As a personal trainer in the Liverpool Street area, I’ve met my fair share of clients who are trying to train around a busy work life. If this is you, then you know that the fitness industry platitudes of “no excuses” just don’t solve your problems. In fact, I would argue that going to the gym isn’t even in the top 3 priorities of most people that I train.
So how is it possible to get results in the gym against this backdrop?
Accept Your Busy Work Schedule
Getting results in the gym when you’re busy with work is a matter of accepting your reality. There’s no point promising yourself you’ll go tee-total if you know you have client drinks on Thursday. There’s also no point trying to learn the A-Z of training programme design whilst preparing for a day of meetings. Once you accept the limitations of your work schedule, you can start to understand what habits and behaviours are realistic.
Unfortunately, the fitness industry thrives on an all-or-nothing image, and this can make fitness seem unattainable if you have to train around a busy work life. However, working alongside my busy clients has helped me identify some of the best ways to work around the challenges of your hectic work routine.
Train Sensibly
Due to the all-or-nothing mentality I mentioned above, many people walk into the gym thinking they need to destroy every muscle fibre and leave the gym drenched in sweat. This doesn’t always work for busy people, for several reasons:
If you’re training before work, this approach will make you exhausted and sore for the rest of the day. If you’re training after work, it’s going to take much more effort to get into the gym after a hard day at work. This is especially true if you think the only good workout is one where you go hell-for-leather. This will also make you more likely not to bother with the gym after a tough day.
It’s also important to ask yourself if your sleep and diet are good enough to allow you to train at this intensity whilst managing your busy work life. If you’re working hard, sleeping less, eating/drinking poorly, AND trying to treat every workout like an SAS initiation, then you’re probably setting yourself up for failure.
Setting a more moderate intensity for your workouts is a straightforward method to make workouts more sustainable whilst still moving towards your goals.
Have a Flexible Training Plan
A plan that fails as soon as you deviate from it is a terrible plan. But there’s a strong chance that you WILL have to deviate from your plan at some point.
If your training is dictated by your work schedule, then chances are you’ll be training during peak gym hours with the other busy workers. This means you won’t always get the machine or dumbbell you planned to use. You need to be able to adapt to these sudden changes if you want to train around your busy work schedule.
I admit, I hate having to change things in my programme. I really enjoy being consistent in my training programmes! But the truth is, unless you’re a powerlifter or an athlete in a VERY specific block of training, you can usually substitute an exercise for one or two weeks. This is where having a trainer can really come in handy!
Harness the Stress Relief
Even as very career-driven individuals, many of my clients would admit that work can be stressful and can sap their mental energy. It might feel like adding a gym workout to your “to do list” is just another stressor to deal with. However, that shouldn’t be the case if you find what you enjoy.
Training is a great way to release stress, switch your brain off, and get the feel-good endorphins flowing. It’s difficult to overstate the positive effects that even a short workout will have on your emotional well-being.
What helps you relieve stress in the gym will be different for each person. Some people will want to lift heavy things. Other people will want to make their muscles burn, or get a good sweat on. Some of my clients like their training to involve skill challenges that give them something else to focus on. Check the video below for an example:
The only way to work out what makes you feel good, is to get out there and try different things. If all else fails, pick up a medicine ball and slam it as hard as you can!
Summary
These are just a few of the ways that your fitness goals and busy work life can coexist peacefully. The most important thing is having a good understanding of the opportunities and obstacles that your work life will create for your training.
If you found this useful, you might want to know more about quick training methods that will help you get stronger. If your training time is limited, it’s also important that you can maintain your focus in the gym.
Got any other questions, or want to suggest future topics? Get in touch!