When you truly don’t have time for exercise

[Anonymous]

I love to work out and was very active when I was working part time. Now I’m full time again in a job with terrible hours. I truly get to exercise only a couple days a week max. I feel awful. If you have very limited exercise time, what do you do to make the most of it? Should I prioritize cardio, weights, or yoga (which I love)? Maybe a little of each? Please don’t tell me to get up an hour earlier. I am typically only getting 6 hours of sleep as it is. And no, I don’t watch tv or movies, ever. I am at the top of “normal” weight for my height and would like to lose 15 or so pounds, but I know that’s mainly about correcting the bad eating habits I’ve developed during the pandemic.

[Anonymous]

I say whatever you enjoy the most!

[Anonymous]

Sweat app. It’s 14-28 min circuits. Limited equipment or body weight. It sounds like not a lot of time but it’s all you need. The combo of resistance and cardio is so good for weight loss.

[Anonymous]

Well do you want an extra hour of sleep or do you want to be thin? Your body will adjust. You know what you need to do.

[Anonymous]

I’d say if you want to lose weight prioritize cardio. 20 minutes daily!

[Anonymous]

10 minutes of rowing

[Anonymous]

115 lbs, 5'6, 45yo. I agree that 20-30 minutes of intense cardio is what you need for results.

[Anonymous]

I think I’d prioritize HIIT as it’s very efficient and has strength elements as well as cardio. The 7- minute workout a couple times through?

Or depending on what your job is, is there any way to get little bits in during calls? NYT recently had an article about exercise “snacks.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/04/well/move/for-an-exercise-snack-try-the-new-standing-7-minute-workout.html

And despite what one PP said, sleep is important!!!

[Anonymous]

HIIT and strength combo workouts that are 30-45 minutes long so you get both resistance training and cardio. Throw in some yoga once a week if you can fit it in. If you are also looking to lose weight, that’s all diet.

[Anonymous]

You don’t want to hear this, but you need a new job.

[Anonymous]

I'm a fan of Street Parking. The base workouts are short (typically ~15-25 min) and can be done with a pair of dumbbells. Their mantra is to do "more than nothing." https://streetparking.com/

[Anonymous]

Tabata every morning. Done in 5 minutes.

[Anonymous]

Put weight next to your desk and do arms during zoom meetings (no video)

[Anonymous]

Give us an example of your average day? On the non exercise days.

[Anonymous]

A 15-min HIIT workout would be really good for you.
You could also set a timer and do like, 1 minute of jumping jacks and one minute of push ups every 60 mins.