How To Workout While Working Full Time : Crush Your Fitness Goals While Working 9-5
Working out is hard.
So is reaching your fitness goals.
It’s not easy, hence the fact that 30.7 percent of Americans are overweight and 42.4 percent are obese (according to the National Institute of Health).
And the fact that only 23 percent of adults in the US met the Physical Activity Guidelines for both aerobic and muscle-strengthening activity (according to the Centers for Disease Control and the National Center for Health Statistics).
The percent of adults in the US who met the Physical Activity Guidelines for aerobic physical activity is a little better, at 53.3% (also according to the CDC and the NCHS).
There are many factors that contribute to these poor-looking statistics, one of which being the difficulty of balancing…
a full time job (which MOST people have)
a healthy lifestyle composed of consistent exercise and healthy nutrition choices
(and hopefully some sort of a personal life)
In other words, it can be really hard to achieve your fitness goals.
ESPECIALLY as an employed professional working from 9-5, Monday through Friday.
But the point of this article isn’t to just give you depressing statistics and remind you that life is hard.
The point of this article is to illustrate a few super helpful strategies to allow you to crush your fitness goals while working a full time job.
These are strategies that I use daily with clients in my 1-on-1 online coaching program, and have found success with.
So let’s get into it.
NUMBER ONE - FIND THE ‘MINIMUM EFFECTIVE DOSE’
This is arguably the most important aspect of achieving your fitness goals while managing a busy schedule.
Which is why I’m starting off with it.
All the time I see people overdoing it right off the bat, putting themselves through a super intensive training program and a super-rigorous or restrictive diet.
For example…
going to the gym 7 days per week
doing 2 hour long workouts
waking up at 4am to do this^
eating in a 1000 calorie deficit
Now each of these might sound great in theory, or leave you feeling pretty good for a week.
But long term they’re destined to cause you to crash and burn, leaving you feeling frustrated and like a failure.
With everything in fitness, whether your goal is to lose fat/lose weight, build muscle, get strong, so on and so forth…
There is a ‘minimum effective dose’ that will get you to that goal with a combination of consistency and patience.
AND that ‘minimum effective dose’ probably doesn’t include working out 7 days a week, doing 2 hour long workouts, waking up at 4 am, or eating in a 1000 calorie deficit (or surplus for that matter).
You can achieve GREAT SUSTAINABLE RESULTS from working out 3-5 days per week, doing 30-60 min workouts, and maintaining a sustainable diet.
Finding your minimum effective dose to achieve your goals, and then sticking with it for weeks and months at a time is a huge key to crushing your fitness goals while managing a busy lifestyle and working a full time job.
NUMBER TWO - CREATE AUTOMATION WITH YOUR NUTRITION
‘Creating automation with your nutrition’ simply means creating habits that you don’t even have to think about.
There are a few different ways to achieve this, but it’s important and super helpful when you can achieve it.
A lot of people, especially busy working professionals, don't have the time or the mind space to be constantly thinking about our meals and food choices.
This is why getting in a position where at least part of your nutrition is on ‘auto-pilot’ is a game-changer for so many people.
I’ll give you an example, using myself.
About 90 percent of days in the year, I eat the same two meals for breakfast, lunch, and snacks for the day.
For me personally, I happen to thoroughly enjoy those two meals and those snack options. And I’ve yet to grow tired or sick of them.
And having these meals on ‘auto-pilot’ takes 2-4 decisions completely out of the day for me.
My breakfast is set, my lunch is set, and if I have a snack at any point in the day, those are set to.
Then, for me, dinner is my ‘wild card’ meal. I get to have a little bit of variation with dinner.
So think of it like this, I’ve taken an aspect of my day (nutrition), and cut it down from 5-ish decisions every day, all the way down to 1.
Now this may seem super boring, and may be a bit of an extreme example for you.
But even just having breakfast as your automated meal is a great start.
Meal prepping is another example of creating automation.
By preparing multiple meals for the future, you are cutting decision making completely out of the equation.
This is a very beneficial strategy for a working professional with a busy schedule.
NUMBER THREE - GET ENOUGH SLEEP
Alright now this one might seem a little boring, and I’m sure a lot of you are rolling your eyes at this one.
‘Sleep is overrated’ has been a rallying cry for hardworking professionals and hardo David Goggins-type personalities alike.
But I can promise you, it’s not.
If you have any fitness goal that you want to achieve, you need to get your sleep in check.
Sleep plays a huge role in hunger levels, motivation, energy (obviously), and just how you feel on a daily basis.
Start consistently getting 7-9 hours of sleep per night, and watch your life change for the better.
NUMBER FOUR - HIRE A COACH
Okay I promise this is not all one big sales pitch.
But hiring a coach is another decision that can be a game changer for some people, especially busy working professionals.
And there are two main reasons.
The first is accountability.
And the second is automation (Yes the word automation is making a return).
The sheer accountability of hiring a coach can be a massive difference-maker for some people.
Having someone checking in with you consistently, keeping you on track, and holding you accountable is the ‘missing piece’ keeping a lot of people from achieving their fitness goals.
And tying back in automation, having your programming set where you don't have to think about it at all is HUGE as well.
How many times have you thought about working out but you weren’t sure what to do, so you did nothing?
Having this aspect done for you is another game changer in getting you to your fitness goals.
I have worked with multiple working professionals in my 1-on-1 online coaching program, and helped create an effective, sustainable plan to get them to their goals.
If you’re interested in someone keeping you accountable, achieving automation with your health and fitness, and crushing your goals, HIT THIS LINK to learn more about my 1-on-1 online coaching program!
NUMBER FIVE - JUST KEEP GOING
Okay I know I said number one was the most important, but this is super important too.
No matter how fast your progress is, you will want it to go faster.
And when it doesn’t, you might feel discouraged and want to quit.
DON’T!!!
As I mentioned earlier in this article, consistency and patience are both keys to success.
The only way you can ‘fail’ at achieving your fitness goals is by quitting.
And this aspect actually isn’t specific to busy working professionals, it applies to everybody.
You need consistency over TIME to reach your goals.
So be patient, and…
JUST. KEEP. GOING!
Thanks so much for reading! I hope this helps you and if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to reach out.
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AND if you’re interested in losing fat, gaining muscle, improving your nutrition and your overall fitness, check this out for more information on coaching!
https://www.kevinfinnfitness.com/onlinecoaching
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