Posted on June 27, 2014 by Jenny Cromack

I was sat working from my second office (starbucks) earlier this week and I overheard two people talking about exercise and how they didn’t have time to fit any exercise into their busy lives. Now, I appreciate how busy we all are, I have some personal training clients and friends who work phenomenal hours, but as always I would say it depends how much of a priority exercise to you, if your exercise and fitness goals are up there in your top 3 priorities you will make the time! When I listened more (how nosy I am!) one of the people said….I just don’t have an hour, I don’t have time. ‘

However, this blog isn’t to have a rant about all the excuses people make for not exercising (I bet they still managed to watch TV that night…..ha ha, I said wouldn’t rant!), but to say to you all that you can still get a good, effective workout in 20-30 minutes. If you genuinely don’t have the time to train for an hour  and if you’re prepared to work hard then you can still get a great workout in a short space of time! Why do people think that if they don’t exercise for an hour it’s not worth it, we even have classes on our timetable at Saxton which are only 30 minutes in length and everyone who comes is a sweaty mess at the end! I’ll let you into a secret too….I don’t always work out for an hour, some of my weights sessions are only 45 minutes long. As I sit and write this I worry am I setting myself up for something here….I have visions of all my PT clients refusing to do anything in their personal training sessions after 45 minutes, all I can say is try it and the word burpee might just come out of my mouth ;o)

My biggest tips if you’re going to workout for 20-30 minutes are:

– You must be prepared to push yourself from start to finish

– If you’re doing strength/toning work then stick to big muscle group, compound exercises….lots of squats, lunges, pulls, presses.

– If you’re doing cardio then opt for intervals…..no coasting along at a steady pace…..push yourself in short bursts with recoveries in between.

– Then look at the normal ways of fitting more activity into your day – use the stairs instead of the lift, walk instead of driving…I don’t need to go on….you know it anyway!

Kate posts some amazing short workouts on our Saxton website which will easily fit into 30 minutes and you often don’t need any equipment for these. Lucy also posts a weekly workout on our Facebook page so get following us and do them every week and let us know how you get on!

If your health and fitness goals are important to you then you will make sacrifices and exercise will become a priority, but firstly get out of the mindset that you have to workout for an hour….you don’t!