Making the decision to start exercising is always easy. You just make up your mind, say the words, and you’re done, right? Finding the time to exercise, however, is the hardest part of making such a commitment. Integrating a workout schedule into your daily life is never an easy task. Some people cannot give up all that time, their day is already packed as it is, and they simply don’t have the extra time to do squats or crunches like other people.

So, how do you find the extra time to start?

It’s quite simple: you make the extra time or manage your time better.

Here are a few tips to squeeze extra time so that you can get in your day’s workout:

Wake up earlier

This tip is obvious. Waking up earlier will definitely give you more time to fit in your morning exercise. Surely you can sacrifice 30 minutes of beauty sleep.

Thirty minutes is sometimes not sufficient for those with experience. They need more time to cover all the exercises that an extensive workout entails, and having realized this, they usually do one of the two things.

Wake up earlier to get more time to exercise or incorporate a HIIT (high-intensity interval training) workout into your workout regimen. An HIIT workout entails several exercises done in quick succession with very minimal rest time between each repetition. It’s an effective way to squeeze your workout into those 30 minutes. HIIT workouts are not only more effective, but they also save you time. As effective as HIIT can be, they must be chosen with great care, as the process is quite delicate. Consult a fitness expert before you construct your HIIT workout.

The extra thirty minutes that you’ve added to your day will give you that extra time that’ll help you stick to your regimen without distorting your schedule.

Multi-task. This is a rather unorthodox approach to working out, but this can be effective. Sticking to an exercise method like multi-tasking requires a great deal of flexibility. Multi-tasking is basically sneaking in a few minutes of exercise into your already tight schedule.

Instead of driving to work, you could run or cycle to work. That way you’ll be making the most out of your normally unproductive trip to work. The trip could be an effective way to trim down or hit that workout goal you set for yourself.

Multi-tasking is not limited to a trip to work. You could also workout while at your desk by getting a desk treadmill or a gym ball.

Spare time utilization

Our weekends are usually flooded with so many activities and chores that we never seem to get any time to exercise. We see it as the time to chill out and pay more attention to the family, or hang out with a boyfriend, or run some errands. Although your weekend might be equally as packed as your weekdays, you could still make the best use of the potential free time you could come across during this time. Saturday and Sunday mornings are generally free for the most part. It could be that time you decide to hit the gym or do some HIIT exercises.

The weekend could be a lot more than just extra time to catch up with all the extra work or chores, you could also go a couple of sets on your dumbbells if you have them or go for a run.

Do workout at home

Working out at home can save you tons of time by making exercise more fun and less stressful. We all know going to the gym can be time-consuming. The drive to the gym alone could cost you time than you have. And then when you add other time-consuming tasks like, changing in and out of your gym clothes and showering twice, two to three hours are gone for a single visit to the gym. It would be smarter to workout from home. I understand that the gym is better stocked with equipment and professionals, but if your goal is to shed weight, there is a lot of home equipment like pull-ups bars and jump ropes that can help you do just that.

Integrate exercise into your social life

Your social life is no doubt one part of your life that takes up a lot of your time. A dinner date, an afternoon luncheon, or other social activities could be made more productive. Activities like picnics and dates can be altered to fit into your newly adopted lifestyle. Instead of going for walks with a spouse, you could go for a run. Or a casual trip with the kids to the park could be changed to cycling in the park instead. A picnic could be changed into a hike or something fun.

Taking up exercising doesn’t have to be difficult. Exercising can perfectly fit into your life without disrupting it. Social events can be made more fun-filled and productive.