17.07.19

Staying On Track | When Life Gets Busy – Championship Lifestyle

When summertime hits, between our off-season hockey program, podcast/breakdowns, and the onslaught of weddings and events – not to mention wanting to enjoy the beautiful weather – it can get pretty tough to get our workouts in. Some of you may feel the same about the summertime. For others, you might feel this in the winter, close to the holidays or a specific quarter. Regardless, we all eventually experience a period of chaos when it feels like the day only has 18 hours, and we need 27.

In an effort to get it all done, training is often eliminated. Unfortunately, this is the exact opposite approach we need to employ. That training time is an opportunity to blow off steam, improve cognition, and revitalize you for the day. Instead of eliminating it, we need to double down, and today we’re offering you some tips on how to do this!

Prioritize:

It sounds like an easy answer, but the only way you are going to get your workouts in when the schedule gets tight is if you prioritize it. We always have a few spare hours of the day, and it’s about choosing to allocate them to our health as opposed to the latest episode on Netflix. Prioritizing is about more than just thinking we will do something, you have to see and appreciate the value of the task. Nietzsche said that “He who has a Why to live can endure almost any How.” This idea holds for almost all areas of life, and we must know why and appreciate it. If so, we’ll move mountains to achieve it.

Schedule:

We are creatures of habit, our default setting is lazy, and we are forever trying to create processes that further simplify our life. We may not be able to train at the same time, but putting the hour in a calendar at the start of the day or week helps eliminate guesswork. Our decision-making ability also declines as the day progresses, the more tired and busy we become the less likely we are to head to the gym unless it’s already booked and requires no thought.

Flexibility:

In a perfect world, we wake up every morning without an alarm clock, take our time and relax for the first hour of the day and then stroll to the gym for a training session. Unfortunately, outside of vacation or days off, that is rarely the case, so don’t hold yourself to such a high standard. If the goal is 60 minutes of activity, but you only have time for 25, that’s a whole lot better then zero! Or maybe you wanted to spin or attend a boxing class but can’t get to the gym in time. Make it up, train in your living room, go for a run, play pick up basketball. Whatever it is – it doesn’t matter. Living a healthy life is about being versatile and exposing yourself to multiple stressors, so embrace it.