If You Only Have 5 Minutes A Day To Build Your Body, Do This.

How to build muscle amidst a busy parent’s chaotic schedule.

Thirty minutes to game time.

The clock races as I bark at my eight-year-old to find his mouthguard. I’m coaching his hockey team this morning and we have to be out the door in 5 minutes.

I have no time for the gym today so I grip the handles of my makeshift pull-up bar and haul my 90kg frame towards the ceiling.

It’s one of those portable contraptions you can hang anywhere and it’s lodged in my kitchen door frame. I do three reps.

I’m a solo dad with neurodivergent children and I run a coaching business. I don’t always have time to get to the gym — but I’m still in fantastic shape.

Here’s how I do it.

I’ve accepted my limitations.

By embracing my finite capacity, I’ve been able to weaponize those small windows of time available throughout the day.

The “in-between” moments when you’re transitioning between tasks, like waiting for your toast to pop, after brushing your teeth, or letting the shower heat up.

Into these gaps I insert a set of pull-ups or push-ups, which accumulate to a significant amount of volume over the course of the day.

My system isn’t haphazard. I use the Tiny Habits Method to make it easy and intentional.

Here’s how it works:

1. Anchor Moment: Identify an existing routine or event that will act as your prompt. For example, every time I walk through the kitchen door, I do a set of pull-ups.
2. Tiny Behavior: Keep the behavior small and manageable. Start with just two or three reps, making it so easy you can’t say no.
3. Celebration: Reinforce the habit by celebrating immediately after completing the behavior. A simple “Yes!” or fist pump does wonders for motivation.

Here are some more examples of this in action:

• Push-ups after flushing the toilet.
• Squats after turning on your kettle.
• Plank hold after brushing your teeth.
• Lunges after checking your email.
• Wall sit after washing your hands.

Using this system I can keep working out even when my day is a chaotic cocktail of kids sports, client calls, and school play recitals.

You might get caught up shuttling kids to and from school, completing household chores, or managing professional deadlines. Adulting is busy — but 5 minutes is plenty of time to stimulate your muscles and 1000% better than 0.

Start where you are and build from there.

Rather than accept defeat, adapt to your constraints.

I keep the streak alive.

The tiny set of pull-ups I did before Johnny’s game was the only exercise I got that day.

After hockey I got pulled all over the city babysitting four pre-pubescent girls on a Taylor Swift-themed birthday adventure.

But with that one set, I kept the streak alive. I reinforced my identity as someone who prioritizes health and wellbeing.

To stay in the game you have to keep showing up — day in, day out.

Habits are just like muscles: they get stronger the more reps you perform. Set the bar really low and make it easy to log the reps.

When most people are conceptualizing a new exercise habit, they design for their best day, but be honest here:

How often do you have your best day?

Don’t obsess over optimization. Create a minimum viable product you can repeat every day even when the world is crumbling around you.

For me, this means 3 pull-ups while my morning coffee is brewing. I can always do more than this if I’m feeling motivated, but I can’t do less.

The way I like to think about this is:

“What is the version of this habit I can get myself to do even with a throbbing tequila hangover?”

This becomes my baseline and enables me to keep voting for my identity as a strong, athletic person even on the worst of days.

Design for your worst day — not your best day.

I convert scrolling time into squatting time.

I used to have a bad habit of mindlessly scrolling whenever there is a lull in my day. To be honest I’m still working on it.

But I don’t want this to be something my kids emulate.

Now when I’m waiting for…

• Food to heat up in the microwave: Instead of checking my emails, I squeeze in a few squats.
• My car to fill up with gas: In place of scrolling my Instagram feed, I reach down and perform some hamstring stretches.
• The Netflix loading screen: Rather than check my Bumble account, I drop into a deep squat.
• The kids to finish a game of tag: Instead of opening my WhatsApp messages, I do a few pull-ups on the jungle gym (or I join in!)

I’ve turned these “dead” moments into opportunities to be active. It’s a small but powerful change, enabling me to kills three birds with one stone:

1. Helps me stay on track with my fitness goals.
2. Reduces my exposure to digital distraction.
3. Sets a healthy example for my children.

Not only am I demonstrating to my kids that it’s possible to integrate exercise habits into everyday life, I am simultaneously untangling a bad habit. Talk about value for money!

Next time you reach for your phone, ask yourself:

What is a better return on investment? Scrolling? Or squatting.

I use my body as my barbell.

Getting started is a lot easier when I don’t need any fancy equipment.

I prefer to train using my bodyweight instead of weights. There is something about the way calisthenics encourages strength, mobility, and grace that appeals to me more than the grunt of tossing around heavy pieces of steel.

But it is also:

• Highly Portable: Can be done anywhere, anytime.
• Requires No Equipment: Reduces barriers to entry and excuses.
• Adaptable to Busy Schedules: Fits into small time slots throughout the day.
• Encourages Consistency: Easy to integrate into daily routines.
• Beginner-Friendly: Accessible for all fitness levels.

For these reasons, it is the perfect training modality for squeezing in dollops of exercise at home.

I’m all for equipment if it gets you to take action. But if it’s just going to gather dust in the garage, what’s the point?

(Looking at you Aquarius 2000 exercise bike).

My pull-up bar is hanging in my kitchen. Having to duck underneath it to make breakfast is a daily reminder do that habit.

If you only have 5 minutes per day, do this:

• Accept your limitations and weaponize the small moments in your day.
• Create a minimum viable product to keep the streak alive.
• Convert bad habits into opportunities.
• Leverage your body for resistance.
• Populate your environment with cues.

You might not have time to get to the gym, but don’t let a busy schedule prevent you from progress.

In ten weeks, you can have either have:

A new identity as someone who prioritizes their physical wellbeing.

OR

Be in exactly the same spot you are now.

Start with 5 minutes a day to create the body you wish you had.

📌 The single most effective way to achieve your professional goals is to build a system of reinforcing habits.

• Enhance your productivity
• Break free from bad habits
• Create a system for sustainable success

Schedule a coaching consultation with me: hello@tonystevens.co.nz