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?

I'm 62. Pre COVID I was really fit. Marathon fit. Then I stopped, got out of the habit and now do precisely nothing. I've put on about a stone but still in the normal BMI and I honestly can't say I feel any different.

I walk my dog every day but need to do more - I work 40ish hours a week in a sedentary job and am still ferrying our youngest DC to things so find it hard to fit in exercise, but really need to start building in 15-20 minutes of HIT etc again. I used to do it but somehow it’s fallen by the wayside since getting the dog. Mid fifties here so really need to watch what I’m doing.

One reason I only go to the gym 3 times a week is that I exercise all my muscle groups then & then have rest days in between to let them recover.

I walk for about 70 mins per day. Other than that I don’t really do any other exercise

OP: I'm a full time working mum, how do others in my position fit in exercise?

Half the responses: I'm in late 50s/60s, work v part-time and don't have any kids at home 🤦🏻‍♀️

Other then walking a lot, be that dog walking, power walking or hiking - nothing else

I work as a waitress so lift and carry heavy weights , Im flying around tables easily get 12-15k steps in my 4 hour shift and up and down 3 flights of stairs all day

Hitting 60 and whilst its not a lot, its a lot more then I used to do

52 no kids. I get up at 5.30 if I'm in the office, 6.30 if WFH. I do a youtube workout everyday, currently doing Heather Robertson 4.0 with C Dorner step, dance or mobility on rest days, so I'm doing something everyday unless I'm away from home for the night. I feel fit and strong.

I go to the gym. Just got back after 1.5 hour workout, I work out from home a couple of times a week aswell. I get irrated if I don't exercise and I have a desk job at the moment, so need to burn off the slouch.

It’s always the same on these threads - Posters whose circumstances in no way mirror the OP’s share their stories of how easy it is to fit exercise into their p/t working week with no children to look after. Why?!

Eg OP - I work f/t and have to do the school/nursery drop offs and pick ups in the car. I only get 30 minutes for lunch and we don’t have anywhere decent to walk near the office.

Posters - can you get public transport so you can build in a walk/run to your commute or leave earlier, park the car somewhere and walk the remaining couple of miles to work? Or go for a run in your lunch hour?

😂

Nothing ‘formal’ but from spring to autumn I’m in the garden a lot so keep moving!

Same for me and now I've started walking around London I'm amazed how close places are e.g Victoria to Oxford Street was only 40minutes.

I am PT - not sure I could fit the amount of walking in if I was FT

I'm 57 and do a mixture of HIIT and strength classes (some half hr, some 45 mins) 4-6 times a week.

I'm 44, work full time, two primary age DC. For me the only thing that works is to get up very early and do my exercise. I do three times a week, running around 5k/HIIT (loads of YouTube options) and swimming. I also walk a lot - try to get in 20k steps on days I exercise but 16k otherwise. Think that helps.

Would like to do more weights work especially given my age, but I'd want to join a gym for that. May explore it as an option in summer months for longer evenings.

Oh God this thread makes me feel a bit guilty! I do 10 mins yoga 5x a week, I yoga class, one swim and a few walks. That's it. Can't run due to medical reasons. Might look at booking another class.

I'm 54.

I walk the dog for about 3km every day.

I go in the treadmill at home 3 days a week.

That's it.

I can't be doing with routines or weights or gyms but I do make sure I walk every day for 45-60 minutes. I also have a horse riding lesson for an hour a week. I have to do exercise I enjoy or I'd never do it!

No - they told me I was the one person in a million who has one for no reason - lucky me!? 😄

@Allwelcone I'm sorry, it shouldn't do and that wasn't the op's intention - my understanding is she wanted to hear from people in positions like herself - not those who have the time and capacity to fit in ten classes a week!

It looks like you're doing a fair bit though?

I walk lots, every day(hate being cooped up) I garden, I do bits of yoga at home, I swim outdoors in summer.
That’s it. Oh, and I have music on most days and dance a lot!
I hate gyms and running in middle age feels just.. wrong! Like, my body is going “why???”
I am not fat and am very strong. No woman in my family has ever had osteoporosis and none have done organised exercise but they all worked and had a lot of nervous energy.

I work ft and have 2 teens. It's much easier to fit in exercise now they can be left on their own.

I walk probably 1.5 miles (total) in my commute each day. I use the stairs at work and probably do at least 12 flights of stairs in the work day....which i guess is "active" rather than exercise.

I run 3 x during the week either fitting in with ferrying kids around so 30-40 min run at 7/7.30 ish....or do a 30 min run at 7am.
I occassionally do a home/YouTube/insta strength workout for about half an hour on an eve I'm not running. Then do a harder run on Saturday and a long run (10+ Miles) on Sunday morning.

A lot when I'm at work, none when I'm off.

My job involves walking an average of 18k steps and lifting the equivalent of of 1000kg per 7.5 hour shift.

Mid 40s. I go to the gym 6 times a week for classes. Mostly some weight classes, some cardio, a body balance.
I try to do 10k steps a day (but often this includes the steps in a class so it's double counting really)
I am a single parent to 2 DC.
I have the same routine every week and it fits into my life and my kids life. It's very important to me for my mental health and it's my me time.

I can lower the average here: I used to not exercise, then I learned I inherited mum's heart disease and, amongst other smart decisions, I joined a gym. So I was doing nothing, now I do 60 min 3 to 5 tmes a week. I note the days I go and it does average out at 4 days so far. I split 40 min evenly across the staionery bike, cross trainer, treadmill and stairs, and then it's a 20 min roundtrip walk. I pay a lot of attention to my posture and "core" - I think I look like a prima donna next to everyone stopped over their phones but my stomach is trimming up without my having to do anything extra so it's worth it. I feel so much stronger after only 4 months.

For anyone struggling with motivation, I walk there and back without my phone, so I'm just old school thinking, and at some point I realised that while I never feel excited to go, I never regret having been. So I just go in the same way that I just brush my teeth or make the bed or whatever, and then afterwards I'm pleased with myself.

To answer the second part of your post, the gym is half way between work and home and so I go on the way home.
Weekends I go in the morning while the kids are still in bed.

I used to do nothing. Now (late 40s) I go to the gym 2-3 times per week (an hour each time) mainly for weights but also 10 mins cardio, I walk 10k steps per day, and I try to do a 5km run once a week. I feel a lot better for it. I think I'd benefit from doing more - I'm inspired by the people on here saying they do 6 days per week) - but I'm too lazy and find it hard to fit in around work and other stuff.