To think you can't fit in exercise around work/children?

[PostmanPatisacrappostman]

If you manage to, how do you do it?

I'm looking for inspiration, I'm working albeit part time and have two young children. Desperately need to do some exercises to tone up.

I've got exercise DVDs but have no motivation to do them. I really want to get out in the fresh air.

It depends on how quick the little buggers run away

Another cargo trike user here - though ours is elderly and knackered, which means I'm fit! It's paid for itself in bus fares/petrol/parking costs several times over (it was old and cheap when we got it).

You could start by cycling to work once a week and build up - you mentioned nursery drop offs, would you be OK cycling with a child seat? (I wasn't, hence the cargo trike).

If it helps, you could set yourself a target number of miles, and promise yourself a treat when you get that far - it got one of my colleagues cycling regularly, and she's feeling much better for it.

I feel your pain OP. Me and DP both work shifts in the NHS and have a 1 year old. We are constantly knackered but really need to get into exercise because we just aren't healthy at all.
We are planning on joining a local gym, it's double the price of our staff gym but its 2 minutes walk away rather than 20 minutes on the bus so we can do a tag team with the baby.

I'm saving this thread too... Lots of really good ideas. Thankyou for starting this thread.

Mel Robbins 'The 5 Second Rule' is quite a good audiobook if you like that kind of thing.
The main idea is that when you realise you are procrastinating, or should be doing something else, you count down from 5 and then force yourself into action.
It sounds pretty basic, but I can actually use his to make me get my butt in gear when I can't be bothered.
So if I set my alarm early to go exercise, and the alarm goes off and I want to roll over and go back to sleep, I count 54321, and then make myself get up.
It sounds stupid but i am a lazy sod at heart and it does work for me!

You have a motivation problem not a time problem.
You need to find the sport you love, set yourself realistic goals and give yourself a kick up the bum!

When kids are tiny it's hard not to just flop in the evening, but trust me, a brisk 30 min walk, jog or cycle and you'll feel fab. You will all benefit.

Could you get a running buggy or a Bike with a toddler seat? You could then either run or cycle with your toddler on your non-working days - and perhaps also go out one day on the weekend? The other option is Exercise DVDs when your toddler naps, but I prefer to exercise out doors and your toddler would probably enjoy it (or possible even nap in a running buggy).

I swim at 9.30pm (single mum, ds18 minds ds8), or run during my working day or late in the evening.

When kids were small I kept it to 3 runs a week. I knew I could meet that goal and felt good about it. Now I do something most days.

Can you work it into fun play with your toddler? Mine loves sitting on my stomach as I "dig" with my feet (flutter kicks), or pretend to be a tipper truck (bridge). Or petend that they're in a lift as you hold them up high and squat. Or just put on music and dance with them. Toddlers demanding "again" are pretty merciless personal trainers!

I enjoy it, so I make time.

Kids at school/nursery - I work out at home with strength training and weights which I disassemble and keep under the sofa. Also a pull-up bar. If you work part time then you probably get some kid-free time?

Evening - DH comes home and takes over the kids, I go to the gym. Mine comes home at 7 too so I just had to demand he came home earlier, because by 7 any class or activity has started and I was sick of having no life because I was chained to the kids.

Weekend - Gym.

I did Buggy exercise when my youngest was a toddler...would that be a option?

I also struggle to fit exercise in as I work school hours and have the kids before and after school. I got round it by putting them in breakfast club one day a week and doing an 8am class but def not an option for you if you start work at 8!

Two things help me - doing a class I really enjoy and paying in advance. If I paid as I went I'd be much slacker. I do SwingTrain and it's the first exercise class I've ever properly enjoyed. Fitness through swing dance moves

Definitely recommend Jillian Michaels - 30 Day Shred is a great one to begin with. You just need the motivation to get up 30 mins earlier or find 30 mins somewhere in the day but I know that this is easier said than done! Took me a good couple of weeks to get into it the first time but after a while it becomes a little addictive. She also has a 10 minute transformation DVD which is good too and surprisingly effective! I think once you start enjoying it you are more likely to make the time.

I do a class I really love (kickboxing) twice a week while my DP looks after DS for an hour. Never managed to keep anything going before that, getting up before 6 or going out in the evening in the dark does not appeal to me at all, no matter how much I hear people say how great it makes them feel!

Do you have (or can you beg or borrow) a Fitbit? I hadn't quite realised how competitive I was until I added a few friends (one a fitness trainer and one a marathon runner - bitches ) and decided I wanted to try to move up the leaderboard. If you're at all competitive (I really really didn't used to think I was!) it definitely helps with motivation. Good luck OP!

Does your local gym have a crèche for the toddler? My local authority gym does, two hours per day free for members. Or could you run on the treadmill while toddler is in swimming lessons/tumble tots/toddler tennis?

My husband and I tag team it - he does something Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights, I do something Tuesday night and Saturday morning (and I go to a couple of mum and baby things during the day). It is hard - before we had kids we could both do whatever we wanted, and now we have to align our calendars to make sure somebody is at home. We are both very motivated though - I would have been really upset to give up running and my gym classes just because we'd had kids.

I really struggle with this too. The things that help are my Fitbit, cycle to work or taking public transport to work (means a lot more walking), cross trainer or weights in front of the telly in the evening, dog walk in the evening and occasionally a sneaky swim during working hours if time allows.

Op I never had the motivation to do any exercise when my DD was small, other than walking the dog or the odd bike ride. I think she was about 8 when I joined a gym with my colleague (we'd go at lunchtimes).

Gave up the gym when I changed jobs, before taking up swimming a couple of years later alongside my (now a teenager) DD.

single parent working 34hrs a week

I use the time my ex has them to do some exercise and pay the oldest to watch the youngest as well

aerobics Monday/Thursday
Run Tuesday/Sat
Weight training Thursday

you just squeeze it in - it is easier as they get older and it is the one perk of being single - but I managed 4 sessions a week when they were little and I was married

the trick is not to sit down when you get home from work!

What kind of exercise do you like? Did you do anything when you were a kid that you loved? Doing something you love makes a huge difference. Climbing, swimming, riding, kickboxing, skating, dance - can you find an 8pm class to go to twice a week plus one at the weekend? Actually, signing up for one class at the weekend would be a start, you don't need to go from zero to 5x a week in one go.

Or, how about signing up for a 5k race? Give yourself the fear of being the worst one to make yourself get out!

Can your DH start and finish work an hour earlier so he can feed the kids and do bedtime so you don't have to exercise straight after eating?

Re running while your eldest is at football, you'll only feel embarrassed the first couple of days, and then it will feel normal. When I started running I thought everyone was looking at me, but it was surprising how quickly I got over it - and of course nobody was!

Lunchtimes,I do a 30 min class three lunchtimes a week

I run round the pitch sometimes when my dc are at rugby ( have to remain on site so can't go somewhere else). Honestly, no- one even notices. Otherwise it's just dead time.

It's doable but like others have said you have to be motivated and change your mindset. I get up at 5:30 to do yoga before kids get up at 6 (3 under 5) then run or kettlebell exercise 4 or 5 times a week once they're in bed - about 7:30/8.

@twolittleboysonetiredmum THREE under fives?

😂yup. Tho eldest is 5 next week so just!

Which is why I exercise a lot - my mental health has taken a real battering with sleep deprivation and exercise really lifts me out of it

It just depends on how much you want to do it. You admit in your OP that you have time in the evening but no motivation. I work part time too and used to run but had to stop due to recurrent injuries. I've now joined a gym and am planning to go once at the weekend and 2 or 3 evenings a week. I may not be able to get there until 8pm some days when dh is back late to look after the dc.