FITTING YOUR TRAINING INTO A BUSY SCHEDULE

We all have the best intentions when it comes to training. We set our sights on a lofty goal, research training plans, order dumbbells and resistance bands. And then life happens. When work, school, or family obligations become overwhelming, training is often the first thing that gets dropped. 

When we don’t have time to complete our workouts perfectly, we may give up entirely, but even twenty minutes of intentional movement is better than zero! This post will offer you some tools and mindset shifts to help you keep moving, even as life continues to get in the way. 

Identify Your “Why” 

Before you jump into a new workout regimen, ask yourself why you are doing it. Understanding your motivation can help you stay engaged when life gets busy. Do you have a big climbing objective planned for next season, or did you sign up for a race? These are examples of “end goals,” which can help you stay inspired during the daily grind of training. Motivation can also be more internal; maybe you simply want to continue to do the outdoor sports that you love and avoid injury. 

Once you identify your motivation, the next step is to come up with “process goals,” or actions you can take regularly to work toward your end goals. For example, if your end goal is to send a harder bouldering grade, a related process goal could be to include one session of projecting, or hard bouldering, per week in your training. 

Form Sustainable Habits

Habit-blogger James Clear says “your current behaviors are simply a reflection of your current identity.” The beliefs you hold about yourself influence what you do on a day-to-day basis; if you see yourself as an athlete, it will be easier to reflect that identity in your actions. Start to interrogate the identities you hold for yourself; what type of person do you believe yourself to be? Does that correspond to who you want to be? 

Once you start to shift your identity, the next step to forming new habits is to pick an easy and approachable goal to start with. Maybe you just want to do a five-minute core workout three times every week. If you stack your new desired habit onto an existing habit, it will be easier to get it done. Maybe you work from home, and you can complete your five minutes of core work right before your lunch break. 

Our habits also correspond to the physical space around us. Do you have a dedicated workout space at home? It can be as simple as rolling out a yoga mat or taking your dumbbells out of the closet; that’s a signal to your brain that you are about to spend some time moving. For others, it may help to schedule specific times to go to the gym on their calendars. If the time is physically blocked out, it will be less likely to get dropped. 

These things may sound obvious, but habit formation is a practice. Putting in the work week after week will turn small actions into habits. Many of us are less likely to cancel a workout if someone else is involved. Try scheduling your gym time with a friend to hold you accountable; you might also have more fun!

Plan Ahead and Schedule Your Training

The order that you schedule your workouts into a given week can be flexible based on your calendar and energy levels. If your training plan dictates that you include three climbing sessions and two strength-training sessions every week, complete them whenever you can throughout the week. If you have lots of time one day, you can even stack two workouts on top of one another. 

Use your Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) to adjust your workouts to your energy levels as you go through your week. RPE is a scale from 1 to 10, 1 being the easiest effort and 10 being the hardest. When you use RPE, the weight you lift can fluctuate based on your energy on a given day. Feeling exhausted? It’s easy to decide to just skip your workout. Instead, subtract some weight or choose easier boulder problems so your workout feels doable. 

Using apps to track your workouts is another tool that can help hold you accountable. I use Trainerize with my clients. The app sends reminders and congratulations when you finish a workout, which can help give you that little positive boost you need to keep going. You can also log the weight you’re using for different exercises to stay on track of your progress. 

Keep your sessions short and focused. Fewer, high-quality reps are way more valuable than a super long session that leaves you exhausted every time. As always, consistency is key. Almost any program will work if you stick to it! 

Define Your Priorities

Think back to your motivation. Why are you training at this given moment in your life? Are you trying to avoid injury during your upcoming ski season? Maybe you are going to focus on that and simply maintain your climbing strength until the spring. There’s no way you can progress everything at once. If you want to add a session or two of lower body strength every week, you’ll probably need to subtract a climbing session.

If you find yourself at a performance plateau, it could be a good time to work on specific weaknesses. Do you avoid certain elements of your training? If you are good at endurance but lack power, schedule a power phase in your training plan. Reducing or even eliminating your endurance training during this time may be necessary, but don’t worry! You won’t lose all of your endurance, and your overall performance will improve. 

There may be other times when all you can do is maintain, and that’s okay! Life happens, and we have to adapt to the challenges that come. Staying connected with your “why,” choosing the easiest goals possible, stacking habits, putting it on the calendar, and finding a workout buddy can help you continue to move through even the most chaotic seasons of life.