How to plan for 30 mins of exercise a day

The pace of life can often mean that by the time we get home from the end of our day, all we want to do is pop the feet up and get Netflix going. We’ll often plan the things that help us relax but do we plan the things that help give us energy and improve our health?

Top tips for getting planned

• Get yourself a planner or diary and set out what you will do over five days, with two rest days.
• Set yourself a goal but start with something achievable so you don’t put yourself off and when you reach your goal, make a new one!
• Make sure you’ve had enough to eat and drink before you tear into exercise.
• Think about what you’re going to do and where.
• Recruit a friend, they can be a motivator.
• Get a good pumping playlist sorted (Spotify do cool ones).
• Get your stuff out the night before.
• Know your plan and route — this means you won’t add time to your exercise if you get lost.
• Figure out if you’re a morning, afternoon or evening person. Some people prefer to get their exercise over and done with first thing or getting in on their lunch break. Do whatever works for you so it feels less like a chore.
• Have a reward planned for after; it could be that hour on Netflix or having a little pampering session.
• Get yourself a tracker app, when you see your progress it can help keep you motivated.

Apps to help get you going

Kaa-Yaa is a fitness training app designed to help you achieve your fitness goals through personalized workout programs that can be performed at your home or in the gym.

Mixing it up

When starting off on a new exercise regime, it can be easy to get bored quickly, so it’s important to mix up the types of exercise you do. This will also work different parts of your body in different ways, so heres’s some tips:

• If you’re walking, running or cycling, look at choosing different routes from time to time to make sure you don’t get too bored .
• Some parks are now installing body weight equipment, make your walk or run pass by them to change up the work out. Try out the equipment for something different (instructions are usually on the equipment, make sure to read first).
• Get on YouTube and check out some tutorials around yoga and pilates. It’s a nice way to mix up your exercise during the week and comes with instruction.
• Get a goal in mind, sometimes have something to work towards can really help. “I want to run for 20 mins without stopping” or whatever it is.
  Think of the simple things that you do every day to build in your exercise, like taking stairs instead of a lift, getting off the bus two stops early etc.