Juggling work, kids’ activities, dinner time, seeing friends, school projects, date night, work projects, extended family, church commitments, networking functions, errands, and so on doesn’t leave a ton of time in the day for working out.
The best time for me to get a workout in is in the morning before our five kids have to get up for school.
But what about the days that I hit snooze? Or have an early morning coffee meeting? Does that mean I skip that day entirely?
As part of a Six On One Off mindset, I try and sweat most days. It might not be a crazy Crossfit workout or even a four mile run, but on the days where I don’t get my heart racing in the morning, here are six workouts I can sneak in during the day at the office without getting too sweaty and gross.
- 100 Pushups: keep track on a post-it note at your computer and find a way to sneak in 100 pushups that day. If you’re in an office, close the door 3 minutes before a conference call and knock out 25 of them. Then do another 25 immediately after the call. Do that twice a day and you’re at 100. If you’re in a cube, do them in the bathroom. Or the parking lot. Or the elevator. Seriously you can find a quiet place of real estate to knock these out.
- Walking Lunch: charge up your iPhone, grab your headphones and do a 45 minute walk during your lunch break. Listen to a podcast you love and eat a bagged lunch while you walk. Find a park, an indoor mall or even Target. It may take some creativity, but you can do it.
- Park Workout: The Art of Manliness has all the specifics you’d need for this here, but this is a great way to work up a sweat over lunch or in between meetings if you’re out and about. Warning – this one may require a shower if there’s one in your building.
- 50 Burpees: similar to the 100 pushup workout, sneak in 50 burpees throughout the day. Might come in 5 chunks of 10, but get them in. These are simple and quick enough to do in a small space while yielding high results.
- Moving Meeting: there are likely meetings on your calendar each day that have become mundane. For the sake of creativity, change it up and get your folks moving. Take them outside, go on a walk, throw a Frisbee, play basketball together, something. Have an agenda so it’s productive from a business perspective, but get some teamwork built and get moving.
- Five Minutes of Plank: I’m definitely not a yoga guy, but sneaking in five sets of a one minute plank is doable each workday. Again, might be the bathroom or the break room, but find a way to get it in.
I’m full of excuses on the days where I don’t get my workout in early in the morning. The days I don’t sweat are also the days that I tend to eat poorly, drink alcohol and display signs of laziness.
If we had creative ways to get a workout in during the workday, perhaps we’ll quit making excuses and start making real progress.
