People who are too busy to do exercise

I have young dc and work full time. My dh works around me so I found it difficult to exercise without bringing them with me. Instead I bought a walking pad which gives me great flexibility. When kids are young it's difficult. For those without dependants it's definitely not an excuse. You always have time, get up earlier or do it in the evenings. I think people just don't want to prioritise it because they don't enjoy it which is fair enough. But it's so important for your health.

I used to run 3x a week.

I don't do any exercise at the moment because I work nearly full time and I'm a single parent to 2 primary age children. Apart from every other weekend when they are with their dad, I'm either working or looking after my children. I cannot squeeze in 3 runs over one weekend.

Hope that helps 🙄

Do you want a medal?

@Hollyandivygoout single parent are you ?

Who watched your kids when you were running before they were at high school!
Did they run with you?

This is part of it for me. The other part is generally my 'leisure time' is after my autistic DS is asleep, which is often after 11pm. I'm not going running at 11pm, at that point I just want to sit down and spend time with DH.

You seem to take other people not exercising quite personally. I go to the bouldering wall 3 times a week and do yoga to keep fit. I can’t say I even have much conversation about other people exercise routine but I can see how it might not be appealing to people if they feel rushed and or tired. And some people just hate exercise. It has no effect on me.

Not everyone feels comfortable running alone in the dark or has safe routes to do so. Perhaps they mean they don't have time in the day.

You couldn’t pay me to run unless there was a fire behind me.

Awesome for you. I have 4 kids, we all did an hour commute. Out at 6:50 back at 7. Supper and farm chores still to do.

It's only since 3 out of 4 of them have left home that I've been able to take care of myself better.

Tbh I can see what OP means. It's not just in regards to exercise though. I have some people I know who are competitively busy and they'll ask what I got up too at the weekend. I've got a few interests/sports i make time for and very much get the "oooh I'd love to be able to do that but I just don't have time". We're really in similar positions with work/kids but they justify not making time for themselves and honestly they seem so stressed. They're not having any fun. I think it's a real flaw with our society because all their husbands seem to have time to do whatever they like.

**Edited to add people are also just maybe brushing off the not running four times a week thing as being busy because they just don't won't to run

Quite....it would be my idea of hell

Some people just don’t have time it’s not a slight against you or some stealth boast, often just family circumstances in various forms. Dh was the ultimate gym goer, then I had cancer last year, he was the only one working, doing all the chores, taking me to every appt etc he had no free time to do proper exercise or go for a runs

I run about 50k a week. I am very privileged to have the time, money and motivation to do this - it's an absolute luxury.

Many, many people don't enjoy running, or don't live in an area where it is safe or pleasant to run. Running alone in the dark is scary. If you have young children, how can you just leave them home alone? It is surprisingly expensive (trainers, clothing, frequent laundry/showering). Many people literally can't run (injuries/disabilities), and lack indoor space to do indoor workouts.

Run a mile in someone else's shoes and stop being such an insensitive berk.

You could apply this logic to anything in life...

Time to read
Time to bake your own bread
Time to style your hair
Time to do your make up
Time to volunteer

All these things could be substituted for the word exercise

Some people just don't fucking want to go for a 4 mile run 4 times a week.

So what?

I've been trying to get DH to carve out some time to exercise and his excuse is he has no time. I have said initially to just try a 10-15min beginners exercise video on YouTube.

DH gets home from work around 9/10pm and says he's too tired. And doesn't want to be "wired" before bed. I've suggested he could at least do it on the weekends and his two WFH days where he would definitely be home at least. He has a.gym in his office building at work so I've suggested he could go right after work before he gets home.

I think the problem is his willingness. I have had periods of my life where I haven't exercised and once I fall out of habit (which I don't feel good about) I find it really hard to motivate myself to get back into it.

As someone who runs 3-4 times a week, does weight training + pilates plus having a FT job and 2 kids under 7 AND 2 hours commuting 3x a week. You are being a judgy nob. Different people have different priorities. Some people don't like exercise some do. Its really not that hard to figure out.

As somone who has older kids at secondary OP I'm sure you're more than able to squeeze in a few extra sessions. Personally I think you're being lazy. (not very nice when someone is judgy is it?)

They mean they would need to not do something else in order to fit it in. And it's one thing if the something else is optional like an extra half hour in bed, or missing out on a sit down before dinner, quite another if the something else is essential like getting small children ready for the day, hearing them read before dinner, checking in on elderly parents etc.

I wish that I was as awesome as you 🙌

I exercise more than you and I have the luxury of that time primarily because my kids are grown up and I work from home so have no commute.

I consider myself extremely fortunate and can totally see why people who have small kids and a 2 hour round trip to the office cannot find the time.

Sorry but you sound very judgemental.

Of course people have time to do some exercise in their week but many people experience too many barriers to actually doing it. There are a lot of barriers to running. Having the kit, having enough of it washed and ready to wear, knowing where to run, timing your run for the correct weather, time of day, busy-ness, eating at the right time to optimise the run, pacing the run. You are in the habit of running so all these steps will be simpler for you to deal with than someone who has not run before. It would take many people more than 30 minutes out of their day to actually start.

I get what you're saying, you aren't any less busy than other people, but many people do see time as a barrier to exercise because they might have other priorities they'd rather use that time for.

I do make time to exercise but I can't manage 4 x a week.

I work full time, I have 2 children primary age so I can't leave them alone to exercise, I also have volunteering commitments.

I can fit in exercise on my WFH days usually - but sometimes it gets very busy and I can't - and once at the weekend. Which usually means 2-3 times a week.

I don't have loads of time watching telly or whatever the stereotype is - I probably watch TV for maybe an hour a week? I guess I could drop that for more exercise but I do want a bit of time to relax...

Some people don’t like exercise and others genuinely don’t have time because they have other things going on.

Honestly what do you want? A medal? A parade? Stop being judgey.

YABU because you sound smug.

I used to run about 25-30 km a week, I don’t now because DD isn’t well and it’s draining the life out of me. One day I’ll go back to it but if anyone was to judge me for my lack of exercise I would tell them to fuck off, quite frankly.

I also find myself wondering who is starting the conversation about you running - if you are sensitive about people's comments about exercise perhaps avoid the subject?

As much as I enjoy running it's a fucking boring subject to talk about anyway.