughout your day will give you the same benefits as if you were to spend an hour at the gym. No matter how busy your life can get, you can always set aside a small amount of time dedicated to movement. It’s easy to create excuses when we have a lot of things going on, but in order to accomplish the goals you have set for yourself, it takes a little bit commitment and planning to get it done.

If you are need help in planning out your activity levels, click the link to schedule your FREE consultation appointment and get ready to embark on your personal health and wellness journey! Schedule Now!