There is no doubt that lack of time plays a critical role in whether or not you will ‘fit in‘ your workout or not. In today’s society most of us seem to be running around with our heads cut off. Busy is often an understatement. And once again, many fat loss marketers will play off of this and hit on all those emotions that come with having a busy lifestyle. How can anyone possibly have time to fit in a 30 minute jog into their day?

In my humble opinion, in an effort to sell their programs they are reaffirming your self limiting belief that you have no time to workout. You certainly won’t get that from me. Angie and I know what it takes to get 6 pack abs and it’s not just a few minutes a day three times per week. Even these other fat loss experts know that, they just hide it in their ‘fine print’.

As I mentioned in HIIT vs Long Duration Cardio Part 1, most of these quick workout programs tell you to do 30 minutes of activity on your off days. Why don’t they just tell you that up front?

So lets face it. It takes effort, intensity, honesty, and time to get a nice set of 6 pack abs. On our journey to 6 pack abs Angie and I started off weight training, HIIT training, and long duration training for a total of 3 hours per week. The last 6 weeks we cranked it up to 5 1/2 hours per week.

It’s Not About The Time… It’s About Your Priorities

There are 168 hours in the week. Don’t tell me that you don’t have 3 hours to dedicate to your health and fitness. And don’t tell me that increasing it to 5 1/2 hours per week for 6 weeks would take away from the things that matter most to you in life.

That’s a bunch of crap. If watching Gray’s Anatomy, Oprah, or whatever reality show is on every night matters more to you then your health, then why the heck are you even trying to get into better shape in the first place?

I’m going to be blunt and honest here. I’ve heard people say that they refuse to sacrifice time with the kids in order to get in some extra cardio. I have 2 young children myself, but I realize that the time I spend taking care of my health means that my children will have more time to spend with me because I will live a longer more vibrant life.

The time that I do spend with my kids will be true quality time because I will be giving them the very best ‘me’ that I could possibly give them. For example, yesterday I spent 45 minutes chasing my 7 year old son, 5 year old daughter, and my 3 young nieces and nephew around the yard with squirt guns. We wrestled, we pretended we were characters in Kung-fu Panda, and we had a non stop good time.

If I did not place my health as a priority, I would have been winded after 5 minutes at the pace we were going at. My kids would not have had the nearly endless pleasure of soaking dad. If I didn’t place my health as a priority I would be robbing my children of the father that they deserve.

Hey, I’ve done that before. When I was 35 pounds heavier and thinking that spending more time in the office to make more money for them, coming home stressed out and depressed, I was non existent as a father. That sucked.

I would come home and vegetate in front of the television because I needed that break from reality. And what would I do? Eat! I would skip my workouts to spend what little time that I had with my family. My body was there, but my mind wasn’t. The real ‘me’ was not present. I had no energy, no focus, and no drive to do anything.

Does that sound familiar to you at all? Do you watch television to escape from reality? How much television do you watch? The average American watches over 4 1/2 hours of television per day.

I thought we were too busy? Ya, we are… too busy watching the boob tube! So what you are telling me is that you can’t ‘fit in’ 5 1/2 hours of exercise per week at the extreme end of the spectrum, yet you can watch nearly that much television in one day.

Now many of the fat loss professionals will allow you to use the ‘not enough time’ excuse when it comes to working out, but I 100% refuse to. If you want to live in optimal health and live the life that you deserve in the body that you deserve, you will make the time. You will do whatever it takes. And no you won’t sacrifice your time with your children. You will sacrifice the useless time that you spend doing useless things.

The moment I placed my health as my #1 priority, everything else fell into place. I quit watching television cold turkey. And let me tell you, there were many shows that I was completely addicted to. Surprisingly, this was much easier than I had thought. I couldn’t believe how much more time and freedom that I had in my day. I didn’t feel like I was missing out on anything. In fact I began to think of everything that I was missing out on because I watched so much television. Now we just rent movies once or twice each week.

I also told my friends and family to stop sending me useless junk mail. It’s amazing how much time we waste sifting through the crap in our inbox. If you are going to send me something you better make it useful to me.

Then there’s the parents that have their kids in every sport and after school program imaginable. From the moment they get home until the moment these poor kids crash at 11pm, it’s non stop. Everyone is stressed out. This definitely contributes to weight gain. Not to mention that there’s no time to make dinner so you stop off at a fast food joint instead.

There’s something wrong with that picture if you ask me. Yet this is what millions of people are doing every day and somehow they think it’s ok.

I also hear the excuse that it takes too much time to prepare healthy meals. Angie and I certainly don’t spend much time preparing meals. Nearly every time we make a meal we are sure to make enough to last at least 3 meals. And the meals that we do make on their own usually only take 3 minutes to prepare. Healthy eating can be done quickly.

Back to the cardio. I believe that the best way to burn fat and stick to a fat loss program is to incorporate both HIIT and long duration cardio training. It’s time for you to get yourself organized and make your health a priority. Schedule at least 30 minutes of long duration cardio three times per week, and schedule three 15 minute HIIT sessions per week in addition to your quick weight training sessions.

Long duration cardio does not always mean jogging. I can’t stand jogging any more, and I can’t do it any more since my knee surgery 5 years ago. I prefer riding the bike and I love it. There are so many different things that you can do and I encourage you to mix it up and find the ones that you love.

You’ve got to realize that there is time in your day for fitness. I’ve trained some ridiculously busy men and women over the years. Most of them have been self employed with young children. If anyone could have used time as an excuse, it was them. But I refused to accept that limiting belief from them and they soon refused to accept that limiting belief themselves. Now they are living in fantastic health and are more productive than ever in their business and family life.

No matter what you value in life, health should be your #1 priority. Because without it, you will not be able to do the things that you value in life. It’s time to wake up and give our heads a shake. It’s time to be honest with ourselves. Do you really not have enough time to exercise? Or is that just another excuse.

Long duration cardio is effective for fat loss. It’s worked for me all my life. It’s worked for all my clients. It’s been incredibly effective for countless people out there. But it’s not the only solution and I would never suggest that.

I’m just trying to be the voice of reason here. HIIT rocks and so does long duration cardio. Together along with an intense weight training program, you will become UNSTOPPABLE!

What do you think? Do you still believe that you don’t have enough time for fitness? What do you do to make more time in your day for fitness? I want to hear from you!

You deserve to live in a vibrant and healthy body. It’s waiting for you!

Scott Tousignant