Busy Schedule? You Still Have Time to Exercise.

Summer is coming to an end and that means my days of relaxing, reading and watching TV are too. With school right around the corner and a new promotion at my job, my schedule is about to get that much busier. But in the midst of juggling work, classes PRSSA and two internships, it’s still important for me to stay healthy and dedicate time for exercising.

Now most of you are probably like me. Just have too much on your plate to spend two hours of your day at the gym. Well thankfully, you don’t always need a gym to stay in shape. With a little help from a nutritious diet and a mixture of these quick and challenging work-outs, you’ll keep yourself in shape and maybe even cross off your New Year’s resolution. All without the help of a personal trainer.

30-Minute Boot Camp (Health)

This intense circuit workout is great because it keeps your heart rate up, burns calories and helps tone your entire body and uses nothing but your own bodyweight. Squats, lunges, flutter kicks, push-ups and jumping jacks are only a few of the simple exercises you’ll find in this simple, yet difficult workout.

10-Minute Morning Yoga (Prevention)

Yoga is great for all times of the day, but it’s great to get it in before your morning shower. Yoga will help stretch out your body for the day and will help with your concentration throughout the day and continuous yoga practice will in fact help you with weight loss and prevention. If you like this workout and are looking for something more intense, I recommend Kathy Smith’s Yoga Sculpt. It’s about an hour long workout and has 3 different workouts of varying difficulty.

30-Minute Cardio (Fitness Blender)

A balanced work out regimen requires both muscle building and cardio exercises. This at-home workout requires no equipment and can be modified to be more or less challenging, depending on the person. Burning up to 280 calories in only 30 minutes, this workout should be in everyone’s repertoire.

26-Minute Pilates Core (Fitness Blender)

Pilates can be a great addition to any workout repertoire and is especially great for toning your core. Available in a variety of difficulty levels, you can burn up to 208 calories with this online instructional that will take you closer to a six pack with every workout. If you love pilates and want to take it a step further, try Kathy Smith’s Peel off the Pounds Pilates. 

And just in case your like me and love 90s inspired workouts, try step aerobics! My favorite workout is by Redbook and I think only available on VHS. Thankfully I have my mom’s copy! But if you enjoy it as much as me, you can search a variety of step aerobic routines on YouTube. You may not know it, but 30 minutes of step aerobics will help you burn over  200 calories!

So even if you think you don’t have enough time to get in shape. Think again. These are only a few of the workouts available for busy people on the go. Try them all out and decide on your favorite. Then search for new and more difficult workouts that continue to challenge you. You’ll be surprised that once you get into the habit of working out daily, how you’ll be able to find time to continue exercising.

What are your favorite workouts?

Industry Talk: Auto Racing

Pursuing a career in the world of sports is on the mind of most recent public relations graduates. Despite the increased demand for sports related jobs, there are simply way too many applicants for the number of positions available. One industry in particular that is rising in popularity is auto racing. Be it NASCAR, NHRA, Tudor United SportsCar Championship, Formula 1, or any other racing circuit, jobs in this industry are in high demand. So what can you do to stand out in the crowd and ensure you get one of these awesome and coveted jobs?

Recently, I attended the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, which is part of the Tudor Championship Series, at Watkins Glen International in New York. Unlike a normal race enthusiast who attended the race purely for entertainment, I was there to learn. I had credentials that got me into each and every area of the track, so that I could experience a behind the scenes view of what it takes to make it in the auto racing industry. As a guest of ZF Motorsports, a large sponsor of the series, I was able to interview Andy Lally, driver for Magnus Racing, and see the journalistic and pr side of working for a large sponsor company. One of my professors also works in the industry, as the pr guy for Alex Job Racing, so I was also fortunate enough to see what his job entails before, during and after the race. But I also had the opportunity of meeting the director of public relations for Kansas Speedway and had the chance to ask her some questions regarding the industry.

Here are the tips I took away that will hopefully help me land a job in auto racing upon graduation.

Just Do It

Since I have much more time on my hands during the summer, I decided to start working out and eating healthy again. I can honestly say these first couple of days have been doozies, as my body isn’t quite used to it yet. But all the more reason to keep going, so my legs won’t feel like jello every time I do a lunge or a squat.

Now obviously it’s somewhat difficult to just jump right into a workout and diet plan without some help or research first, so I’ve been following the blog/website Greatist lately, which gives amazing tips on both health and fitness. Their posts range from simple meal and snack plans, to different types of exercises you should include in your workouts to tips for relieving stress and getting a good nights sleep. It’s really just a great place to get inspiration and motivation to start exercising and living a healthy lifestyle. I definitely recommend checking it out.

And if you’re like me (picking up from where I left off in March), push through the pain. Stopping will only make it worse. And if you need a little motivation, read some of the posts on Greatist. They’re definitely worth it!

Just Keep Swimming

“Just keep swimming”- Finding Nemo

Believe it or not, this quote actually has nothing to do with swimming. We need to remember that no matter what life throws at us, we just need to keep on swimming. Keep on doing what we do best. Keep on trying our best. If we quit, what good would that do for us?