No Time to Work Out?

Dear Fitness Coach:

Do you have any suggestions for people like me who leave for work at 5 a.m. and return home at 8 p.m. - and whose only acquaintance with a gym is the guy down the hall in credit who spells it J-I-M?

Yours truly,
Over-worked and Under-exercised

Dear Over/Under:

The dilemma that you face is quite common: there just doesn’t seem to be enough hours in the day to take care of everything you need to do. What you’re overlooking is that physical activity is as essential to your well being as adequate sleep and nutrition.

Look at it this way: there are a 168 hours in the week, and you need to only take 3 out of that 168 hours to reach your immediate health and fitness goals... a very manageable amount of time. Since it looks like you would not be able to get to the gym before or after work, how about your lunch hour? Do you have a gym nearby where you could go?

Employers are beginning to realize the direct impact exercise and a healthy lifestyle can have on productivity. When you are sedentary all day, your productivity inevitably takes a nosedive in the middle of the day. Taking a break for physical activity is a lot more constructive than dozing at your desk. Many smaller companies, realizing this, are hiring a personal trainer or group fitness instructor to come to the workplace a few times a week for group classes or sessions. See if you can organize this.

Ideally, you should spend an hour, 3 times a week, on nonconsecutive days working out: 30 minutes of strength training followed by 20 minutes of cardiovascular endurance, and the last 10 minutes on core and flexibility training. You can work out on consecutive days if that is what your schedule allows, as long as you are not working the same muscle groups. A sample schedule might be as follows:

Sunday: biceps and triceps, cardio, plank and stretching.

Wednesday: chest and back, cardio, situps, and stretching.

Friday: shoulders and legs, cardio, crunches, and stretching.

Good Luck...I promise the time you spend working out will be repayed back to you many times over through increased energy, decreased stress and much improved overall health!

Got a question for the fitness coach? E-mail her at eross@goldsgym.net.

Estee Murray Ross is a Chelmsford resident. She is a AFAA certified Personal Trainer and AFAA/ACE certified Group Fitness Instructor and is CPR/AED certified through Red Cross. Drawing from her 20 plus years of cardiovascular and strength training experience, she is expert at evaluating and assessing nutrition and exercise routines and making the necessary changes in order to maximize efficiency and expedite weight loss. She currently works at Gold's Gym in Tewksbury.