No time to exercise?

This was a quote I saw on a triathlon email list I belong to. The writer is a trainer, and obviously it is geared towards triathlon, but i find it can be applied across the board.
"It is rare that I walk down the street and FIND money. In fact, I don't think in any aspect of my life, I have ever FOUND Money. I have to make every penny I get. I was recently having a conversation with one of my athletes and the athlete was saying "FINDING time for workouts is harder than the actual workouts". Well, first of all, she was totally correct. The chance of FINDING time is pretty well ZERO. The only way the time becomes available is when we make the time. Then the workout becomes the easy part. But MAKING time for anything is as hard as making MONEY, at least it is for most working age groupers, especially if they have young children....so I said this: ...We need to make time, like we make money, so take FIND out of your vocabulary and you'll have an entirely different approach to time management, because when people waste your time, you'll feel the exact same way as people pissing away your money. Seriously, change the vocabulary and you'll see how it changes your approach to making time :-) As the biggest challenge for most age groupers is to get to the start line of workouts, I thought that I'd share this mindset. Talk to any of the guys who seemingly have "more time to train" and it does not happen by magic. Most are really efficient time managers and do more with the 168 hours we all get in a week than the guy who they are beating who probably has better genetics but is just more disorganized."


(This is referring to the kind of athletes who fit in anywhere from 2-6 hours of training in a given day)

what about Tabata workouts? there are lots on youtube. you could do a 5 minute break in studying to do a few minutes of intervals, breaks up the studying and probably helps you study better to mix some physical activity in.

It's hard to strike a balance, but keeping healthy and active will only improve your academic performance.

Flash cards...if you get the answer wrong 5 burpees. get a study buddy who will quiz you and keep you accountable.

Just my thoughts it's hard to fit in all the stuff when u are a student, I don't miss it.

Spend a day logging your time like you log your food. I made a chart, broken into 10 minute increments, and recorded my activity for an average day. I was SHOCKED at the amount of time I was wasting!

Once I saw where my time was going, I was able to organize my life better. It's all about priorities!

Agreed with everything from 3DR's quote in the first response. It's not about finding time, it's about making time. Maybe you get an hour less sleep. Maybe an hour less of TV or casual reading. Maybe an hour less with your friends. Maybe skip a meal and have a workout instead. If you're a single mom with little kids and no access to baby sitting, it may be next to impossible. But if you're a young person in school, come on, stop with the no time talk

MAKE time..it sure as hell won't find you.

Get off here and DO something.

If it's a priority, you'll find time.

Do you watch TV? If you do, stop. There, time!

If you want it bad enough you'll make time.

As everyone already said- you don't find time, you make it. If it's important to you skip a tv program or wake up earlier. Leave for class 20 minutes earlier and take a longer route to your class. There's other ways to work out besides running too- go to the rec center your school provides, look up free workouts on youtube, buy a couple of dvds (i like jillian michaels) and do them in your room.

There's a quote on pinterest I've seen a few times that always gets me to work out- "someone busier than you is working out right now". If you want it, make the time

Something I used to do when I was in college was to study while exercising. I would make my flashcards and bring them to the gym and get on the elliptical or the stationary bike (I found the treadmill to not work so well while studying lol) Run through the flashcards over and over again while you sweat away. I kept them in a baggie so i wouldn't drop them on the floor... although I did have a couple mishaps anyways.

You can even make it a game for yourself- each answer you get wrong you have to increase the resistance by 5. If you get 5 in a row right you can reduce the resistance 2 clicks. If you have a friend that is studying for the same test you can get on machines next to each other and quiz each other. You can even play the same game and challenge each other.

Another things that I used to do was to get into my workout clothes and set a timer, I would work on the project: papers, studying,etc for a set amount of time. When the timer went off I would go out for my run. I would set a time limit for my run ( 2 miles in 30 minutes including showering/changing) and then get back at it. Sometimes it actually helped me get out of a rut I had gotten into.

You could also do the timer thing and have it set for every 20-30 minutes and every time if goes off you have to get up and do 10 reps of an exercise (burpees, pushups, jumping jacks etc.)

Not to echo everyone else here but they're all on point. I have this talk with several of my friends who exclaim they don't have time to workout. How is it that they don't have 30-60 minutes to dedicate to their fitness but they have 3.5 hours to watch a football game on Sunday, Monday, Thursday, and Saturday (college)? I'm not saying that's you, but I get a good idea of their lifestyle and help them to fit the time in. Me, personally, I get up an hour earlier to get my workout in. Reason being is because its an uninhibited time of day where nobody needs me and no impromptu events are occurring. I was a student who attended school both day and night and worked in between. My only option then was waking up earlier and it still works for me now.

I would suggest that you sit down and assess your day and other variances that may come with it. See where you can fit your workout in on each day and stick to that. Once you do that, you can find the tools necessary to help you reach your goal; be it the gym, youtube videos, or short workouts like Focus T25 (25 minutes a day, five days a week).

Make it happen! Best wishes to you and your efforts!