Working from home has provided many people more time and flexibility to exercise. They can do crunches in their living room between Zoom calls or take conference calls while walking around the block.

Employees transitioning to new work schedules might struggle to figure out when to fit in a workout now. Long commutes, gym closures and unexpected meetings are among the obstacles that can derail a workout plan.

Anna Baggett, a health coach at Massachusetts General Hospital in Revere, Mass., says the key to adopting a new routine is setting achievable goals and managing expectations. A change in work schedule is often stressful, she says. Trying to find time to exercise shouldn’t add to the stress.

“If you used to exercise an hour a day and now only have 30 minutes, celebrate the fact that you are doing 30 minutes rather than nothing at all,” she says. “And find ways to get the most out of that 30 minutes.”

NiCole Keith, the Indianapolis-based former president of the American College of Sports Medicine, says scheduling workouts on your calendar and having a workout buddy can help you stay accountable. And if your workout gets sabotaged by a last-minute meeting, try to fit some other form of activity into your day, even if it is 10 or 15 minutes of movement.

“You can’t think of exercise as selfish,” she says. “You need to think of it as being necessary for longevity.”

Here, experts share advice for readjusting your routine under four different circumstances:

I used to have an hour to work out. My commute cut that to 30 minutes.

This body-weight workout from Caitlin Pittaway, trainer and co-owner of Compass Fitness in Denver, can take 25 to 45 minutes, depending on how many exercises you choose to tack on.

“You can adjust it based on however much time you have that day,” she says. The full-body routine also gets your heart rate up and can be performed in tight quarters, like a hotel room.

Perform one round of:

50 Squat Jumps

Stand with feet shoulder-width apart and arms overhead. Bring your arms down and slightly behind the hips as you lower into a squat. Keep the chest up. Swing the arms forward and up as you explode off the ground. Try to land softly and with control in a squat position.

Low-impact alternative: squats

40 Plank Jacks

Illustration: DAVIDE BONAZZI

Start in a high plank pose, which resembles the top of a push-up. Jump your feet out just beyond hip width, then jump them back together.

Low-impact alternative: plank toe taps

Start in a high plank with your feet together. Step your right foot out to the right side, then back to center. Step your left foot out to the left side, then back to center.

30 Jumping Lunges

Start in a split-stance position with your right foot forward. Lower down until your right knee and back leg form 90-degree angles in a lunge. Your back knee will hover off the ground. Keep your spine straight as you jump up and bring your left foot forward and right foot back to lower into a lunge on the opposite side.

Low-impact alternative: alternating reverse lunges

Start standing tall. Step backward with your right foot. Simultaneously bend your left knee to about 90 degrees and lower your right knee until it is bent at a right angle. Push off the right foot and return to starting position. Switch sides.

20 Sit-Ups
10 Plank Pop-Ups

Illustration: Davide Bonazzi

Start in high plank. Jump your feet forward as you raise your hands and head up. You should land in a low squat, with the weight on your heels. Place your hands down to the floor and jump your feet back so you are in a high plank.

Low-impact alternative: Plank step-up to low squat

Start in high plank. Step your right foot forward behind your right hand. Step your left foot forward below your left hand. Raise both hands off the ground as you sink into a low squat. Replace your hands. Step your left foot back, then your right foot.

After you complete the five exercises above, set your timer for 10 minutes. Hold a high plank or low plank (from your forearms) for as long as you can. When you can’t hold your plank anymore with proper form—lifting or sinking your hips counts as breaking—pause your timer and complete the following exercises:

20 Skaters

Stand on one leg with hips and knees slightly bent. Perform a dynamic sideways jumping motion. Absorb the impact of the jump with the second leg by landing softly and holding that landing for a few seconds. Then jump off that leg in the opposite direction, landing softly. Swing arms in coordination with each jump.

15 Squat Jacks

Start in a squat position, with feet just wider than shoulders, toes pointed forward, chest upright and hips sinking back so that your upper thigh is just parallel to the floor. Jump your feet together and back out just beyond hip width. For a low-impact alternative, alternate stepping the right and left foot out, side to side.

10 Step-Ups

Use a stair or aerobic step. If you have a good level of fitness, you can go higher and use a sturdy chair. If you can’t access a step, march in place with high knees.

Five Burpees

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart. Squat and place your hands on the floor, jump your feet back and perform a push-up, jump forward, then jump up to stand. For a low-impact version, replace the push-up with high plank, step your feet back and forward and stand up instead of jumping up to finish.

When you have completed these four drills, drop back into a plank and restart your timer where you left off. If you need to modify to maintain form, drop to your knees. As soon as your form breaks, do the four drills again, then drop into plank and reset your timer. Keep repeating until you reach 10 minutes.

If you have time, run through the first five exercises again.

I sit all day at my desk without much chance to move.

Illustration: Davide Bonazzi

If you have a desk job, it is even more important for you to sneak bursts of physical activity into your day, says Tom Barcia, a physical therapist and athletic trainer at SPEAR Physical Therapy in New York City.

You don’t need to do a high-intensity desk workout in office clothes, he says. Simply embracing active alternatives such as taking the stairs instead of the elevator, or standing instead of sitting in meetings, will make a difference in how your body feels. (Plus, many workplaces are opening their stairwells to give employees alternatives to sharing elevators.)

He suggests setting a timer as a reminder to get up from your desk and walk every hour. Or make a habit of performing one of the following postural strengthening exercises or stretches every time you get out of your chair.

Thoracic Extensions

Sit in your chair with your feet flat on the ground, spine tall. Loosely lace your hands at the bottom of your head for support. Slowly arch the upper back and neck backward. Avoid any arching in the low back. You should feel an opening through your chest that counteracts the forward, rounded position many of us hold while working at a computer. Perform two sets of 10 repetitions.

Squat-With-Chair Touch

Stand in front of your chair with your feet a shoulder-width apart, hands clasped in front of you. Sit your hips back and bend your knees as if you were going to sit into the chair. Gently tap the chair with your butt, then straighten your legs to stand and repeat. Don’t let your knees cave in. Complete three sets of eight to 10 repetitions.

Scapular Retractions

Sit tall in your chair. Gently squeeze your shoulder blades together, hold for three seconds, relax and repeat. Make sure to maintain good posture during the exercise. Perform two sets of 10 repetitions, or any time you catch yourself slouching.

Chin Tucks

Sit tall in your chair. Gently draw your chin in as though you were going to make a double chin. Hold for three seconds, then relax. Make sure to tuck your chin straight back as opposed to bending your neck down. This exercise helps to activate the deep neck muscles that help to support your head, Mr. Barcia says. Perform two sets of 10 repetitions.

Hip-Flexor Stretch

When we sit for long stretches, our hip flexors shorten and can feel tight when we stand up and start to move again. This exercise loosens them up. Begin in a staggered stance, with your right foot forward. Engage your core, squeeze your glute muscles and slowly shift your weight forward into the right foot, until you feel a gentle stretch in the front of your left hip. For an added stretch, raise the left arm straight up and gently bend it to the right. Hold for 20 to 30 seconds. Switch sides. Perform three sets.

Evenings are my only opportunity to exercise but I’m tired when I get home.

Plan ahead to get active when you return home, Ms. Baggett says. If you are exhausted after work and daunted by the fact you have to work out and still prepare dinner, try shifting evening duties, she says. “If you can prep dinner in the morning or over the weekend so all you have to do is pop it in the oven, you’re carving out extra time,” she says.

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS

Have you maintained a solid workout routine during the pandemic? How? Join the conversation below.

Dr. Keith suggests putting on your workout clothes before you leave the office. “It helps to have someone to hold you accountable,” she says. “When I get home, my husband will check in and ask if I’ve worked out yet today.”

Dr. Keith says at day’s end, it helps if you can make exercise enjoyable. “You could watch sports or the news on the couch, or you could get in a workout in front of the TV,” she says.

If you are tired, do something easy like walking, suggests Alecia Gende, a member of the sports-medicine team at the Mayo Clinic in Onalaska, Wis. “We are very rarely ever too tired to get a 15-minute walk in,” she says. “It takes minimal preparation, and as you make this part of a routine, you’ll start looking forward to getting outside, giving your eyes different scenery and giving your body some movement.”

I’m back on the road for business travel and want to work out whether the gym is open or not.

While body-weight exercises such as push-ups, burpees and squats are great, if traveling for extended periods it is important to maintain a resistance-based strength program as well, says Vanessa Martin, a trainer and founder of New York-based SIN (Strength in Numbers) Workouts.

If you have extra room in your luggage, she suggests packing one or more of the following: a jump rope, resistance bands, speed ladder and TRX suspension training kit. If you have to make do with what is in your hotel room, here are Ms. Martin’s equipment hacks.

Hand Towels or Cloth Napkins

“I’ve had incredible success using these as gliders beneath my feet or hands to perform movements you would usually do with gliders or on a Pilates reformer,” she says. “They work best on hardwood surfaces. If carpet is your only option, use paper plates.” She suggests putting towels under your feet to do knee tucks or plank jacks (see above) or under your hands while holding the plank pose and alternating sliding your hands forward.

Wine or Water Bottles

Illustration: Davide Bonazzi

A hotel room’s minibar doesn’t have to be a vice, Ms. Martin says. “I encourage clients looking to maintain their toning and sculpting programs to grab wine bottles and use them as hand weights for an upper-body arm circuit of biceps curls, triceps extensions, shoulder presses and lateral raises,” she says.

Luggage

A suitcase, packed or empty, is a great option for adding weight to a lower-body program. “Hold your suitcase just as you would a weight while performing a squat,” she says. If you want to work your upper body, you can hold the suitcase handle and perform bent-over rows, biceps curls and overhead presses, she says. Or lie down on the ground and use your suitcase to do a chest press.

Bed Pillow

“Fold a bed pillow in half to replicate the benefits of an Airex pad for stability training,” Ms. Martin says. It makes single-leg dead lifts—a move where you balance on one leg, bend at the hips and extend your opposite leg straight behind you as you lower your torso almost parallel to the floor—twice as challenging, she says.

Write to Jen Murphy at workout@wsj.com