One of the most common excuses I’ll often hear when I speak to people about the importance of being active is, “I don’t have time.” The simplest response would be, “there’ll be plenty of time when your dead 20 years earlier than need be” but such a response doesn’t really help.

“Finding time” really comes down to learning how to juggle competing demands more effectively, prioritising and becoming more effective in your time management skills. Between fitting in work, family, a social life … and now exercise that can be a daunting list, but once you make your health a priority, you’ll find time for at least 30 minutes of physical activity daily.

Make a priority list

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know the importance of physical activity. If you want to look good, feel good, drop some excess weight, increase your energy levels, feel better about yourself, extend your life and be around for you loved ones longer – then daily exercise has to be a top priority.

Some is better than none

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – there are 168 hours in a week, you need to find 3-5 of them to exercise and reap all of the associated benefits. A mere 30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise is all that it takes! If you can’t do it all in one hit break it down into smaller 10 minute chunks – walk the kids to school, get off the bus a couple of stops earlier and walk to work, walk down and pick the kids up after school, walk the dog. The list of possibilities to work some activity into your day is endless.

Pre-plan activity into your day

Each evening think of 2 or 3 things you can do the following day to build activity into your day. Walk up the stairs at work, cycle to the shops, go for a walk with the kids and the family dog, do the house work – all of these things will help you move and improve your health in the long term.

Huff and puff

Sustained low intensity exercise will help you burn body fat, but if you want to improve your heart and lung fitness then you have to stoke up the intensity a tad. By combining both types of exercise into one session you’ll save time. Start off relatively easily to burn through some body fat, the crank it up a little. Exercise at such an intensity that (i) you sweat and (ii) you’re forced to breath a little harder and deeper – you should feel a little short of breath and only be able to carry on a stilted conversation – this will, over time, build your heart and lung fitness. Two objectives achieved in the one session.

Phone a friend

No this isn’t “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” but exercise can have you feeling a $1,000,000! Making an appointment in your diary to meet a friend for an exercise session is a sure fire way of making exercise a higher priority in your life and finding the time. When it is tough to get out of bed of a morning and you know your friend will be waiting for you it is easier to get started, after all, in a week or two time you’ll probably be the motivation that gets him or her out of bed and down to meet you. What goes around comes around!

Write it down

Make a plan and write it down. Once you’ve done this your commitment is crystallized and you’ll be more likely to follow through on it. Stick your plan in a prominent place as a reminder – mine’s on the fridge door so every time I go to the fridge I’ve got my exercise reminder staring me in the face. I’ve known some athletes who have stuck their training plans on the ceiling above their beds so that it is the last thing they look at before drifting off to sleep.

Want some direction – look here at Guy Leech Fitness this is what we do and we’ll help you out!