Summer is over. Well, for some of us, anyway. Vacations and late nights are being replaced with school bags and schedules!
I realize not everyone reading this has children and/or children in school, but with summer comes days of us feeling less likely to work as hard as the fall season. Those of us that have children may find it harder to find the time to exercise over the summer or we’re on vacation and possibly overindulging.
The following are some stats on our productivity over the summer. While this is more in relation to the work environment, we can see how it easily plays into our personal lives as well.
According to a study done by Captive Office Pulse, workplace productivity drops 20% and projects take 13% longer over the summer. Workers are 45% more distracted. Attendance is down more than 19%. Chances are if you’re distracted at work or not showing up, you’re probably not staying on track with your diet and exercise.
I recently went on 3TV to discuss how and why we should get back on track. Below are tips to get back on track when incorporated with your health routine. Better results will come with consistency and focus.
- Set a schedule and stick to it! If you have children, would you ever not want to get them to school on time or pick them up on time? I know we may be late from time to time, but on a routine basis we get them there and pick them up when we should. You should treat your exercise and meal-prep the same way. Schedule time for exercise, meal prep, and you during the times that work with your family schedule and stick to it. Ideally, you should exercise 4-6 days a week. Be active daily, but when it comes to hitting the weights, yoga, Pilates, HIIT cardio, etc. Shoot for a minimum of 30 minutes (ideally 60 minutes) each of these 4-6 days. Know what you plan on eating for the week and either prepare it all at once, twice or daily. Just stick to what you stated you would eat that day.
- Block and Shelf. An example of this would be to do the following: Get children to school (then don’t worry about it), get to the gym (for the 1 hour or however long you scheduled) then be done. Run errands (but have them laid out) and then be done with them, etc. If you work, the same rules apply; just work on a task for whatever time you designate for it then put it up on the “shelf” and work on the next one.
- Have an accountability partner and be one for someone. Knowing you have someone that is going to call you out when you don’t make it to the gym, eat healthy, or complete an important task will increase your chances of success by over 80%!
- If you’re pressed for time when you exercise, focus on complex movements that work several muscles. Examples: squats, squat and press, burpees, deadlifts, kettle bell swings, chest press…. the more muscles you work the more calories you burn and the more human growth hormone you’ll release.
The above are just a few ways you can get back on track and for so many reasons (weight loss, body fat loss, strengthening muscles, feeling better, etc.) we want to get back on track and do so NOW!
Scott Keppel is the owner of Scott’s Training Systems, a world-class coaching facility in Chandler, Arizona. He is a nationally certified trainer through NASM and ISSA. His mission is to empower women of all ages and fitness levels. For more information head to scottstrainingsystems.com or check him out on Instagram at @stsnation.
