3 fitness cheats for when life gets busy

A healthy lifestyle doesn’t come for free. To reach your fitness goals, you have to put in the hard work and dedication and be consistent with your healthy eating and exercise.

But I know what it’s like. You’re on a roll, with a good routine in place, and then BAM! Everything catches up with you and you can't find the time to clean the house, let alone do your regular hour-long workout! I know the feeling very well, especially now I’ve got two little ones in the mix!

In some cases you will need to take a break and give yourself a rest day or two, and get back into your routine later in the week. But when time seems to be short more than often, I have 3 fitness shortcuts you can try for when life gets busy.

1. Sneak in more cardio

Cardio can be that extra bit of exercise that can make all the difference. During your week, try to include as much walking as possible, so walking to work or to lunch instead of driving, using the stairs instead of the elevator, or walking while you talk on the phone can all add up and make a difference to your fitness. Try a brisk walk to keep that heart rate up and start the calories burning.

2. Just give it 20

Throwing aside the workout because you can't find time for the whole thing today? Just break it down to 20 minutes – it's much, MUCH better than nothing. And you can find 20 minutes anywhere: that's a Netflix episode, a slightly earlier alarm, a faster dinner instead of the full roast you had planned. You might be surprised by how effective a shorter workout can be – give this 16-minute Body Burner a shot to see what I mean!

3. Super Sets

A superset is a workout targeting one muscle group at a time, performing multiple exercises for that muscle group with no rest in between. For example, for your legs, I would do a set of deadlifts, then lunges, followed by squats right after each other, and then repeat the whole round a few times. Supersets are great for maximising results in a short amount of time, keeping intensity levels high and burning more calories.

Next time you feel like giving up cause you haven't got the time, remember these three shortcuts to fitness – they will help keep you on track when life gets busy.