What to Do When You're Short On Time

It's a common problem, a side effect of daily life! If you work or have family at all, you're familiar with the sight of your workout window shrinking before your very eyes...

So what happens when you had a 1-hour workout planned, but you only have 45 minutes?

First, what's the purpose of the workout? Gaining speed? Burning calories? Raising your lactate threshold? Say the main set is 5 x 3 minutes of cardio work at a zone 3 (moderately hard) effort level, with 3 minutes of easy work in between. Then warm up just enough, and do that part; don't worry about finishing last last mile, or any extra drills.

--But what if you only have 15 minutes? It's especially perplexing when you realize that by the time you get to the gym or the pool, or change your clothes, or get your motivation going, you're almost out of time. Throw that "all-or-nothing" thinking out the window - "If I can't do the whole thing, it doesn't count." My philosophy is, Better to Do Something Than Nothing. It always counts, even if you just walked for 10 minutes. Every minute counts.

Another lesson learned from vast personal experience with time shortage: Remember to do your functional stretching before the workout, and sustained stretching afterwards. You're better off cutting 5 minutes off the main workout, but building strength and flexibility. Since I've been doing long-course triathlon, I've counted my "movement prep" time as part of the workout. Have I lost anything? No, if I train consistently, I continue to get faster and more efficient.

Ok, but what if you're training for an endurance event, like a half marathon or triathlon? Isn't it important to get all the miles in?

Well, sort of. First, I'm in the camp of coaches that believe in training by time over distance. Mileage can vary so much - with pace, wind, terrain. It's more important to estimate how long it will take you to complete the goal event, and use that as a base for endurance training. (Generally, to be comfortable doing a certain event, you need enough endurance for a little more than the goal distance. This formula varies with the sport - swim, bike, run, skate, ski, etc. training distances are different.)

Second, a fitness or training plan is an ideal scenario. Consistency is very important; but if you're a little off for a week, it's not a big deal. Don't punish yourself for it; just appreciate the rest and then pick it up again with the current day's plan. Trying to "make up" workout time is kind of like making up sleep: It can work within about a 24-hour time window, but if you get stressed out and backed up, then you start to defeat the purpose of gaining fitness! Also, if you're doing a high-intensity workout, going into overtime might bog you down for the next several workouts.

That said, if you had a 2-hour workout planned, but can only fit in 1.5 hours at once, but you could squeeze in another 30 minutes within the same day - of the same sport, or a cross-training activity - you still get the endurance gain.

So follow your plan, but don't sweat the small slips, and keep enjoying that post-workout high!