Larry Weltman; Larry Weltman

I’ll begin by saying that I love my work. I work as a Customer Service Representative at AccessEasyFunds, a commission advance company for Canadian real estate agents, and it’s been one of the most rewarding positions I’ve had so far in my career. But, it does keep me busy, and along with my family responsibilities, I sometimes have precious little time left for exercising and keeping in shape.

However, despite my busy schedule, I’ve made it a point for many years now to stay fit and exercise on a regular basis. For all those who, like me, balance work and family, I’d like to give you some brief thoughts on how I personally go about staying fit even with the busiest of schedules.

I make sure to set aside time in my schedule for exercising and working out.

This piece of advice may seem pretty obvious, but it’s amazing how many people do not set aside a specific time in their daily schedules for exercising and working out. They have it in their heads that they’ll exercise “some time” after work or “maybe” tomorrow at lunch. But, the problem with this type of planning is that it feels tentative and uncertain.

So, in order to give myself a better chance for working out on a regular basis, I decide on specific and concrete times in which I’ll exercise and include these times in my daily calendar. I know my ability to stay fit even with the busiest of schedules improves dramatically by doing this; and I’m sure your ability will too.

In addition, I try to maintain a regular and consistent workout schedule.

I’ve found that a major step in being able to stay fit with a packed schedule is finding a way to workout on a regular and consistent basis. And one thing that helps me do that is to try to standardize the timing of my exercise sessions as much as possible. That means that on the weeks that I workout every day, I schedule my sessions for the same time during the day. By the same token, if I workout just twice a week, then I’ll schedule my workout times for the same days during the week and, ideally, the same times during the day. All to say, consistency is key.

When I travel, I try to stay at a hotel that has a gym, or at least a pool.

The company that I work for has clients in almost all provinces across Canada. Therefore, I’m frequently traveling from one part of the country to another.

Now part of the key to staying fit when having a busy schedule is making it easy and convenient to workout. And when you’re at home, you may have everything planned out – you know where your gym is, you know what time you workout, you know how long to workout for.

But, all that can change once you go on the road for business. Everything as far as your normal routine becomes unfamiliar and uncertain. This means that it can become exponentially more difficult to maintain an exercise schedule.

So, one way that I remedy this potential problem is to make sure that, when I go on the road for business, I book a hotel that also has a gym. That way the gym is right there and there really is no excuse for me to skip out on exercising.

I know when and where to set my limits.

Here’s the thing – many of us who have very busy schedules also share other things in common. We’re very driven people. We have a strong work ethic. And sometimes we put things like our health on the back burner in order to make that final deadline or make that last sale. I know I’ve done that once or twice before. But, the reality is that in order to stay fit and healthy, we have to learn to set boundaries and set limits when it comes to our work. Otherwise, all the ambition that we have for maintaining a consistent exercise schedule will gradually crumble away, and that will definitely hurt not only our health, but our productivity at work.

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are solely those of the author and for general information. The author rakes no responsibility for any damages of any kind incurred or suffered as a result of the use or reliance on his views expressed in this article. Readers should consult with a professional fitness trainer and medical adviser before starting or changing any fitness program .