All or Nothing?

I was having coffee with a girlfriend this morning and she is working on getting back into her gym routine after some injuries. She's been struggling with finding the time in her schedule to get her workouts in. As we talked about her scheduling challenges she admitted that she felt unless she could spend 2 hours in the gym it wasn't worth her while. She had the "all in or all out" mentality.

Many people feel this way...or use this as an excuse why they can't get a workout in. But the reality is: something is always better than nothing. In fact, some of the best workouts are when you're on a tight timeline and you have to train with intensity and focus. You can get a killer workout in as little as 20 minutes. (If you don't know how to do that, hit me up for training programs)

Unless you are an athlete training for an event or a physique competitor preparing for a competition, you don't need to have the all or nothing mentality. Life is about being flexible and rolling with the punches. As all of us know, some days can take twists and turns we didn't expect and didn't schedule. That doesn't mean we have to allow it to derail us completely.

I highly recommend having a back up plan for a short, intense workout that can give you big bang for your buck. Often, when I have to get in and get out quickly, I get a lot done, I don't chat and I feel accomplished. Many of my training clients train 30 minutes or less, 5 days a week and get incredible results. Because they push hard and stay focused. There's always more than one way to do something.

Be flexible in your approach. Have several workouts that you can pull out for a variety of circumstances. And most of all, if you are going to be short on time, don't skip the gym altogether - just go hard and go home (or wherever you have to go!)