4 Fitness Habits It's OK to Skip When You're Busy

One trainer shares what you can cut from your workout…every now and then.


In an ideal world, you'd have unlimited time to complete your workouts.  But in the real world, you're lucky if you get in 20 minutes before you have to dart to accomplish the next thing on your to-do list.  

Luckily, that doesn't mean your fitness results have to suffer. We polled personal trainer Mike Donavanik, C.S.C.S., a certified personal trainer, on what moves it's OK to skip when you're forced to cut your workout short. That's not to say that you should remove them from your routine altogether—but if you miss a day here or there, we won't tell.

Your Ab Workout
It's nothing against core work, but when you're strapped for time, you probably have bigger priorities to hit, he says. Think: strength and cardio. Plus, you should be engaging your core during every single exercise you perform. 

The Treadmill
No time for strength and cardio? Cut the straight cardio and get your heart rate up with high-intensity strength-training circuits, suggests Donavanik. You'll build strength and improve your cardiovascular fitness—not to mention burn more calories in less time.

Upper Body Moves
Rep for rep, upper-body exercises generally recruit fewer muscle fibers than do lower-body ones, explains Donavanik. So if you're performing four strength exercises rather than your usual six, cutting the upper-body ones will keep your calorie burn and strength from taking a nosedive.

The Post-Workout Stretch
This one might be more of a "delay" than a full-out "skip." "Stretching is more complex than just 'general stretching' after a workout and needs more than the five minutes people set aside for it after a workout," says Donavanik. "So if you usually do a quick stretch after a workout, save your time. Get to where you need to be and really work on your flexibility later when you have more time to devote to it."

More from Women's Health:
5 Rules Every Fitness Rookie Needs to Know
The Fat-Blasting Five-Minute Circuit
5 Major Stretching Mistakes—and How to Fix Them

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