It’s that magical time of year when you’ve got motivation by the bucket load. If you’re anything like most of the population you’ve probably made a New Year’s resolution about getting fit and you’re committed to keeping it. However there’s often one major problem; your regular schedule doesn’t just empty itself simply because you’d like to do more exercise. With our increasingly busy lives it’s important to know how to use time efficiently, so here are some great tips from Runner’s World to help you improve your fitness in only 20 minutes.

Build strength
Find a nearby hill. After a five-minute jog, run up the incline. At the top, walk for 30 to 60 seconds, then run back down. Walk for one to two minutes. Repeat the sequence two to three times. Do the workout once a week, adding an additional one to two repeats.

Treadmill or pavement - which is better?

Build speed
Go to a local track or trail with distance markers. Run for five minutes. Run at an easy pace for half a lap (or 200 metres). Note how long it took to run the half-lap. Walk the remainder of the lap. Continue walking for two minutes. Repeat the sequence two to four times, each time aiming to complete the run portion of the lap one to two seconds faster. Do this once a week, adding segments as you feel comfortable.

Improve your running with the Tempo Run workout

Build endurance
Stringing together several 20-minute runs across a single day can boost your stamina. Identify a weekend day that’s destined for a lot of “hurry up and wait.” Run for 20 minutes at a pace that’s one minute per kilometre slower than your regular pace. Return home, spend the next 30 to 90 minutes doing work around the house, then head out for another run. Every seven to 14 days, do up to three of these segments.

This guy knows all about endurance! He ran 52 marathons in 52 weeks....

Build whole-body fitness
Make up a home-gym circuit: Walk (or run) the stairs for one minute, do push-ups for 15 seconds, walk for one minute, do crunches for 30 seconds, walk for one minute, lift hand weights for 30 seconds, then walk for one minute. Repeat as time allows.

Which sport gets you fittest? Find out here.

Find more great articles such as this in the January edition of Runner's World - the world's leading running magazine for the runner who wants to achieve their personal health, fitness and performance goals.