The Best Way To Manage Your Workout Schedule

The best way to manage your workout schedule is to create a schedule you’ll actually stick to. Easier said than done, right? While everyone’s fitness goals are different, we’ve gathered a few facts from the experts to help you find the best way to manage your workout schedule.

Do the workouts that you love

The first and most important way to manage your workout schedule is to fill your schedule with exercises that you love doing. See, most people look at exercise as something they have to do. It’s almost like a punishment to some. In order to create a workout schedule that you’ll actually stick to, you have to enjoy doing it!

So ask yourself, what type of physical activity do you love doing? It’s important to keep in mind that exercise doesn’t necessarily have to involve a gym or a specific program. It can be something as simple as walking, dancing, or riding a bike. If you haven’t been involved in any type of physical activity for a while and don’t know where to start, ask yourself these questions:

• Do I prefer to be indoors or outdoors?
• Do I like being with a group or solo?
• Do I enjoy activities that last for many hours or those that are quick but intense?
• Is my goal to build muscle, lose weight, get toned, or all of the above?

After answering these questions, you should have a better idea of what types of exercises you find most enjoyable. Create your workout schedule around the activities that you love, not the exercises that you think you have to do.

Once you find your groove in your workout routine, you’ll become more and more inclined to stick to your schedule because of the brain’s release of dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that plays a role in reward-motivated behavior. Dopamine levels are also increased with activities that give a person a fast reward, such as gambling or drugs, which is why these are so addictive.

When dopamine is released during exercise it is known as a “runner’s high”. You want this boost of dopamine because over time you can actually become addicted to exercise – in a good way! You’ll crave the positive feelings that come with working out instead of thinking of exercise as a chore, thus making it more likely that you’ll stick to your workout schedule.

Make a plan

You’ve found the exercises that you love, but to best manage your workout schedule you’ll have to make a concrete plan. Chris Evert, 18-time Grand Slam tennis champion, tells Experience Life, “The best way to make time for exercise is to have a written plan. Decide on the best time for exercise in your schedule and actually enter it into your computer or cell-phone calendar as a repeat event.”

Based on your lifestyle and commitments, determine how much time you can devote to exercise and block that time out in your schedule. Not having enough time is the most common excuse for not exercising, yet we all have 24 hours in a day so why can some people fit it in and others can’t?

People often use their job as an excuse for not working out, but in fact research shows that we work more efficiently if we make time in our schedule for exercise. Additionally, taking care of others, such as kids or other family members, often becomes an excuse for slacking on exercise. However, it’s essential to prioritize your health and wellbeing first in order to properly take care of other people. Exercising will keep you fit and feeling your best so that you can better take care of the people in your life.

If your schedule is beyond hectic, don’t think you have to spend hours at the gym. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that short-bout exercise may be just as effective as longer workouts for weight loss. Results from the study showed that average weight loss remained the same for women who exercised for half an hour as for those who exercised for one hour or more.

Even just five minutes of exercise a day can be the start of a workout schedule that significantly improves your life. A five-minute walk can easily turn into a 30-minute walk as you increase your fitness level. Everyone has to start somewhere!

Mix it up

Once you have your fitness routine in place, as time goes on you’ll have to manage your workout schedule to prevent your body from hitting a plateau. While hitting a plateau is good in the sense that your body is stronger and you have built your tolerance and endurance, it also means that your ability to lose weight and burn fat has diminished.

The Greatist suggests that if you’re starting a new workout program, stick with it for about 12 weeks. During those 12 weeks, you’ll probably notice changes in your body pretty quickly. Tony Musto, Ph.D., an exercise physiologist at the University of Miami, explains that this is because your brain must learn the best way to use muscles in order to perform the task, which can take up to 8 weeks depending on how frequently you work out. Additionally, Dr. Musto said after that point, you’ll start to see new muscle hypertrophy (increase in muscle size), but at 12 to 16 weeks those adaptations become less significant. At that point it is time for you to change up your fitness routine.

Mix things up by trying new types of exercise. If you love cardio and mostly stick to running, trying switching it up with a cycling class. Or if you hit the weight room several times a week, try a yoga or Pilates class to improve your mobility.

Experimenting with new types of exercises can keep things interesting and help you to look forward to your next workout. But if you’ve already found a fitness routine that you love, stick with it and remember to increase the intensity or duration of your exercise to keep your muscles challenged. Overall, the best way to manage your workout schedule is to keep it fun, simple, and safe.