I hate this excuse. And yes, I call it an excuse.

We all have the same 24 hours in the day, and while some of us have those 24 hours more jam packed than others, I promise you that we can all find 10-15 minutes to move our bodies at least 3 times a week.

It doesn’t sound like much of a commitment when I put it that way, does it? It’s half of a TV episode and certainly far less time than most of us spend scrolling through social media (#guiltyascharged)

I talked about this a little in my Instagram Stories over the past couple of months as summer tends to be the busiest time of year and when our workouts tend to take a backseat, but I’m so passionate about dispelling the notion that you have to workout for 60 minutes, 5 times a week in a gym, that I decided I needed to spread the word via this little blog, too.

Here’s the deal:

• You do NOT need to workout for 60+ minutes for it to be considered a “workout”.
• You do NOT need to go to the gym for it to be considered a “workout”.
• You do NOT need to workout 5-6 times a week to be considered “in shape” and someone who works out.

No. Just no.

Doesn’t that sound so daunting? And time consuming? And something that’s ultimately not sustainable?

Here’s the thing – what if I told you that you didn’t need to do all that? What if I told you that you could start with just two workouts a week that are less than 20 minutes and don’t even require you to leave your house? 

That sounds pretty nice, right?

I had this conversation with one of my besties earlier this summer. She had joined my free, LIVE streamed workouts and was motivated to do more.We talked a bit about the time thing and I told her exactly what I told you: “Why don’t you start with two days of 15-20 minute workouts and we will go from there. If you have weeks where you think you can fit in another workout, go for it. If you think you can fit in a walk or bike ride, do it. Once that becomes “easy” and consistent, we can discuss adding in another day.” 

The day after she did another workout, she texted me a sweaty selfie saying “sweaty and red, but done! It was hard, but I liked it. I like how short these are. I can commit to 30 minutes.”

PROUD FRIEND/INSTRUCTOR MOMENT!!!! Her response is 100% my goal when I’m trying to show people how un-complicated fitness should be. 30 minutes, if you’re doing the right things that are HARD and challenge you, is plenty of time to workout. Heck, the right 15-20 minute workouts are also all you need some days (which is pretty much all I do these days!).

And the thing is, we ALL have time for that. I don’t care if you work multiple jobs, have multiple kids, have long days at the office, have laundry or cleaning to do. If you want to get movement in… if it’s important to you… you can FIND time to fit that in. We are only too busy for the things that are not important to us. And I’ll be honest, some days are SUPER busy for me and when I look at what I can shift around to make more time, it’s the workout I choose to skip. Other days, it might be laundry or meal prep.

It’s a choice for us to choose how we spend the 24 hours in hour day, so I encourage to to think about how you’re spending yours. Are you spending time doing things that drain you mentally or physically without adding any benefit? Do you spend too much time on social media or watching tv? do you spend too much time in the office behind your computer? Taking 20 minutes out of any of those things is not going to be that much time in the long run, but the feeling of getting in SOME movement is pretty awesome. And, like I always say, every little bit DOES count!

If you’re looking for help with this and you want to learn how to make it a sustainable thing (rather than a 2 week, all out crazy life change that ends up being exhausting and too much work), hit me up. I would LOVE to help you learn how you can integrate movement into your life in a way that is enjoyable and not time consuming.