Find Time to Exercise -

By Faith Barbare, Owner and Certified Personal Trainer at SimplyFit

Everyone’s lives are extremely busy – taking kids to school, working full time jobs, making time for our families, cooking dinner, etc. And not only does exercising require time, it requires energy. In this post, I’m sharing 10 tips to help you find time to exercise.

How do I find time to exercise? I’m a mom, wife, and personal trainer, so working out is impossible, right? Wrong. Life will always be busy. If we tell ourselves we will pick it up when things slow down, you’ll never begin.

Here are 10 tips that I’ve personally used to help me make the time for my health and fitness. If you have any additional tips that you find helpful, please feel free to leave them in the comments below.

Scheduling workouts – Write your workouts in your schedule. If it’s on my calendar, I’ll actually follow through. I forget about meetings that aren’t on my calendar. The same is true for my workouts.
Ditch the gym membership that has you driving to workout. You can exercise just as well in your house. (Get inspired here) When you eliminate the 30 minute round trip to and from the gym, you’ve added time to workout.
Accountability has been my biggest game changer. I was hesitant to get a personal trainer, but the accountability alone was worth the money. Aside from providing expertise, my trainer keeps me on top of my diet and constantly checks in to make sure I’m on track.
Invest in your fitness – This tip will fluctuate with your budget, but I’ve noticed I have more motivation to workout when I have new equipment or new athletic attire. Making small investments along the way will keep you excited for your workouts. You can use the money you’re saving on ditching your gym membership! Making these investments also keeps me dedicated since I feel like I’ve wasted money if I don’t actually use my purchases.
Join a group – Meet friends to do your workouts or create a group text with like minded individuals with the same goals in mind. This can serve as another form of accountability outside of a personal trainer. The more pressure you have to workout, the better.
Multitask – Can’t miss the latest episode of The Bachelorette or Suits? No problem. Workout while you watch the show! This will, of course, be easier if you are working out from home.
Limit your screen time – Watching TV and social media can be huge time wasters. We are constantly on our phones or computers. Put away the devices and pick up the dumbbells. Also, I’ve found that checking emails or looking at Facebook while exercising takes away from my workout. I now tell myself to put the phone up until I’m finished. This motivates me to get through my workout quickly so I can get back to a text or email.
Work out in the morning – Not only does it give me energy, but it also gives me back my lunch break or evening. As the day goes on, my to do list seems to pile up, and it makes it easier to skip out on a workout that night.
Bring the family If I can’t workout early in the morning or at night after my daughter goes to bed, I come up with a fun, full body workout that my daughter can do with me. She loves it and knowing she is watching makes me push myself even harder. Take advantage of opportunities to get the family involved in your workouts. Going hiking or throwing a ball around in the backyard totally counts!
Challenge a friend – There’s nothing wrong with a little friendly competition. When bragging rights are on the line, we tend to find motivation. After getting a Fitbit, I quickly became obsessed with the number of steps my friends were getting. It really kept me on my feet.

These are just a few tips you can try to help you find the time to exercise. Show me your calendar, and I’ll show you what’s important in your life. Shouldn’t your physical health be one of your top priorities? Stop making excuses and start making time for yourself and your body!