By David Lindsay, High Performance Coach, Keynote Speaker and Former Athlete, www.davidlindsay.com.au

Now is a great time to start getting moving more. As we progress into the warmer months, and longer daytime lets take advantage of our great country. Over this edition and next month’s edition we are going to give you short sharp ways to get active leading into Summer.

On to the topic of this month’s article “I don’t have the time or energy to train” as you can imagine I get this excuse multiple times a week from people that are in both high powered jobs all the way through to the stay at home parents. For the sake of this article I will stick to the busy professionals. I understand you have a lot on your plate and your days may be long and stressful and you feel your energy fading towards the end of the day, and this is without having a training session on top of everything else.

As I think I have mentioned before energy is one of the rare things that the more you use, the more you get. This is unlike money, food or just about anything else where the more you use the less you have. This does come with a side note though. It will take a few weeks of being uncomfortable and feeling tired, but you didn’t get to where you are by taking the easy option. This is for long term gains in energy and therefore long term gains in performance at work. I will share a few benefits before I give you a few simple exercise programs that can be done just about anywhere, and given time you will feel and look better which can only have a positive impact on your performance.

When it comes to the time factor I have basically taken this completely out of the equation as these sessions can be done at home and can be done in 20-30 minutes, no equipment or gym necessary.

First and foremost if you haven’t exercised in a while, or haven’t been to the doctor for a check-up, please go and get a physical done. You won’t be helping yourself or your business if you aren’t healthy and mobile, and if there are any underlying issues this is the perfect time to get everything in order.

With all of these sessions it is up to you how far you can push yourself. Particularly if you haven’t done anything in quite a while I suggest you start off slowly and gradually build. Even if you feel you can go fast, or do more reps please hold back. I have seen it all too often. People come to the gym for the first time in a while and they load up the plates and rep it out. They feel good and after the session they are excited how well they did and how good they feel, only for me to not see them for a week or two, if ever. When I get in contact with these people they all say very similar things. “I woke up like I was hit by a bus” “I couldn’t walk properly for days” “My body is killing me, I can barely move”.

So please don’t be those people. If you haven’t trained for a while ease into it

This session is going to be simple. It will be an entire body session and will write a brief description of each exercise here, so I will just have the names of each exercise in the program.

This program is to be done as a circuit that is where you go through every exercise one after the other, before having a small rest, then completing 2, 3, or 4 laps

Do each exercise for:

Advanced: 1 minute with no rest between exercises

Intermediate: 45 seconds with 15-30 seconds between exercises

Beginner: 30 seconds on with 30-60 seconds rest

Chair Squats: Here we have the chair behind you so if you can’t get back up or lose balance you will end up sitting in the chair. It is also to use as a guideline so your butt touches the seat each time. Stand with feet slightly wider than shoulder width apart and for balance purposes have your arms straight out in front with your palms facing down. The start of the movement is to stick your bum out the back and start to bend your knees, then control your decent till you lightly touch the chair with your bum, then return in a controlled manner to the starting position.

Common mistakes: Having your knees no track correctly. This occurs mostly with the first movement when moving from sitting to standing. To fix this be aware of where your knees are pointing and as a good rule they should be pointing the same direction as your toes.

Heels lifting off the ground. This may be due to poor ankle mobility or your hips moving forward instead of breaking back at the initial stage of the decent.

Bending your torso too far forward. This comes down to confidence in the movement and your balance

Push Ups: Start off with your hands under your shoulders, your body in a straight line from your shoulders to your knees or toes (Whatever is on the ground).

As you lower your chest to the ground get your elbows coming roughly 45 degrees back (creating an arrow head). If you flair your elbows out you will put extra strain on your shoulders.

From the bottom point raise your body back to the starting position and squeeze your chest

Common Mistakes: The main mistakes with push ups are dropping or raising of the hips. Try to keep a straight line from your shoulders, through your hips, to your knees or toes (whatever is on the ground)

Crunches: Lay down on your back with your knees bent and soles of your feet flat on the ground. Start with your hands resting on your thighs. Raise your chest and head off the ground to get your wrist to your knees (or fingers to start off with). Slowly lower yourself back to the starting position

Back Extensions: Lay belly down with your legs out straight. Place your hands under your chin and elbows flared out. Raise your chest off the ground and keep your hands connected to your chin. (Your feet may lift off the ground). Return to the starting position.

Remember to breath throughout the session, as most people forget to breathe particularly when they are starting something new. This is an important exercise as a lot of people suffer from bad lower backs. If you feel discomfort be aware that I am not sure of your starting underlying issues, so see a doctor before you get started.

If you are feeling super energetic, and are training outside, between your sets do a run that will take between 30-60 seconds to complete at a fast pace

That completes 1 round and should take you around 4-6 minutes per round. Now do anywhere from 3-6 sets. Remember as we are going into the warmer seasons be sure to have plenty of water available for you.