The 20m Shuttle Run Fitness Test

Have you ever performed a fitness test in physical education class at school? If you have, chances are you have performed the 20m shuttle run fitness test (AKA the beep test!).

The 20m shuttle run test is a very vigorous cardiovascular fitness test. This examination is used by schools, emergency services and the defence forces. It requires you to perform maximally (ie. until you cannot continue any further). You are assigned a score from which you can determine your VO2max. Your VO2max indicates the maximum rate at which your body can process oxygen, which is how your aerobic fitness is measured. To determine your VO2max, visit our beep test calculator to input your score if you have already completed a 20 metre shuttle run fitness test.

So, how does the 20 metre shuttle run fitness test work? You set up a 20 metre running track (on a flat, hard surface such as asphalt). You are required to run back and fourth, reaching each end of your running track as each beep (or bleep) sounds.

You begin at level one, where the beeps are relatively slow. For the typical person, you would be required to perform a slightly faster than average walking pace on level one. However after each minute, you progress a level where the bleeps become faster and faster. You eventually move from a slow jog, into a faster jog, into a run.

The 20 metre shuttle run fitness test is not only a very accurate test to determine your VO2max, it is also a very effective cardiovascular workout. This is because it is a maximal test, so it will stress your cardiovascular system very effectively. Because you are chasing after an objective goal, you remain accountable during the entire cardiovascular session.

People who should not perform the 20 metre shuttle run fitness test include those at higher risk, particularly the elderly or those who have a pre-existing medical condition preventing them from exercising vigorously. If you have joint problems, this fitness test may not be suitable due to the high impact nature of running.

This week, we have just added the beep test CD into our online store! For under $20, this is a highly valuable tool to have in order to assess your fitness level and prepare for an upcoming event.

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Preventing Injury When Losing Control Performing Weight Lifting

When lifting weights, particularly heavy weights, it is easy to lose control of the weights that you are moving. This is especially true if the weights do move into an awkward position. No matter how controlled your movement, you run the risk of causing a major injury to yourself in such an instance. So, let’s discuss this topic and identify exactly what to do when such a situation arises to prevent the onset of injury.

To begin with, I was inspired to write on this particular topics today following my abdominals workout at the gym. I was performing some cable ball curls in a particularly low rep range (4-6 reps to failure). The first set went okay and I then attempted a heavier weight. Attempting to get into position for the set, I lost my balance and rolled onto the floor. Now I know what I have put some of my personal training clients through who have had exactly the same experience!!

I wouldn’t classify such an exercise as dangerous. Sure, it is quite easy to lose your balance, but the risk of injuring yourself is quite low – you’re only going to roll over onto the ground. But what about higher risk movements such as a flat dumbbell chest press, barbell bench press or shoulder presses with heavy weights? If you were to lose control of the weights you could cause some serious injury by dropping a heavy load on your head! Alternatively, what if you are performing heavy barbell squats and you lose your balance? This is a back injury waiting to happen.

Of course, you must take all necessary precautions such as ensuring that the weight isn’t “too” heavy, controlling the weight, having a spotter etc. But what I really want to talk about is, assuming you have taken these steps, what do you do in the 3 or so seconds that you have prior to potentially causing a serious injury.

Let’s begin with all of the pressing movements. Particularly in my earlier stages of training, I had some run-ins on these exercises. I distinctly remember performing an incline dumbbell chest press with very heavy weights (about 4 reps to failure). As I neared muscular fatigue, I pressed up, but moved the dumbbells backwards a little; enough to the point where I began to lose control of the dumbbells. At this point, I had a choice:

1. Try to push the dumbbells forward again
2. Let go of the dumbbells

Option 1 could have resulted in serious injury. The shoulders are in a highly compromised position and trying to move the dumbbells from behind your head is extremely risky. Option 2 really is the only viable option. In such a circumstance, you need to get rid of those dumbbells before they induce serious damage to your shoulder joint, which is extremely prone to injury. It is far safer to push the dumbbells away from your body (and thus avoiding them from dropping on your head) than trying to bring them back forward and either hurting your shoulder or dropping the dumbbells on your head.

Of course, let anyone in the close vicinity know to get out of the way of the falling dumbbells! (You should always ensure that there is no one within your immediate vicinity just in case of such an emergency).

The same approach would reign true for any dumbbell press work. Get those dumbbells out of the way. You need to ensure your own safety before you worry about a big “bang” on the floor.

With barbell presses, this is a tougher scenario. You cannot just drop the bar. This is where you absolutely must get a spotter if you are training to (or close to) failure. A spotter is also essential just in case you lose control of the barbell by pressing forwards or backwards too much. If you do get stuck down the bottom of your rep and cannot push the bar up, yell out for help. This can be a potentially dangerous situation if you are resting an excessive amount of weight on your chest.

Barbell squats are another problem area when it comes to injury. It is quite easy to lose your balance on this exercise, particularly if you are new to it as it is a very complex movement. Although this has never happened to me, I have witnessed some squatters lose their balance. Fortunately I have never seen anyone sustain a major back injury from this, but considering how susceptible the spine is to injury, it is not difficult to accomplish. So if you do find yourself losing your balance on the squats, what do you do?

If you have a spotter, have the spotter assist you in regaining your balance by hooking their arms underneath your armpits. This is usually most practical if you are only slightly off balance. If you are using a squat rack or a cage (and so you should be), you may need to just lower your body down (if safe) or drop the bar down onto the rack. If, for some reason, you are performing squats with no squat rack and find yourself falling over – just let go and drop the bar. Your goal when you are losing control of the weight is to get that bar off your back so it doesn’t seriously hurt you.

Because you only have a limited amount of time if something does go wrong when weight lifting, you are heavily reliant on your reflexes. Never try to move a weight if you are in an awkward position – if all else fails, get that weight away from you as quickly and safely as possible. Prior to initiating your exercise, ensure that your exercise space is well clear so you don’t present any risk to surrounding people just in case something does go wrong.

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Weight Loss and Good Intentions to Exercise

If you’ve been struggling to lose weight because you don’t ever get around to exercising, then this article is for you. Do you feel like you always have good intentions to exercise, yet everything just seems to get in the way so you don’t have the time to exercise?

This is a common scenario for many people. Our lives are so jam packed with activities that exercise can eat up some crucial minutes of your day!

Whilst you may have the best of intentions, it is an all too common scenario for other tasks to be more urgent/important than your exercise session and therefore take precedence. Typical examples could include work deadlines, meetings and sudden unforeseen circumstances like a car or computer breakdown. These are all very important events in your life, but they do get in the way of your plans to exercise.

It doesn’t take a genius to identify that good intentions will not do anything for your weight loss goals. You may intend on completing daily workouts for the next week – but if no exercise sessions actually get completed, you’re not going to make any progress whatsoever. It’s also easy to justify the lack of exercise during a week by blaming certain urgent circumstances that arose and reminding yourself that you did have good intentions to exercise.

Ultimately if you find yourself in this situation, you (and only you) need to do something about it. If your weight loss goals are important enough, you are going to have to sit down and figure out a way in which to organise your week so you do get your exercise sessions completed. More often than not, it all comes down to developing a plan. Introduce some structure into your week so you have some foundation from which to work from.

If you are going through the week and reacting to all the events that come your way, you are never going to be able to follow a consistent approach to exercise. Reacting to your environment, whilst instinctual, is an impulsive and unstructured approach to weight loss. By doing this, you are effectively putting the exercise on the back-burner and leaving it up to fate to decide whether or not you will get time to exercise. You may have good intentions to exercise, yet you are not being pro-active about exercise. In this situation, it is important to identify that the reason you are unable to exercise is not due to external circumstances – it is because you have failed to plan effectively.

Your plan is going to be completely different from anyone else’s depending upon your lifestyle. Maybe you need to get up a little earlier and exercise first thing in the morning. You may need to exercise on your lunch break, or maybe on weekends. You could try performing shorter workouts, changing gyms, exercising at home or taking up a sport. Whatever it is – you need to work out the most appropriate plan for you and your lifestyle.

Further, you need to keep yourself accountable. If you feel that you need an external source of accountability, try exercising with a friend or hiring a fitness professional such as a personal trainer. You need to be pro-active about your weight loss goals and take the necessary steps to get into an effective exercise routine.

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Quick Tips for Safe, Effective & Sustainable Weight Loss

Weight loss is the most common goal of visitors to this blog and to the Amino Z website. Losing weight in a sustainable, effective and safe manner is at the very heart of our training philosophy at Amino Z. If you are a regular reader of this website or of this blog, you’ll be well aware of our strong stand against rapid, unsafe and unethical approaches to weight loss.

Losing weight in an unhealthy manner can do some serious permanent damage. You may be interested in reading an article of ours on Yo-Yo Dieting which discusses some serious side effects of rapid weight loss, including the long-term weight gain implications of following a fad diet.

Safe, effective and sustainable weight loss comes down to well-known principles. Whilst weight loss can be a difficult goal to accomplish, the principles of success are relatively straight forward. One of the most difficult aspects of weight loss is actually implementing these principles consistently into your everyday life.

Below is a list of some very important aspects to weight loss. In isolation, any one of these factors is quite ineffective. However, if you combine all of these recommendations together, you will experience some tremendous body reshaping. It is a limited list, but it will get you started on the right foot.

Eat regularly. Aim to consume 6 meals a day, rather than 3 meals a day. But here’s the catch – make your meals smaller. More regular meals can stimulate the metabolism to burn more calories.

Eat natural foods. Natural foods require more energy to break down and digest within the body, relative to highly processed foods. Thus, their “net” calories will be much lower.

Watch your portion sizes. If you’re not losing weight, try reducing your portion sizes. Don’t skip meals, but rather aim for a gradual calorie reduction until you find that sweet spot.

Minimise alcohol intake. Any alcoholic beverage is loaded with calories. Don’t be fooled into thinking that a straight spirit is calorie free – a shot of vodka can have as many calories as a snack.

Move around as much as possible. As you move around (or, perform incidental exercise), you expend additional calories. Try walking instead of driving, or park a little further away. It all adds up!

Follow a structured exercise programme. The key is to follow a structured programme. Going into the gym aimlessly will not accomplish an optimal result. Work with a personal trainer if you have to, but have a clear plan for maximum results. Your training should include both cardiovascular and resistance training, multiple times per week.

Do not rely on supplements. Supplements can aid with weight loss, but it is important not to rely on them for weight loss. Rely on a sound approach to nutrition and exercise. This encompasses everything from meal replacements to weight loss pills. If you are replacing multiple meals a day with protein drinks, this is most likely too reliant on supplements and could be quite unhealthy.

Obtain 7-8 hours of sleep each night. Good quality sleep promotes healthy hormone production which can optimise fat loss. If you under-sleep, you will be inhibiting your weight loss progress.

Guilt is your own worst enemy. We all slip up from time to time. When it happens – learn from it and you have to teach yourself to move on. The worst thing you can do is drown yourself in guilt and thus sabotage yourself completely. One binge will have a negligible effect on your progress. A week-long guilt-induced binge will have a profound effect on your progress.

Get support. Surround yourself with other dedicated people who are serious about weight loss. When you are surrounded with a strong support group, you won’t feel isolated and will thus increase your chances of long-term success.

Hire a personal trainer. Yes, I know this sounds strange coming from a personal training website! A personal trainer will provide you with the necessary professional support to get you to your goals in a healthy manner. This will compliment your support group who provide a strong sense of social support.

Educate yourself. Don’t stop with this article – continue reading and learn the specifics of weight loss. The more you know about exercise and nutrition, the more interesting the subjects will become. Weight loss will seem far less overwhelming and thus your confidence levels will improve. Knowledge is power and it is readily available to you throughout this website!

From here, I would suggest that you continue reading on this topic in greater depth with our article entitled “How to Lose Weight“. This will discuss some of these quick weight loss tips in greater detail and introduce you to more detailed discussions.

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How Long Does It Take To See Results From Exercise?

It is very common for our personal training clients to begin exercising with the expectation that they will see significant physical changes within only a few weeks of training. This is not only common for our clients initially, but also for anyone who is embarking upon a journey to reshape their body.

So if you’ve just begun exercising, it is very important to understand how long it takes until you see results from exercise. For, if you begin an exercise programme with unrealistic expectations, this can be extremely discouraging a few weeks down the track when you do not notice the physical results that you expected.

How Long Does It Take To See Results From Exercise?

It really depends upon a number of factors, including:

1. Your goals
2. Your body/genetics
3. Your approach to nutrition
4. Your approach to exercise
5. Your health
6. Your general lifestyle

Everyone will have differing attributes to each of the categories above – all of which will affect the time in which you see physical changes. Let’s consider each briefly:

Your goals and how they affect how long it takes to see results from exercise

If you wish to lose weight only, then you will most likely see relatively quick results as compared to someone who is seeking to build muscle. The reason is simple – for most of us, it is much easier to lose fat than it is to build muscle, given that you follow an effective approach to achieving this goal.

You may wish to read up on my previous blog post which discusses muscle gain, fat loss, and the relative rates at which you can accomplish each goal

Your body/genetics and how they affect how long it takes to see results from exercise

Some people have the ability to lose fat at an amazing rate, without being able to build muscle efficiently. These people typically have the phenotype of an “ectomorph”. Others can build muscle relatively quickly without the ability to lose fat weight quickly. These people typically have the phenotype of an “endomorph”. Meanwhile, there are people who can lose fat and build muscle very efficiently, typically having a “mesomorph” phenotype.

Often no one is one or the other. This is a “scale” of classifications of body types and you will often lie somewhere in between each of these extremes.

Your approach to nutrition and how it affects how long it takes to see results from exercise

Some people prefer a full-on approach to nutrition, in order to provide the body with optimal nutrients for optimal results. Others prefer a balance between their lifestyle and their physique goals. If you are chasing after some body reshaping goals, the rate at which you can expect to see results really depends upon how disciplined you are with your nutrition.

Remember though – fast results aren’t always the best results. If you are better off in the long-term following a more relaxed approach to nutrition (as are most people), do not try and go gung-ho on a “diet”. You will be setting yourself up for disaster as soon as you fall off the wagon.

Your approach to exercise and how it affects how long it takes to see results from exercise

Similarly to nutrition, your dedication to your exercise programme will profoundly impact the rate at which you see physical changes. Are you the type of person who can train in the gym six times a week and enjoy it? If so, you have the ability to see some relatively quick results compared to if you can only train 2-3 times per week.

As with nutrition, you do need to establish a healthy balance with your exercise programme and your lifestyle. If you cannot sustain a high volume of workout sessions, don’t even try to. The key is in sustainability for long-term results.

Your health and how it affects how long it takes to see results from exercise

Your health can play a major role in the rate at which it takes to physically realise the hard work you have invested in achieving your goals. This is a very broad topic and can range from your physical capacity to exercise intensely, right through to testosterone levels and even medical disorders that can prevent fat loss. This is highly individualistic and obviously being in optimal health is the most effective way to accomplish any goal.

This does raise a very important point. Because your health is critical in accomplishing all health and fitness goals, this means that you need to respect your body. Consequently, you should ALWAYS follow a healthy approach to exercise and nutrition (which means no fad dieting or outlandish detox diets). This also means that when you exercise, you should do so in a safe manner as to avoid the risk of injury.

Your general lifestyle it affects how long it takes to see results from exercise

Again, a very broad topic. How well you sleep, how much you stress, how active you are in your daily activities, how often you socialise etc all have a profound impact on the rate at which you can expect to see results, no matter what your goal.

A blanket statement for how long it takes to see results from exercise…

Having got to this point, you will understand that everyone is different and there is no finite period of time that it will take for all people to see results. Assuming that you are in good health and have a reasonable approach to nutrition and exercise, you can generally begin to see considerably physical changes within 6-8 weeks. It may be longer or it may be shorter based on what has been proposed above.

If you have been exercising for a prolonged period of time and have not seen any physical results, then something does need to be changed. Einstein once said “If you change nothing, nothing will change” – oh how true that is. So if this is the case, I would strongly suggest considering the assistance of a fitness professional. We of course do offer the leading Australian online personal training service which you may wish to consider.

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Losing Fat Weight, Building Muscle and Decreasing Measurements

If you’re seeking to build muscle and lose fat simultaneously, then it certainly is possible. Of course, you cannot accomplish either of these goals effectively whilst trying to do both at the same time, but you can break down fat tissue and synthesise new muscle tissue.

Many of my clients have this goal and choose to opt for a balance in fat loss and muscle development, rather than focusing too heavily on either extreme. A common question that I am asked is regarding decreasing girth measurements, particularly around the arms and chest; “Why are my measurements decreasing if I’m building muscle?”.

This is a common situation for anyone who is just initiating a new exercise routine. If you are trying to tone-up, by losing fat weight and building muscle mass, then you can expect a decrease in your girth measurements. The chest and arms are no exception.

A typical chest girth measurement will be taken around the entire horizontal circumference of your chest at nipple level. This measurement is greatly affected by:

1. Pectoral muscle mass
2. Latissimus dorsi muscle mass
3. Fat tissue stored around the chest, arm pit and back

A typical arm girth measurement will be taken half way between the shoulder and elbow. The measurement is greatly affected by:

1. Bicep muscle mass
2. Tricep muscle mass
3. Fat tissue stored around the bicep and tricep muscles

Fat loss occurs far more readily than muscle gain in the typical person. Whilst a typical person who has been training for a few months can expect to build somewhere within the vicinity of 3-6kg per year with a bulking emphasis, the same typical person could expect to safely lose 0.5-1kg a week in fat mass. Based on these rough figures, you could expect to lose nearly 9 times the amount of weight you carry in fat, relative to the amount of muscle you could expect to gain.

Note that these are very rough figures for illustration purposes and I am not citing any studies in this post. The point is that you can lose a lot more fat weight than you can expect to gain in muscle weight.

Because your potential for fat loss is generally far greater than your potential for muscle gain, you can expect your measurements to decrease if you are chasing after both goals simultaneously, with a fairly even balance. It is not realistic to expect to lose 20kg of fat mass and gain 20kg in muscle mass within a short period of time, for example. Rather, a 20kg weight loss and 4kg muscle gain would be far more realistic to achieve for the typical male.

As you are moving toward your health and fitness goals, it is very important to measure your progress along the way. That is why we offer a number of workout accessories to assist you in analysing your body composition. A few that may be of particular interest include:

• Body Measurement Tape
• Body Fat Calipers
• Digital Body Fat Calipers

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Exercise, Circadian Rhythms and Work Productivity

Circadian rhythms affect your performance both with your work productivity and during your exercise sessions. So how do best manage your day to get the most work completed with your natural daily rhythms?

In the past, we have published a few articles discussing circadian rhythms. Essentially these are the natural rhythms that your body undergoes over a 24 hour period (technically slightly over 24 hours). A typical rhythm shows that body temperature is highest around 6.30PM, which not co-incidentally is also an optimal time to train due to an increased physical capability.

However, circadian rhythms should not solely determine your training time. Our lives are far more complex than the natural peaks and troughs that our bodies experience throughout the day. We have many lifestyle factors to consider, including family, friends, work and personal aspects. So training at 6.30PM may not be the most suitable time to exercise. Training around our lifestyle is far more important than training around our natural circadian rhythms. If your exercise regime clashes with any important aspect in your regular routine, this will significantly hamper the chances of long-term success.

Having said that, let’s move onto the topic – exercising to enhance work productivity, considering our natural circadian rhythms. If you’re at an office job, you’ll probably notice that you experience highs and lows throughout the day. This varies greatly between individuals. Here is an example:

6AM: Wake up
9AM: Feeling pumped and ready to go!
11AM: Energy has worn off, feeling a bit slower
12.30PM: Feeling more focused. Finally…lunch break!
1.30PM: Energy levels higher
3PM: Energy levels have dipped significantly
5PM: End of work and feeling tired after a long day

There are obvious ups and downs in energy levels. Whilst these will be affected by mental stimulation, nutrition, sleep, hormones, stress etc, they will also be affected by your natural circadian rhythms. You may have noticed a distinct pattern over a number of weeks. If this is the case, it could be highly beneficial to integrate an effective exercise plan into your day to boost work productivity.

Taking the example above, you’ll note some troughs in energy levels at 11AM and 3PM. You’ll also notice some peaks at 9AM, 12.30PM. So, it may be greatly beneficial to this person to perform a workout at 11AM (as a lunch break) when his energy levels are significantly lower. This would:

• Reduce the less productive time at working time
• Increase the productivity at 3PM due to the “post-workout high” obtained from endorphin secretion

Another alternative could be to exercise before work. This person has a low energy point around late morning. An exercise session prior to him starting the day could help in combating this, again from the endorphins post-workout.

If the lunch hours were fixed at 12.30-1.30PM, it may be worthwhile performing a workout during this time, to avoid the big dip in energy at 3PM. You’ll find that if you perform a high intensity workout, you will be highly focused for many hours following the conclusion of the workout.

Unless this person above is very dedicated to his training regime, it would probably not be in his best interests to exercise at 6.30PM (as typical circadian rhythms demonstrate that this is the optimal time to exercise). He is mentally exhausted. Whilst he may be physically capable of undertaking a highly effective workout, mental fatigue can be a very persuasive force in choosing to go home rather than going into the gym. Plus, whilst and increased level of fitness and general health will impact positively on work productivity, the post-workout endorphin rush will not assist him in producing a higher quality and quantity of work during his work day.

Your daily routine comes down to your individual requirements and situation. There is no doubt that an effective exercise routine can have a very positive impact on work productivity. However the challenge is in scheduling your day for maximum output.

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Handy Workout Accessories and Exercise Tools

There are a number of workout accessories and exercise tools available on the market to assist you in accomplishing your health and fitness goals. These range from something as common as an iPod, to something as simple as a piece of paper to write down your results.

Within our supplement store, we have a range of workout accessories and exercise tools to help you in enhancing your results. Here are a few of our most popular accessories!

Workout Accessories and Exercise Tools: Pedometer

Not long ago, we introduced our own exclusive pedometer for $7. The beauty about this little gadget is that you can monitor your activity objectively throughout the day. You no longer have to guess how active you are – it’s there in black and white. This not only assists in facilitating weight loss, but it also enhances the services that a fitness professional can provide to you with this additional information at hand.

Workout Accessories and Exercise Tools: Shaker Bottle

If you’re seeking to build muscle, you need a shaker bottle. This is actually one of our best sellers because a shaker bottle avoids those unwanted clumps in your protein powder.

It is particularly important to consume your protein powder immediately after your workout. If you exercise in a commercial gym, this is quite difficult to accomplish with a drink bottle. A shaker bottle is much easier – pour in some water, put in your protein, put the lid on, shake and drink!

Better yet, this is less than $5!

Workout Accessories and Exercise Tools: Body Fat Calipers

Body fat calipers can be extremely handy in assessing your level of body fat. The main reason why we introduced this range into our store is because body weight in isolation is a very unreliable figure to assess body composition. How do you know if you’ve gained muscle or gained fat? Sure, you can consider girth measurements, but there will still be some degree of guess work involved here too. For less than $20, these are a bargain!

If you’re looking for a premium design, we also feature an accurate set of digital body fat calipers.

Workout Accessories and Exercise Tools: Body Measurement Tape

A very popular accessory is our body measurement tape which makes girth measurements very easy relative to your conventional measuring tape. This great accessory allows you to clip the tape measure in so you don’t have to hold both ends of the tape whilst measuring.

Then, press the button that allows you to maintain a constant tension. The true advantage of this is that you won’t obtain inaccurate results from varying degrees of tensions!

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How to Find Time to Exercise with a Busy Work Week

If you’re a busy professional and can’t find time to exercise, then this article is for you. Here are some simple tips on how to make time time to exercise with a busy work week.

Make time, don’t find time to exercise. The key difference between these words is a matter of priorities. If you were to “find time to exercise”, then your exercise plans are going to be lost amongst the jungle of other work you have piling up. Meanwhile if you make time to exercise, you shift your workout time to the top of the priority list, whilst everything else fits in.

Trust me, if you “make” time to exercise, you’ll have enough time to accomplish everything else too. This is partially because your brain will function more effectively if you are a regular exerciser. Brain function and fitness are actually closely related.

Plan your week. Yeah, yeah, I know – planning things out is commonsensical. If you have a plan, you know where everything fits in and you’re able to introduce some structure into your week. But do you actually do it? Further, do you plan on paper?

Planning is critical to success, primarily because good time management includes some form of structure. If your day has no order to is, you’re probably wasting a lot of time accomplishing very little. Take 5-10 minutes at the start of the week and plan everything out, incorporating your exercise sessions too.

Make the exercise sessions short. Why exercise for hours if you don’t have hours to spare? A 15 minute exercise session at a high intensity can be far more effective for weight loss than a 1 hour exercise session at a lower intensity. However it is important to ensure that high intensity training is appropriate for your body and goals through an exercise professional such as a personal trainer.

Exercise in the morning. Of course this is not suitable for everyone’s lifestyle, but there are three distinct advantages associated with exercising at the very beginning of the day:

1. You get the exercise over and done with
2. Work distractions do not interfere
3. The endorphins kick in early and assist your level of production throughout the remainder of the day

Leaving an exercise session until late in the day can often cause problems from such scenario’s like:

• Feeling tired at the end of the working day
• Being held back at work

Another alternative could be to exercise during your lunch break, so you break your work-day up and give yourself a mental break.

Exercise on the weekend. If you are really swamped with work on particular days during the working week, it may be wise to schedule these as physical recovery days. So you can continue to make positive progress over time, utilise the weekend to perform exercise sessions. Try not to think about exercise on the weekend as a “chore”, but rather a therapeutic practice to clear your mind and help you to unwind.

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