How to fit exercise in to full time work and life

Fitting in regular exercise when you are working and raising a family can be exhausting, so cut yourself some slack. If you can fit in 2-3 proper workouts - gym or at home - plus a couple of 5-10 minute sessions here and there, you're doing great.

• a 3 minute plank
• 3x 8-12 press-ups, Arnold presses, hammer curls, etc
• 50 squats, preferably goblin squats
• a dozen push-ups, repeated once or twice
• 2x 20 leg circles each side
• 5 minutes abs
• 10 minutes Yoga
• and so on.

Try to find a sport/physical activity you enjoy. Running, rowing, skiing, swimming...

Just make sure you up the pace once you enter the peri-menopause. And keep going.

70 going on 71 and still extremely fit. Now I have time to work out an hour or more most days. Listening to the radio while I do it, so it's never boring. Totally worth it!!

I'm similar to the OP and am trying to get my mojo back! When it's not freezing cold in the mornings (my car takes ages to defrost) I get up at 5.30am for gym, run or spin, back by 7 to get DD to school and me to work. Actively trying to walk more during the day and fit in another late afternoon or evening walk. I find it virtually impossible to go to the gym in the evenings so mornings work better and it's out of the way. As yet this year though, I haven't managed a 5.30am get up, I blame the cold weather!

I’m getting sucked into the 10pm news so probably need to knock that on the head. I couldn’t go to bed at 8.30, for sure! But 10pm bed and up at 6 would work I guess. Just started getting the train to work rather than driving which means I get in approx 12,000 steps.

I'm young, but this is how I do it.

Wake up 5:50, at the gym for 6:10.

Gym 6:10-6:45. I tend to do 20 minutes or so on the treadmill and then some weights. I do this every other day.

Walk back home, get ready, leave the house at 7:30 for work.

I walk down to my bus stop and to and from the station at work, which works out to be about 2500 steps each way.

I take a walk at lunch time, anywhere from 20-45 minutes depending on how much I can be bothered, really.

Then I do a twenty minute walk after work. I get my 10k steps everyday.

Agree, I could easily get up at this time but people on my street would make noise in the evening (nothing exceptional, just dogs barking while being walked, car doors slamming and engines running, chatting etc.) that would wake me if I went to sleep before 10 ☹️

If you don't WFH then cycle to work a couple of times a week, even with an ebike it still counts. You may also qualify for a Cycle to Work scheme if you work for a company which subsidises the cost of a bike.

I am in bed asleep by 8.30. I have always been an early bird. I struggle to stay awake after this and am useless in the morning. But as this morning as an example. I woke up at 4.30. Wide awake. Put some washing on , dishwasher etc. to the gym full of beans.

but my husband knows not to expect much in the evenings.

@AvonCallingBarksdale 10pm if I can. But often (like tonight!) it's nearer 11pm.

@AvonCallingBarksdale 10pm at the latest.

Those of you getting up at 5/5.30 etc, what time are you going to sleep? That’s what I struggle with 😬

Do you have any space for a home gym where you could get some cardio machine and some free weights? I find this brilliant, I have a rowing machine and a bunch of bands/weights which means if I have half an hour spare I can do a work out. I also row on the river before work, early cold starts but keeps you fit!

Or go to the gym at lunchtime at work (no idea if you have one near!)

Another who gets up at 5.30 to get it done - peloton bike rides or peloton strength classes - l alternate days so something every day - start with 30 mins and see how you go - I do go to bed early tho!

Prioritise you. Do parkrun on a Saturday and your other half can take the teens to their jobs.

Also when do you get home in the evening? There should be time twice a week to do a couple of Youtube strength sessions. 20 minutes is enough.

I can't run or walk in dark evenings as there are no footpaths or street lighting where I live. Even wearing a hi viz jacket won't help as cars travel fast and the ditches have no space to stand in.

If I get up really early I have no evening as I need 9 hours sleep, perimenopause. If I skip my 9 hours I make lots of mustakes at work.

Another one for early morning exercise - I have a two nursery age children who wake up by 6 am so I wake up by 0530 and get things ready then get on my bike/weights session for 45 mins while my husband entertains them. Then it’s a quick shower and get ready for work and nursery.

Why can't you run or walk in the evenings when it's dark @user1471554720 ? I live rurally too but I have a decent headtorch for the trails.

The "not a morning person" one is another I hear a lot. Very few people would say they're "a morning person" before they start getting up early. I never thought I could do it. But you do it because it's the only time you have, and over time it becomes a habit. I don't think many people gleefully jump out of bed at half 5 in the winter. Lying in til 7 would be nice but if mornings are the only option, mornings it is!

I always worked fulltime and I have tweens. I efh 3 days a week and in the office 2 days. One teen plays sports to county level so evenings are taken up. We live rurally so I can't walk or run in the evenings when it is dark.

I try to walk or jog at lunchtime when wfh for 30 to 40 mins. I fit in another jog or walk Sat afternoon.

If taking dcs somewhere for an hour I do not drive hone. I wait at the location. I try to walk or jog rather than sit in the car especially in summer.

Classes don't happen as they are on evenings and I am cooking dinner, dealing with dcs. I am not a morning person. I get up at 7 for school, commutes etc.

Summer is a bit easier as I can fit in a walk or jog at 9pm. I try to swim Sunday morning every 2 weeks.

I see you have dog walking time. Can that be running? Cycling in a safe place like a disused railway trail with the dog on a long lead?

If you commute then build in a walk at each end of the day, maybe by getting off a train a stop early or similar.

Plan walking meetings instead of calls.

Get up early, or go out late.

Its hard but you have to switch around priorities to make the time.

If you want to lose weight you need to look at your diet more than exercise. I lost a stone cutting out carbs and sugar - sadly it has found me again.
I build in exercise as part of my commute where possible and supplement with some weights and a couple of classes at the weekend or swap one out for parkrun.

Well I work fulltime with a family and dog - but still manage a Petra Genco 20 min work out each night. Even when travelling - 20 mins in a day is not that long.

Ok I’ve read your other replies now…

Why isn’t your DP doing half of the weekend ferrying?

Why can’t you go out early am or an evening if you prefer exercising then. It’s not as if you have tiny children needing your supervision.

I note yet another MN with a “but we live rurally” issue.

For me, if exercise is going to happen I have to put it in the calendar and schedule everything around it, not the other way round, trying to shoehorn it in as a 2nd or 3rd priority. I have to prioritise it. Then, after a while it just becomes a habit.

For me that means going before work.

I hope you find a way to make it work op. I bet you’ll feel 1000% better if you can make it happen.

Like most pps, I get up early. Up at half 5, then gym or run, and back home in time to sort kids, shower, and get to work.

Most people I've come across who say they "don't have time" to exercise (though not all, obviously!) get up late and then find it hard to fit it in at the end of the day. As the evenings are out for me (commitments with the kids), mornings it is.