Fitness Training for the Busy Bee
By Alissa Carpio

In today's world, balancing work, family, and a social life is hard enough. You're lucky if you have enough time to sleep, let alone work out! Well, that's about to change. The Busy Bee program is designed specifically for individuals just like you who live in a fast-paced world that doesn't sit still for anyone. By following the steps outlined in this program, you'll find that your energy will increase, you will have better quality sleep, stress will be reduced, and everyday tasks will seem simpler. In addition to this, you will lose fat and tone up your muscles!

The key to the Busy Bee training program is in everyday non-exercise activities and several short training sessions per day, whenever you can fit them into your schedule. Let's first address the non-exercise activities. Most people don't think that they can burn many calories by gardening, washing their car, or even driving, but it's true. By fitting these activities into your daily routine, you can exercise and complete house or yard work simultaneously, saving you precious time, which is something of which you can never get enough.

Begin by analyzing your lifestyle. Think of your typical day, and write down all of the non-exercise activities that you could incorporate into your life. For instance, instead of driving around the parking lot to get the closest spot, you could park at the end of the row and walk the extra distance. You can also take the stairs instead of the elevator/escalator. Instead of waiting for the kids to come home on the bus, walk to the school and walk them home. These activities will be different for everyone, so brainstorm to come up with 2-4 extra tasks to be performed each day.

Exercise is another component of this program. ACSM recommends 2-3 days of resistance training sessions per week, as well as 3-5 days of cardiovascular exercise per week. The typical, non-busy American might have no problem fitting in 45 consecutive minutes of exercise into their schedule 5-7 times per week, but you don't - you're a busy bee! Don't worry, there are ways around this. You simply have to combine your resistance and cardio workouts, and divide them up into shorter, more intense sessions several times a day. For instance, instead of doing 30 minutes of weight training in the morning and 30 minutes of cardio in the evening, you could do 2-3 15-minute circuit training sessions a day for a total of 30-45 minutes of exercise each day.

The best way to accomplish this is to split your resistance training into upper- and lower-body circuits. A circuit is a series of exercises that target different muscle groups, performed back-to-back with almost no rest. The circuit is typically repeated 2-3 times, based on and individual's fitness level. This type of training allows you to focus on toning each muscle in your body, and because the exercises are performed so quickly in succession, your heart rate remains elevated, which in turn burns fat! You can also take this type of training a step further by incorporating super circuits. Super circuits alternate a training circuit with a small bout of aerobic exercise (usually 2-3 minutes) at a moderate- to high-intensity. This really gets your heart pumping and is very challenging, yet effective.

The Busy Bee program is a 4-week program that begins with a light circuit training program, alternating upper- and lower- body exercises and training intensity levels, and gradually builds p to an intense super circuit program. This allows for maximum results and little boredom because your routine is constantly changing. Best of all, these exercises can be performed at home or at the gym, so what are you waiting for? Get out their and exercise. After all, you've got 15 minutes, right?