No Time To Workout? – 11 Tips From A Coach

Written by Bradley Abbott, Personal Coach

Bradley Abbott is known for his wholistic approach to personal coaching merging fitness training with nutritional therapeutics. Author of the e-books A How-to Guide in Developing Functional Strength, Power and Adaptability, and The Cussing Coach, both published in 2024.

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Struggling to fit exercise into your hectic schedule? You're not alone and the good news is, you don’t need hours at the gym to stay active and healthy. In this article, a certified coach shares 11 practical tips to help you incorporate movement into your day, no matter how busy life gets.

1. Ignore the clutter

Ignoring the clutter from social media and other media sources can help you speed up the time to make a decision on which exercises are best for you and your goals. Remember, there's speed in simplicity.

There are a lot of fitness influencers, but very few facts backed up by scientific evidence. Know where to look for your answers; this helps you declutter the nonsense.

2. Buying the right equipment

This depends on what your goals are. If you're training for muscle size (hypertrophy), then purchasing lighter equipment can be of benefit in this regard. Anywhere from 5-30 repetitions per exercise will help your muscles grow over time.

Other useful equipment, such as resistance bands, dumbbells, and kettlebells, can be of huge benefit here. Resistance bands come in different strengths and lengths, and are incredibly economical. Plastic dumbbells are cheaper to purchase and are such good accessories to add to your "home gym." Kettlebells, like dumbbells, can be used as an accessory or can be the star of the session. The '300 Workout' is an example.

3. You can do it at home

Do you feel rushed? There are a lot of exercises you can do at home that will save you time. These are exercises that are so common that people take them for granted, but it's how you use these exercises within a structured session that will bring you home the gold. Push-ups with a close grip with your elbows pointing behind you are more beneficial because the target your triceps as well as your shoulders and chest, thus, saving you more time! Squats, pistol squats, crunches with eccentric control, pull-ups, and bodyweight calf raises collectively will help you target every major muscle group. Squats performed with the fullest range of motion (ROM) target your glutes, thighs and hips.

Remember:

• Use the space in your home

• Learn to adapt

• Use equipment you already have

• Utilize household items if need be

• Perform your exercises with full ROM & intensity

4. What's your goal?

The exercises you choose and how you perform them will ultimately depend on what your goals are. How do you want to look? How do you want to feel? Can you see that better version of yourself? How do they act? What changes do you need to make to become that person?

These are important questions you need to ask yourself before you start exercising with intent and commitment. The answers to these questions set the standard for who you want to become – that's why they call it a 'transformation.'

5. Choose the right method of training

Choosing the right method of training is not as hard as it looks, once you 'ignore the clutter.' Are you training for muscle size? Strength? Endurance? Power? While there are some similarities, each method of training requires different muscle demands, different ways in which you move your body through each exercise, and sometimes, different workout structures.

During strength training, you are performing each exercise with the intent to become stronger at performing the exercise, so you don't really need to go past a 90-degree angle of the knee when performing a squat. When you're training for hypertrophy, you should be going as deep as you can, passing the point of 90 degrees, marginally. Thus, working the muscle, becoming more efficient in ROM. If you're training for power, you need to be performing the exercises with reduced weight on the barbell because you need to be able to perform the movement quickly.

For a better understanding:

1. Hypertrophy: Light-heavy weight, with repetitions of 5-30, full ROM.

2. Power: Medium-medium/heavy, with repetitions of 3-8, exercises performed quickly.

3. Strength: Medium-heavy weight, with repetitions of 4-10, full ROM, with emphasis on controlling your movements for safety.

The safest to perform at home are hypertrophic exercises and exercises that do not require a barbell rack.

6. Consistency is key

Cliche I know, but yet so true! Consistency is key, and it's important that you recognise this fact: when you develop a routine and adapt to it, you will start to see results. Patience is also key here!

Week in, week out, every month, develop this ability to be patient.

Being consistent is also a state of mind you develop during your training. Providing you have the right attitude, you will develop consistency by default. But, you must be aware enough to know when you 'fall off the bandwagon' or hit a plateau.

7. The right practice

Not getting the results you want? The right practice for each of your fitness goals is important. For example, training for strength means you're training to become stronger at performing the exercise; training for hypertrophy means you're training the muscle.

When you train for strength, your ability to perform heavier squats or a heavier bench press depends on four key factors:

1. The size of your frame.

2. The architecture: How well your muscular frame is formed.

3. Technique: How well you perform the exercise.

4. Your neural drive: Recruitment of neurons to perform the exercise.

Some hypertrophic elements are necessary to train for strength.

How do you set up the right practice?

Train each muscle group 2-4 times per week, and make sure you perform the exercises in the correct order. For example, training the heavier lifts first, when you have the most energy, is the safest and most efficient path.

However, to train for muscle size also requires you to train each muscle group for 2-4 times per week. The way you perform these exercises are what determines your outcome, as does your rest periods, nutrient and calorie consumption, and the way you structure each session.

8. Save time in other areas

Food, nutrition & performance

Choosing one day or one weekend to plan all your meals for the upcoming week is an excellent place to start, and if you're someone who already does that, then you're already ahead of the game!

Knowing the type of job you have and the physical demands it places upon your mind and body is of great benefit here because it gives you some insight into what foods you should be eating during your shift. This has significance and can affect your gym or home performance if you do not do this properly.

If you are a Lifeguard, Waiter, PT, Police Officer, Nurse, Carer, or any other job that requires you to be on your feet a lot, then eating big meals or even medium-sized meals will make you feel sluggish, tired, and will not help your performance at work. Choosing lighter meals or nutrient-filled snacks like fruit, protein shakes, walnuts, almonds, dried fruit, or the "darker" side: energy bars like 'Grenade' or 'Huel' may be more beneficial here

During your workouts, fruits like bananas and apples, other snacks like the power bars and Branch-Chain Amino Acids (BCAA's) will help you during performance too. Buying power bars in bulk, so you have them for the week, is an excellent method you can use.

Exercise

If you're already taking the steps this article recommends, then you're already doing great. There's something else you can do during your training that will help you save even more time!

If you are doing a 'Pull' session and you're worried you don't have the time to work all the muscles you set out to, then perform the exercise in a way that will target those muscles as well. For example, if you want to 'hit' back and biceps, then perform the barbell bent-over row with an underhand grip with your elbows pointed backwards, this targets both. Something so simple, yet it gets overlooked and it's so effective. You could also perform supersets of opposing muscles or of the same muscle group, saving you time, and if 10 minutes is all you have to work out that day, then do one or two supersets, with a rest period of 1-2 minutes in between. It will save you a whole lot of time and you will feel 'a pump.'

9. Creating space

Creating space in your own home so you can perform the bigger movement pattern in your "home gym" doesn't have to be permanent. However, it would benefit you the most if you could make a permanent space. If not, then that's okay.

Something as simple as moving your laundry rack or couch a few inches back can allow you to move more freely and perform your exercises to the fullest capacity. This is important for three key reasons:

1. Safety

2. Avoid damage to your home

3. It allows you to perform the exercises freely and without hindrance.

10. Using your environment

No equipment? No problem!

Using the couch arm to perform tricep dips, a 5kg bag of rice on your back for back squats, or a bag of flour for single-arm bent-over rows are just some ideas you can use. Some more exercises you can use is the glute bridge with a bag of rice or flour placed on your abdomen, or a weighted push-up with a bag of rice on your back.

You can perform incline or decline push-ups on your couch, or hold the bottom of the stair frame to stabilize yourself while you perform leg raises or dragon flags.

Doing research for 5 minutes to find out what the better options are is important. It helps you make an informed decision about how to recover properly, and remember: Ignore the Clutter!

12. Sleeping satisfied

The biggest struggle in this industrialised world? Perhaps.

To make a start, think about your favourite book to read, a crossword puzzle, or drawings. If that doesn't grab you, try free-hand-writing, meditation, deep breathing exercises or stretching.

Turn your blue light screens off 30-60 minutes before you go to bed and resist the dopamine effect from that 'ping' on your phone. Why? Because the blue light has been shown to suppress melatonin, your sleep hormone.

How to recover

1. Calories (it may surprise you)

To recover properly, you must take in calories to replenish your energy; there's no other way around it, especially if you've had a day at work and an evening session in your home or at the gym. Calories are not the only thing that makes us full (more on that shortly). However, they are an essential part of that equation.

When you consider how busy our lives have become, you should come to the conclusion that we need to take in more calories than what's sometimes recommended.

• You burn calories when you eat (that's right!)

• You burn calories for general body maintenance

• You burn calories when you work out

• You burn calories when you're at your job (even a desk job)

• You burn calories when you get hot, and when you get cold (body maintenance)

To say that the average man or woman needs 1,700-2000 calories per day is a faulty notion at best, and is definitely outdated. The demands on your body are greater, and adding an extra 300 calories will help. Your calories need to be full of nutrition, protein, carbs and fats. They need to be something that gives you energy.

2. Hydrate

Hydrate your body and nourish your cells! It may be surprising to know that the only two sources that are truly hydrating to the human body or water and coconut water.

The recommendations of 2 litres/day are outdated and don't take into account the water you lose when you're at work, even if you're in a desk job, because your brain uses water.

Your activities of daily living and exercise, all sap your body of water, so 2 litres really isn't enough. I recommend 2-4 litres a day to truly help nourish your body and help your brain and digestive system flourish.

3. Supplement (not all are created equally)

The supplements you take need to be in coherence with your goals. They need to be from a company with integrity. Your supplements should complement your food and not replace it. They need to be from a company who understands wholisitic (from the whole) nutrition and health from different perspectives.

Your supplements need to be absorbable to the human body and need to be taken when your digestive system is mended. Most people are unaware they have digestive issues because it's all they've ever known, it feels normal to them, but you ask people to take part in a two-week elimination diet, and then go back to the way things were prior, they feel different, they gain awareness of their own body and their eyes are suddenly opened.

An elimination diet coupled with a food diary reveals much. I recommend people try this for 30 days. Once your digestive system has been given a chance to recover, then you can supplement efficiently, and the nutrition that you take will be absorbed properly and able to help you recover more effectively from the inside out.

The sad news is that not all supplement companies are created equally, and companies will cut corners to put products on shelves. A prime example is calcium, we all know how important calcium is to the human body, but what isn't taught is the 'type' of calcium you need and in what form. Calcium carbonate is essentially just chalk, and when you look n a lot of the bottles calcium carbonate informs a lot of the recipes, especially the cheaper ones. Calcium citrate on the other hand, is more absorbable and calcium in colloidal form (from companies like Elite Nutrients) is 98% absorbable to the human body. Other minerals that are important for health and recovery are minerals like copper, which is responsible for the manufacturing of elastic fibres for all your blood vessels and the strength of your tendons and ligaments. Copper in glyconate and bisglyconate are chelated forms and are more absorbable. However, colloidal copper is more absorbable than this.

Make sure the information that informs the recipes of these supplements is legit and you can absorb them. Do your research. The good thing about technology is that we have the ability to research these facts and fictions quickly.

God speed and happy gymming!

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Read more from Bradley Abbott

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Bradley Abbott, Personal Coach

Bradley Abbott is a personal coach and author. Known for his wholistic approach to training merging naturopathic principles with fitness training, he has managed to reverse the symptoms of his clients almost completely, and raise their energy to heights they never thought possible. He is the founder of Phoenix Phorm Online and uses these platforms to educate and inspire a larger audience.