What should you do when life gets in the way of training?
We’ve all had it: periods in our life when there’s simply not enough time. A lot of things going on: study, work, running a household, taking care of kids, you name it. And then we’re also expected to keep ourselves in shape. Sounds like a lot to handle, but what if it can be done more efficiently?
There are simply a set number of hours in a day and a week, so when life gets the best of you, it’s an art to steer it all in the right direction. Let’s go over it in this blog.
Lifting the day with your whole body
To illustrate, let’s take a client who has been training for quite a few years and is very fit. But since her recent promotion at work demands much more hours than before, training has become much less of a priority. Now doing the minimum, more like maintenance work. Not to mention she had to run a household by her own and get enough sleep in. Like mentioned, a day only has 24 hours. Frustrated, but also conflicted, since she was really keen on maintaining a strong physique and working the job she really likes. Leaving us with the main question: ‘What is needed to create more room, time-wise and mentally, to get her back in her great shape?’
First step: take a good look at how the week looks like on average. Deducting the average of 8 hours sleep, we have around 16 hours left. Next, how many hours go in to work, including commuting? How many hours does she need for things like preparing meals, getting the household chores done? Then, with what’s left, that would be her ‘free time’.
Since her work is quite demanding, we kept the sessions to 3 times a week. One heavier lower session, one heavier upper session and a moderate full body session allowing for more technical work. The sessions in it self had a limited amount of compound exercises, allowing for more focus and concentrated work.
Since she already has some experience with structured training weeks, she got used to this setup quickly.
So, less is more?
Everyone is different with different needs. As in, one responds better to relatively higher volume, others vice versa. It can take a bit of trial and error to find out. I can say ‘that hour of watching NetFlix could’ve been spent in the gym’, but most of us are aware of that. Sometimes it might be needed to relax watching a serie, and other times relaxing comes from exerting yourself with weights.
The amount of training you need also depends on your goal. Strength, hypertrophy, endurance, general fitness don’t require the exact same approach.
Training sessions in it self might not be the most complex part. If, just like in the example explained earlier, your stress levels are on the higher end it might be better to reduce the volume. That way, you can spread the effort more efficiently without having to think ‘Oh Lord, I still have 4 more sets of 12 reps of those nasty split squats left…’
Also, if your short on time, you can produce great results in less time. I’m not trying to say that those 10 minute workouts are productive, that is debatable. What I am trying to say is if you take a few exercises close to failure for hypertrophy goals and make strength-oriented goals intense but recoverable, it can work wonders as well. Make sure that you’re not like you should only train short sessions, make sure you can be productive in the time needed.
Don’t artificially make training longer than necessary, but don’t make it artificially shorter either.
Lastly, if you happen to have a very busy life with work, kids or anything else, it can be an art to fit everything in a week. And you know what, that’s completely okay.
Common mistakes:
Skipping training entirely for a longer period of time because you are too tired.
Thinking a 5 or 10min workout will do the same as a full 60min session (it might, but not as much as we thought).
Less is more, or vice versa, is very personal and not as set in stone
What’s in it for you?
If you feel like you need to train more often and/or more serious, with life getting the better of you, ask yourself:
‘What am I training for, specific goals?’
‘How can I make it work, what is needed?’
‘What will future me think if I do get those sessions in, even if they’re shorter?’
Final thoughts
Modern-day society can be very busy for us, with all the expectations we have for ourselves and others of us. It can be easy to get overwhelmed, but it doesn’t have tob e difficult to find your way in it. Even the most elite of elite can have periods where training might be suboptimal because of life. The art is to find a way to bounce back in to your productive routine.
Progressing in the gym isn’t about the perfect training program, it is about one that fits your needs and goals without it having to feel it’s a chore. Getting results whilst feeling satisfied and having fun with it, should be an overall goal.
Looking for a way to fit your strength and fitness goals in your busy life, especially after having tried multiple ways of doing so? There are more people that struggle with this from time to time.
You don’t need a perfect program, you need one that fits your life and provides you with proper stimulus to progress. Give it some time and see yourself go.
Combining a busy life with a fitting and productive training program is what I love helping people with. Interested in the options? I’d like to have a chat and see if we’re a good fit.
