This treadmill routine for the busy girl uses habit stacking for big physical and mental benefits

Let’s face it everyone is busy. We all have emails to answer, texts to answer, Netflix shows to catch up on, and step goals to hit. We often wonder how on earth we can achieve our personal, career and fitness goals. I believe we can do anything with a little bit of habit alignment, which inspired my busy treadmill girlfriend. As a NASM Certified Personal Trainer, I’m not only a fan of implementing stacking habits into my daily routine, but I depend I get down to work. Creating habits is an easy way to get more done by multitasking, such as wearing a face mask while working at home or taking a walk outside while meditating. During my busiest days when I don’t want my fitness to fall by the wayside, I also have a habit of stacking my workouts and to-do list. Enter: my busy girlfriend on the treadmill.

Busy Girl Treadmill Routine

You might think you have to dedicate time exclusively to exercise, which is why it’s probably the first thing you should go to on your busiest days. But to reap the health benefits, you don’t have to run, run or even jog, you don’t even have to stop working out. On my busiest days, I follow a specific treadmill routine that provides incredible health benefits while still taking calls or answering emails.

Low Intensity Steady State Cardio (LISS) is sustained low intensity cardio training; you move without getting out of breath, which means it’s just the right kind of exercise to do while you’re in a meeting, answering email on the phone, or catching up on the latest season Selling Sunset (because that might be on your to-do list too). The perfect recipe I’ve found that provides a high-quality workout and still allows you to multitask is to set the treadmill at 3.0 mph at a 3.5 incline and walk for at least 30 minutes (the American Heart Association recommends at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise three to five days a week). Feel free to adjust whatever works best for you, but I’ve found that 3.0 mph is still safe for walking while looking at my phone or computer, and the 3.5 incline is enough to work the glutes a bit (more on that below) without leaving me breathless that I couldn’t talk on the phone or go on a date.

Use it

I repeat: you don’t have to do high-intensity cardio or interval training to get major health benefits. According to Daily Health, LISS cardio can help improve muscle strength, heart health, mental health, cognitive function, and sleep. One 2015 study compared the effects of a high-intensity interval-style training regimen with the effects of a steady-state exercise regimen and found that both produced similar aerobic and anaerobic benefits. In other words, yes, walking is an incredibly effective workout. An incline of 3.5 offers more benefits: walking on an incline targets muscles like the quadriceps, hamstrings and calf muscles. You’ll also engage your core for balance and stability. Over time, this can lead to improved muscle tone and endurance, improving your overall fitness.

But since this is a treadmill routine for a busy girl, you should know that moving while you’re on a call or doing work instead of sitting at your desk can also make a big difference in the quality of your work (and help you get more done in less time ). Research shows that exercise can increase creativity and focus. Movement can optimize your brain to improve attention and motivation, and it can also encourage nerve cells to bind together, which is the cellular basis for recording new information, meaning you may retain information better and learn new things more easily with exercise (remember yes if you are studying for exams!). This makes my busy girl treadmill routine not only healthy, but productive. Finally, exercise can also reduce stress, which you probably need the most, especially during your busiest days.

So the next time you’re tempted to skip a workout when your schedule is full and your to-do list is long, bring your phone (and a full inbox) to the gym or use a treadmill under your desk to get into the habit. with work.