Be honest, how much exercise do you REALLY do?

[JMAngel1]

I think I need to up my exercise game - I'm 51 and noticing I can feel out of breath climbing four flights of stairs at work whereas I would skip up them a few years ago.
The exercise boards on here are really intimidating with everyone claiming to run followed by a swim or a HIIT class every day then yoga at night! I don't know anyone in real life like this so not sure what "normal" is I suppose.
So if you're a full time working mum like me, how much exercise do you really do each week? And how do you fit it into your days?

Not a mum, but when I turned 50 last year I took the advice of several MNers, joined the local gym & signed up with a personal trainer. She drew up a plan for me focused around weightlifting & cardio, & I’m really feeling the difference.

I do about 90 mins three times a week, usually early mornings but really whenever I can fit it in, and have a checking in session with her once a fortnight.

Sometimes I go to the local yoga class but I’ve had several weeks recently when I couldn’t make it for various reasons.

Run 5k once or twice a week after doing C25k a year ago. Try to do a bit of walking every day, with mixed success!

I hate exercise but I do around 45 mins 3 times a week - a mix of cardio, weights and core

I'm 44 and play hockey. So 1 and a half hours training & a match each week (1 hour 10 mins)
I also do a boxing class one evening and attempt to go on a walk at least twice a week on my lunch hour.
I feel the fittest I have done for a long time, only trouble is hockey season is finishing soon so I'm going to have to find something else to do until September!

An hour of strength training with a PT on my day off
30 min YouTube strength training on my WFH day
10,000 steps on my office days

It's probably not enough but it is sustainable for me

I’m 53. An hours class twice a week, mix of cardio & weights plus I try to walk for an hour once a week. Sporadic yoga when I feel like it

I’m 55. I walk most days for 45 min or an hour. Do two step classes a week and one gym session. Only started all this last year and feel stronger and fitter. My DCs have left home though which obv makes it easier.

I walk at least 10,000 steps every day now. I’m at risk of developing type 2 diabetes since having gestational diabetes while pregnant and I try to exercise and eat well to reduce the risk.

45 and I run 5-6k twice a week, although I'm trying to increase the length and frequency. I used to run 3-4 times a week and for longer and was much fitter than I feel right now.

I'm also just trying to move more as I sit on my bum all day for work. Limited success there too!

at 51 I went to the gym most evenings after work (and yes, I worked FT and had teenagers). I was really fit.

Then in 2019 I had a back injury and stopped exercising. Then we had lockdowns and I never really got back into it. We've moved house and the gyms here are much more expensive plus evening classes get booked out really quickly.

I swim 2 or 3 mornings a week before work, but the water is too cold at this time of year to stay in for long. I walk the dog each day and I do 2 Pilates classes a week. I know I need to do more but I've lost my mojo.

So I have made a massive effort on this over the past 10 years. The key is to start small. Very small.
I used to do 15 mins run a couple of days before the kids got up, maybe 1 class a week and maybe 1 longer run at the weekend.
Gradually I got fitter and better and it became a much bigger part of my life.
Now, I never exercise more than once a day. I do work full time and I have 2 teens.
I typically do 1 x yoga class, 1 x resistance training and 1 x strength training (all 1 hr). Then I usually do 2 or 3 runs a week ranging from 20 mins to over an hour.
I should add I am no athlete and all of the above is quite slow and quite lightweight. I never exercised when I was young ans I'm very average sized with a fairly flabby midriff !

I walk or hike approx 4 miles a day (speed walking) and I do strength training approx 4 times a week. Sometimes I throw in some HIIT or cardio such a body combat. I'm 54 and trying to keep my bones strong and maintain good fitness.

None. I hate exercise. I also feel so guilty for doing it...when I could be doing other stuff.

I think of it as movement and do stuff all day now. Much better (for me, as I do it) than bigger sessions elsewhere. I have bits of equipment all over the place.

Movement snacks is the posher term for it.

I do go for a swim occasionally and also try to go on Breeze rides, as it's nice to meet other women sometimes.

Run Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings - not far, just 20-30 mins fairly slow.

Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings I do an online weights video.

Well, don’t go by what’s “normal”, because bluntly, what’s normal is being inactive and unfit. That’s the norm in that that’s most people in this country. I used to be extremely “normal” and do very little apart from the odd run every now and then and try to convince myself that pottering around the house and the odd walk was enough - it definitely wasn’t.

Now I do much more than average - I do 5x strength workouts and 1 or 2 runs a week, and I am really pretty fit. I don’t think I “need” to do as much as I do. Once I’d lost the weight and gained some strength I think maybe 3 workouts a week would maintain. But I like feeling healthy and looking better so that’s my choice. From the people I talk to in my day to day life who are a similar life stage etc as me I’d say this now makes me really quite an extreme outlier in the amount and level of exercise I do. It should probably be about average.

I go to 1 or 2 classes (yoga, hitt, weights) per week max, plus a few brisk walks (30-60 mins). That's enough for me, but I am helped by a fast metabolism.
Obviously the key to any sustainable routine op, is identifying the right times for you and enjoying the activities.

I do an exercise video at home on a Monday and Thursday after picking the kids up from school.

If they have parties at the weekend and I can make the timing work I'll go to the gym for the treadmill and cross trainer, but that's not very often.

I want them to do more exercise as well, so at the weekend I'm trying to encourage bike rides / walks / exercise videos with me - mixed rates of success on this one.

I'm one of those people, 43, 2 children under 10, work full time, and run every day, averaging 50+ miles a week. I have to get up 5:00am to do it before either I or DH leave the house for work at 7:00.

I walk 5-6km a day (just doing the school run and errands etc mostly with one or two walks for the sake of walking thrown in)

I do two yoga classes a week. I sometimes do 10-20 minutes of yoga on other days but not consistently.

That’s it.

I am nearly 48 and do 1 x pt per week - weights. I walk the dog every day for around an hour and I run around 4 times per week but only about 3k.

I walk the dog for 45 mins to an hour everyday. Sometimes it’s a power walk, sometimes a hilly walk, some times (often) it’s a slow stroll around the local (flat) area.
I eat a lot. I work from home or the office sat at a desk. I’m average weight and my blood pressure, heart rate etc are all very good for my age.
im always amazed at the people who seem to be in the gym a few times a week and feeling guilty about not doing more, I don’t have the time or inclination, nor do I want to spend my life feeling guilty. Obviously that doesn’t count for the people that love it, my best friend really enjoys going, but most people I know just seem to be in a cycle of dread and guilt. So I’d say try to find something you enjoy and/or that’s sustainable.

None. Should do more.

Quite a lot. PT lone parent with teens.
Body pump and max every week (both weights) plus a pilates class. Walk min of 14000 steps a day, usually carrying heavy shopping plus parkrun on Saturday. I can't be arsed to get my car out and start work at 9:30 so I can walk in.
I never ever have a social life and put exercise before housework as both my parents were/are healthy but had heart attacks then I'm trying to delay mine.

Genuinely wonder how you manage this? I'd be absolutely dead on my feet. Even pre kids, just working full time made me feel exhausted. Add on a husband, and kids to that, I physically don't think I could get up at 5am and run. What time do you go to bed?