How I keep fit, while having little time.

Feeling the fat slowly build up around your belly can be an annoying thing. To make matters worse, you don't even have the time to work out and keep fit. Though I'm by no means a certified fitness instructor. I did practice martial arts in my younger years and occasionally taught as well. To further enhance my training, I signed up at my local gym and joined various fitness classes. You could say I developed these exercises, based on my personal observations.

Most exercises listed here are based on cardio exercises, since they are more effective at burning fat in a small amount of time.

The skip rope is a great all round exercise. You not only improve your conditioning, you also train your arms and legs as well. In addition, the jarring caused by jumping up and down actually will make your bones harder. The great thing about it is, you just start doing it. No need for any stretching or warm up routines, since it is a warm up routine in itself.

Using a timer, I skip rope for 3 minutes then rest for one minute. I usually walk around or do some light stretching. After one minute is over, I skip rope for another 3 minutes. This may not sound like much, but you burn a lot within that short time. It's a great warm up at the beginning of your main workout, or a great "starter" if you haven't worked out in a while.

If I still got energy left in me, I finish up with some crunches or push ups or skip rope for another 3 minutes.

I wouldn't say my cardio is up there, but when it comes to jogging, the distance you run is not as important as the fact that you are running in the first place. Even if your max is a couple of hundred feet, if you start sweating that means you are burning fat and excess water. Of course like anything else, if you keep it up your max distance will become longer and longer.

I usually start out with a light jog, then increase my speed until I'm out of breath, which usually happens after 5 minutes. Then I walk until I recover, then jog on my way back home. If I'm up to it, I sprint during the last 40 meters or so.

15 minutes may not sound like much, but if you jog 15 minutes let's say 3 times a week, you will burn a significant amount of calories.

Incase you might not know, cardio kickboxing has nothing to do with actual kickboxing. So don't worry about getting your head kicked in. All it has in common are the movement patterns (basically shadow boxing), which are a great way to strengthen your body and improve your overall health.

If you are a member of a gym, chances are they offer such classes. They are a great and fun way to burn calories. Classes are also a great way to get to know new people. But, since this article is about having no time, there are a lot of nice videos on youtube that may help. I highly recommend the videos of BeFit and Fitnessblender. They have great cardio boxing videos (or any kind of fitness related videos). Their videos can be as short as around 5 minutes to 1 whole hour.

If I have enough time and energy left, I add some additional exercises to the ones mentioned above. Such as:

1. Push ups. Any kind of variations, like Fingertip Push ups or Elevated Push ups.
2. Crunches or Sit ups.
3. Some weight training.
4. Or all of the above, but only if I have time.

I do as many repetitions until I can't go any further, then I try to add one more each week. There are also a lot of videos online, that demonstrate how to do these exercises correctly.

All in all, the entire session should only take around 20 minutes, including any of the routines mentioned earlier.

Using your imagination to help motivate you can actually be fun. Do you zombie movies? Imagine you are being chased by a bunch of hungry zombies while jogging. Imagine you are fighting evil bad guys while doing your cardio kickbox workout. Or imagine you get 1 $ for each jump while using the skip rope. The possibilities are endless. Plus, I noticed imagining stuff adds that little extra something to my workouts.

I personally try to do any of these routines at least 3 times a week. Of course the more you workout the better. I guess it's different from person to person, so you got to find what's best. Even if it's just once a week, it still is better than not trying to keep fit at all.

Needless to say, with physical exercise come certain risks (such as injuries). I am not responsible for the dangers, that come with the exercise routines, or anything else mentioned on this hub. If you want to try out my suggestions, you do so at your own risk.

But you could minimize the dangers by doing the following:

1. If you are tired or can't go any further. Stop immediatley and rest, you are already stronger/better than when you first started your work out anyway.
2. Stretch before you begin. Look for videos for examples
3. Be careful of your surroundings while you exercise.
4. Consult a doctor or professional to find out if you are ready for physical exercise.