You work full-time, you sit in traffic daily, you are tired, and yet you still need to find time to workout with this busy schedule.

How do you do that?

Find a gym that’s convenient, fits your style, that fits seamlessly into your daily routine.

In this post you’ll learn why choosing a gym with a convenient location is important to achieving your health goals. And why your gym location is more important than you think to helping you find time to workout with a busy schedule. 

For busy full-timers, creating efficient routines that are convenient to daily life are crucial for long term success and consistency.  You want to lose weight, get in shape, and finally achieve your fitness goals, right?  

There might be one thing standing in your way…

Your gym. 

Maybe you love your gym. But you might not realize how important location or convenience is to sustaining habits. If you’re anything like me, something as seemingly small, like traffic, can be enough of a deterrent to make you skip the gym. 

If you want to know how to workout with a busy schedule, there’s a lot to consider. But one thing needs to be thought through for sure, and that is, that you can easily and frequently get to your gym or studio.  

How to workout with a busy schedule? Make your gym location convenient for you.

Related: 21 Reasons a Morning Workout is Right for You

Use the 4 mile rule

When your gym is less than 4 miles away from home, it can make or break your decision to go.  An interesting study from Dstillery, a data science and marketing firm, recently did a study showing how far people were willing to travel to workout.  On average 4 miles was the standard, Saturdays being the highest at 4.3 miles, Monday and Tuesday were the lowest at 3.7 miles traveled.  

Another factor in this study showed that people are willing to travel farther for a higher priced gyms. I wholeheartedly agree.  I truly believe you get what you pay for. A group fitness class will push you more than going solo to a big box gym. It’s something to consider… But that’s a whole other topic.

When you choose the best style of gym for yourself and find a convenient location for your daily routine, a few things happen: 

A gym location that works with your commute

You are less likely to skip the gym if it’s on the way to work, on the commute home, or close enough to home to get there early in the morning. When you’re gym is out of the way, especially more than 4 miles, you might be deterred by traffic or you could forget altogether (out of sight, out of mind). 

You’ll save money

When you choose a location close to home, you save money on your commute.  You also save on gas, wear on your vehicle, bus fares, subway fares, rideshare fares, you name it.  If you choose a location too far away, the expense of just getting there can be a deterrent. You’ll end up spending more money than you anticipated.  

You’ll save time

The time it takes to travel to/from the gym can be a big motivator (or demotivator) if you want to build momentum with your gym attendance.  You’ll save yourself quite a bit of time each day just getting there if you choose convenience for your schedule.   

Choose a gym less than 4 miles from your home or work, whatever works best for you, which will depend on if you are an AM or PM exerciser.  In the morning, you might choose closer to home if you want to get ready for work at home. In the evening, you might choose closer to work. Just bring your gym clothes, and hit the gym on your way home.

Since I chose a gym closer to home, I love going to the gym before work.  (Related: How I Switched to an Early Morning Workout Routine.). Traffic is almost non-existent.  I save a ton of time traveling to and from my gym on a road that would normally be super busy. 

If I were to go after work (the gym is probably 10 miles from my work), I would spend up to an hour just getting to the gym (heck no), struggle to find parking, and potentially have to pay for parking.  All of that just isn’t worth it. My 4 mile ride in the morning takes about 10 minutes. That convenience factor plays a big part in my consistency.

You’ll create ease of doing business

At work I use the term “Ease of doing business” which shapes decisions to make it easier for others to buy our products or services.  The same concept can be applied to a lot of things, including your choice of gym. Location is a major factor in ease of doing business and gyms know this.  Location is highly important for a gym to be successful.  

On the consumer side (you), think about how location can affect ease of doing business.  For example think about parking. Do you have to pay for parking? Are there meters? Even if they have parking, are spots readily available when you intend to go?  

How about showers and lockers? If you are heading to work after the gym, you’ll need a place with these amenities.

Summary

If you don’t have a gym close to home or work, the likelihood of you working out with a busy schedule dramatically drops off over time. If your goal is to create a workout habit, it’s important to remove any barriers that could deter you from going.  

Bottom line, think about your weekly schedule first, the time of day you want to exercise, a gym or studio that fits your style and schedule, ensure it’s easy to do business with them, and convenient for your lifestyle.