One of the hardest things to do is juggle work and fitness. You can have a thriving career or keep yourself in good shape, it seems, and you have to pick one.
But do you really?
There are actually ways to get better at having both. It just takes good planning, perhaps picking up some great gear – such as the right backpack – but you CAN have both.
Here are six ways to get better at juggling work and fitness.
Join A Gym Close To The Office
One of the biggest problems that people have with fitness is summoning the necessary motivation to get to the gym itself. A great solution, which seems terribly obvious but bears mentioning, is to join a gym as close to work as possible.
Not your house. You’ll be too tired once you get home…which is what you’ll tell yourself as you go home to relax instead of getting in a workout.
Instead, find a gym that’s close to the office. If it has shower facilities, you can get in your morning workout (fasted cardio for the win) and get clean before getting to your desk, or you can pop over right as you get done with your day.
Point being that this cuts your opportunities for excuses.
Hakuna Tabata
Another good way to better balance work and fitness is to embrace smarter training, and Tabata training – an approach to interval training – is great for getting in that cardio.
What is Tabata Training?
Tabata training is an interval training method, involving short spurts of maximum effort and a decent pace. Think of it like jogging two or three blocks, then sprinting for one block as hard as you can, then repeat. However, the length of the workout isn’t terribly long; instead of a 5-mile run, you’ll do 1 to 2 miles using the Tabata method.
Tabata training is a proven method for improving cardiovascular endurance, which is why a lot of serious athletes from amateurs all the way up to Olympic and other professional athletes incorporate it into their training. You also get in a good workout in less time.
Get A Better Backpack
Part of the hassle of workouts is getting all your gear together. You have your gym bag with clothes, your shoes, water bottle, music device, and headphones…a lot of gear.
Get a backpack with a shoe compartment that will hold your shoes as well as your gear. This way, you pack everything in one bag and go. Plenty of great examples exist, such as bags made by Lifeasy, Under Armour, Oakley, and Solo. These bags make hauling your gym stuff a breeze.
The added benefit is that they also work great for day trips or weekends where you might need an extra pair of shoes. Not only does it make juggling work and fitness, but they are great pieces of luggage to have as well.
Lift Smart AND Hard
Weight training is one of the best exercises you can do, along with good cardio training. A problem many people have is they wind up with long, complicated routines isolating various muscle groups that require 4 to 6 trips to the gym in a week to do all of them.
That’s idiotic.
Dorian Yates trained 4 times per week, and he spent only 45 minutes in the gym at a time..and he won 6 Mr. Olympia titles IN A ROW. He did it with by doing only a few working sets, for a reasonable number of reps (8 to 12) with maximum effort and to failure. He’d only do one lift per muscle group in most cases. His notorious leg days would leave him barely able to walk for the rest of the week, but his results speak for themselves.
Another tip? Drop the dumbbells and grab an Olympic bar. Switch to compound lifts and lift heavy. You’ll get in all the workout you need in less time and in fewer trips to the gym. Squats and dead-lifts are all the leg exercises you need.
Train To Stimulate, Not Annihilate
Another issue people have is training too hard. Not only will this lead to injury, but too much residual soreness results in excuses to not get in a workout. Doing things that hurt isn’t pleasant, and people find reasons to avoid pain if they can help it.
Therefore, pay attention to your body. You know if you’re overdoing it. You should feel a bit sore, but not so much that it compromises the quality of your life.
The 8-time Mr. Olympia winner Lee Haney (one more than Arnold Schwarzenegger) advised people to avoid overtraining as sustainable effort leads to better results in the long run. He wasn’t as big as Dorian Yates or Ronnie Coleman…but today, Ronnie Coleman can barely walk and Dorian Yates can’t do pushups. Lee Haney suffered no substantial injuries during his bodybuilding career and still has an active lifestyle at 60 years of age.
Eat To Live
Another good tip is to eat well. Stay away from bad carbs. Lay off the fast food. This is where a good backpack comes in handy; you can pack your gym clothes, shoes AND a few containers for food.
Eating healthy not only leads to a better quality of life and a longer life but also helps with recovery if you’re eating quality proteins. Burgers and fries? Not so much!
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