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.

Op it's really hard especially when your doing the hours you are and your days at home still involve children.

Tbh the only way I've been able to stick to it is to wait till DC are at school. I've tried all sorts but I get too tired and end up ill and exhausted.

We have a buggy push were I live but it's on a work day. Wonder if you have any parent toddler classes about.

I really struggle too op.

Doesn't help that I am not a morning person remotely. I've tried excercise in the morning but it's like walking through treacle for me.

As soon as I get into a routine one of the kids gets ill and needs more looking after. Then I get ill or I have to go away with work for something.

I work full time and really struggle.

Can you do something in your lunch hour at work? This works very well for me

I work part time and on my days off I swim and my toddler goes into the crèche for an hour or so. I try to fit in a 5k run at the weekend, but have been a bit slack with that recently. I agree, exercise has to be considered an essential part of life for it to become habit/routine. If I do any less than two exercise sessions per week I feel out of sorts both physically and mentally/emotionally. Even exercise when I'm on holiday.

I get up around 5:15 weekday mornings whilst they're all asleep. I'm back in time for DH to leave for work at 7:15am ish and I get the DCs back out the door for 7:50am for breakfast club (their choice). They are old enough to get themselves dressed now but it's pretty much down to organisation between DH and I

I try to take my dd up the local reserviour for a walk most days to feed the ducks, it's 3500 steps round and then I try to walk / run up there again on a night, sometimes I manage once, sometimes 5 times. Just doing that is around 7000 -8000 steps (depending on if I take the long way round without dd).

With day to day stuff I do around 15 flights of stairs, another 3000 steps, cleaning and generally running after a 2 year old. I want to run more as I'm quite unfit but with all that and calorie counting , it's going well!

The hardest part is starting, I miss my evening walks now if I don't fit them in.

I run during work lunchbreaks a couple of times a week (fortunately we have a shower at work) and also buggy run on my days off/weekend. I recently ran my first marathon doing this, plus getting up really early on a Sunday to get a long run in while DP had DC, aiming to be done by 10/1030 so we still had our day together.
Also strength exercises or shred in the living room while the toddler 'joins in' - more motivation to hold a plank when there's a small person hiding under you!

Sorry I've not read the entire thread so this may not be helpful. I have to do exercise late at night. DP isn't home until late so I head to the pool at 8:30ish. It's tough to get out of the house at that time as I am knackered so I have entered an event to keep me motivated. We have 3 kids if that is relevant.
Honestly though I get a lot of exercise walking and lugging children about. The evening swims are about my head space.

DP gets up at 5:30ti fit his exercise in.

I think you have to really, really want to do it and when you do, you find time. I do lots now and my kids are older, it's not because they are older though, it's because I am driven to do it. It's my mindset now and it wasn't when they were younger. Not really sure how and why I changed. I am going on holiday next wee and actually worked out where the local gym is!

Right now, if husband came home at 7, I would be straight out the door to go to the gym in his arrival. I am 45 now but have spent 43 years not being this way!! I. Think maybe as I have got fitter I love it more, the pain and discomfort of exercise has become a goal and a pleasure. I dunno. It's defo a mindset though and one I wish I had had before.

I sympathetise op. Sorry I only skim read your post so didn't see how old your DC are. My youngest is still not sleeping through - unless you count waking up at 4.30 as an acceptable wake up time! So mornings are out and I'm usually knackered come evening (from being up at 4.30!)
DP doesn't get back till 8 so too late for most local fitness classes etc. And our shit swimming pool shuts early.

My only suggestion is to find another mum in the area in the same position. Get together. Make that regular time together to go swimming or run or whatever. But having someone else to motivate you (or feel you can't let them down) really helps

Good luck!

When I worked FT I used to swim one night a week - that was the start of getting exercise when ds was 4 - but I also walked to the railway station at both ends of my commute which added up to an hour's walking a day.

I then took up running and I went Saturday mornings, Thursday evenings (straight from the train, got changed in the loo in the train) and because I worked from home on Wednesdays, Wed lunchtime too.

These days I swim Mon, run Tues while ds at club, Wed get a PT to come to the house after I've finished work, Thurs I run, Fri take ds swimming and go by bike when weather is decent, Sat I do parkrun, Sunday I sometimes do a race but usually I rest. I only work part-time though and from home. But you can see from the above that I used to fit it in with a FT job and a commute.

If you are on FB join the Run Mummy Run group - lots of ladies on there with young children and they have all sorts of strategies for fitting in their runs. It's difficult with young children - and with older children in the school holidays.

I have an extremely flexible work.schedule, but I work til midnight and do my workouts in the morning.

You need to take turns at doing the childcare from 6-7.15 each morning.

You can exercise from 6 - 6.45, then shower and eat breakfast from 6.35- 7.15 when you leave with the kids.

Other mornings your DH can do the same, except he has more time as he doesn't leave until 7.30.

I hear you OP. I'm in a similar situation. I have a sleep defying toddler and a school age DC. Work 3 days a week and have a 3 hour commute. Fitting it in before work is not an option. I rarely get more than 4 hours solid sleep. My toddler is up around 5 most days. I leave for work at 7 and get home at 6.30. DP gets home at 6.30 on the days I'm off.

I try to do some exercise 3 times a week. Parkrun on a Saturday morning has been a revelation. Great to get out in the fresh air and it gets the weekend off to a good start as I feel happy and energised. I also threw money at it by joining a gym and getting a personal trainer. I see my PT once a week either at 7.30pm or in my lunch hour off I work from home one-day in the week. I then try and do a HIIT class at the gym one night a week at 7 (DP does bath and bedtime as soon as he gets in). I sometimes try and do a spinning class on a Sunday too.

So top tips from me:

1. Get a PT if you can afford it. Having someone stand over you is a great motivator!

1. Find you nearest parkrun

1. Be realistic at what you can achieve without stressing yourself out about it. 30 minutes 3 times a week maybe?

1. Exercise with friends. I do the HIIT class with friends and we spur each other on.

I've lost 1/2 stone since February but it was more about feeling fitter and having more energy for me and it's really helped with that.

Good luck!

I struggle too but I get up at 5.30 2 days a week and exercise for half an hour at home, 2 days a week I go to the gym for an hour between dropping DS at nursery and going to work. I'm lucky that it's my own company so I can be a bit flexible with my hours. The alternative is I can go after work before picking DS up from nursery. On a weekend I go to the gym at 7am for an hour.

I have tried exercise at home in the evenings and I just can't do it now. I used to but I'm so tired now, I'd rather an early night and get up early! Easy at the moment but not sure how I'll cope when it's dark at 5.30am!

I don't manage it either. I am exhausted from having two under four and working full time with an hour commute each way. Some stuff just needs to get dropped and it always seems easiest to drop stuff for me so haircuts, exercise, social life. I figure it's not forever and when kids are older I may find it easier as will hopefully be getting more sleep too.

In the meantime, I try and make is all go out in the fresh air a lot at weekends, do stairs not lifts, walk in my lunch break when I get one etc.

I think to make it work now, I would need to really prioritise it over other things like doing bedtimes off the kids etc but I already feel guilty for working and bedtime is one of my favourite bits of the day so I choose that.

This is my issue too, OP. I think motivation is part of the problem but in all honesty I don't know how I would fit in regular exercise.
Up at 5.45am, drop DD at nursery at 8.00am, dash into work and stay until approx 5.30pm then collect DD and get home for 6.00pm. By the time DP and I (sometimes DD) have dinner together and then put DD to bed it's 8.00pm and I settle down to working again - planning and marking as I'm a teacher. Bed time is rarely before 11.00pm. This is every night except for the weekend when it's seeing family, cleaning, shopping or taking DD out. I'm sure I could fit in a couple Of HIIT sessions and aim to do a bit of a walk but I am worn out with just staying on top of work.

OP, I don't know what the answer is but you're not alone I feeling like this.

Try doing something during lunch. 3-4 times a week (maybe 2-3 now that I'm 7 months pregnant) I gym during lunch.
You can do a class if it's close and it's 45min. Plus I'm way more productive in the afternoon after a work out so the company doesn't have a problem if I cut 5/10 min into company time.

My husband looks after my children whilst I ride my horse for a couple of hours each day at the weekend. I also do a bit of yoga using the Yoga Studio app and can ride in the evenings if I need to. Plus family dog walks. When the new baby arrives I plan to start power walking (I can't jog!) with the buggy when the first is at pre-school.

I ran the London marathon when my son was 13 months old. I ran to work most days, ran back as well if I needed to make up distance (I live around 4 miles from the office), Parkrun on Saturday morning with my son in the running buggy and long run on Sunday while DH took the little guy to swimming lessons. It was a personal worst time in the end of 4:53 but still got it done. If you're motivated enough you'll make it happen.

We walk lots, the school is up a massive hill which means walking there twice a day.

Some exercises classes allow babies and toddlers - mine does. Maybe search in your area? Good way of tiring out your toddler too!

Get a chin up bar and gym rings - total cost about £50 BUT make sure you put them on a load bearing doorway.

Even if you can't do chin ups you can do progression and auxiliary exercises such as rows and ring push ups as well as L-sits and dips.

You can make a workout from Youtube to utterly kick your ass in 30 minutues inc warmup. I;ve done this with my boys in the living room much to their amusement!