To think I don't have time to exercise?

[puglife15]

I really struggle to see when I'd fit it in. Typical day looks like this:

6.30 wake up
7 DH goes to work
7-8 get DC and myself ready for school/nursery/work
8-9 commute/drop off
9-5 work (30 mins lunchbreak)
Get home by 6
6-7.30 play and do bedtime, DH back from work
7.30-8.30 cook and eat
8.30-10.30 clear up, chores, admin, often extra work etc
11 bed

Get up 45 mins early or alternate nights he cooks while you exercise

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/aug/12/ironman-triathlon-toddler-twins-demanding-job

I don't necessarily think doing the iron man when you have toddler twins and a full time job is a great idea, but it does show you can always find time to exercise, if you really want to.

Worryingly 80% of people don't do enough to meet even basic levels of fitness. The ramifications to are wide.

Yes Saturday Sunday plus one Wednesday exercise would be a start

How old are the children? Take them out on their bikes for half an hour when you get in whilst their tea is cooking. Cycle with them or walk/jog alongside. Fun for them and exercise for you.

Whydoes OP have to make time for exercise?

She doesnt. But she asked the question. So people are answering. Exercise is good for you body and mind.

Getting kids ready and being at home doing house work doesnt get anyone fit. If it did all sahp would be super fit. Thats not the case.

If the OP doesnt want to exercise thats her choice. But she asked if people thought she could.

cherry I agree.
Exercise is fairly crucial to health. As I grow older I realise the importance more than ever, and thank my lucky stars that I have exercised for decades.
I approach my 60s- I can run 10K, I push more weights than my counterparts in the gym in their 20s, I run up stairs, I climb on walls, do a full lotus, I wear size 10 clothes. I see some friends my age who are sluggish, ill, seizing up, overweight, they feel terrible.
Exercise is a key that we all should embrace.

I get up 2 hours before anyone in this house to go to the gym. I'm back before anyone is up

With getting her child sorted out in the mornings, getting to and from work, and cooking and chores in the evenings, she seems to get more exercise than many

No she does not. Helping a child put on a school uniform is not exercise. Nor is driving/commuting to work. Nor is chopping an onion.

She doesn't HAVE to do it. Nobody HAS to stay healthy. Lots of people want to though.

Are you doing 2 lots of tea - one for your kids and one for you and DH? That's a waste of time right there - cook 1 meal and eat together, and DH have his when he gets back?

Also what about weekends? In your situation though I'd be less worried about exercise and more bothered about having any time for something fun in life.

I think exercise is actually very energising - the op may find she has more energy overall if she manages to squeeze it in.

What's your commute? Can you cycle/run a bit of it?
6:15 get up and do 45 mins?
Drop some chores in the eve and do then or swap bedtime stuff with DH so one night he does it all and vice versa. Freezer meals to cut time on cooking.
There is always a way. Even 10 mins core exercises - will make you feel better. Start small then build up x

I do classes 3 evenings a week after 7.30 3 hours of both of you home should be plenty of time to fit in a 45 min work out. I have friends who work out at home and some who do 6am work outs. If you want to you can figure it out and make it work.

Ceto, I don't think doing the washing up or packing her kid's lunch is going to raise her heart rate or preserve / build muscle mass to keep her healthy. What a low fitness standard to hold your body to, when it has so much potential.

The best possible exercise over a certain age is walking and soft gentle exercise. Your bones are weakening and waning and need looking after.

Absolute grade A bullshit

If your bones 'are weakening' you need to be doing weight-bearing and/or high impact exercise to increase bone density
Ideally, you need to have been doing this for decades beforehand so you don't end up with weak bones in the first place

I wonder what that "certain age " is?

And how does walking exercise the upper body? Or give cardio work out? Or strengthen core? Or maintain flexibility?

Walking is a cop out for unfit people.

Why are you doing all the cooking and chores in the evening? Why can't DH cook a few nights a week?

That being said finding the path of least resistance is the way to go. Build it into your commute. Get off the train a stop early and walk. Park further away. If it's a short enough distance, cycle.

Or get a dog that you have to walk.

Walking is a cop out for unfit people.

I hate being his attitude. I've noticed an increasing level of "aggressive" fitness on social media so unless you are doing mountain climbers/ bear crawls / weights etc you're not exercising.

Everyone including the unfit has to start somewhere. DH lost two stone just by walking.

There's walking and there's walking! Walking fast to raise your heart rate and improve your fitness is very different from ambling down to the shop.

I used to do extreme housework to keep myself fit after I'd binned my cleaner. If you do it fast and use lots of elbow grease, a 4-6 hour session burns a lot of calories

Walking is great for fitness if you're doing lots of it at a good pace. A daily five mile walk up and down hills would be more beneficial then a daily slow flat ramble for half an hour. But a slow flat ramble is better then nothing.

Agree with those saying build it in to your commute. It's the easiest way to exercise without spending loads of time on it and has the added benefit of usually cutting your commuting costs.

Its a good idea to do some weights as well but that's easily achieved by buyysome hand weights of a reasonable size ( think 4kg plus nothing pink) and do 10 mins of weight exercises every other day.

I found getting a fitbit very motivating to help me get my steps and check on my heart rate. Walking can be an excellent exercise if you're walking briskly enough to elevate your heart rate.

I get up at 5am and am at the gym for 5.30. I'm not the only one there either! If there isn't a gym near you or if you don't like it, you could do morning runs or dvds in your front room (you wouldn't have to get up quite so early then either)

It does sound like you have a busy day though.

It all depends on what the op eants to achieve. If she wants to achieve anything at all.

Brisk walking is good. Burns calroies, raises heart rate. If she wants to get fit, that would need to be developed into running.

Any exercise is better than none.

I do half an hour on the exercise bike 2 mornings a week (I get up at 6am, the DC (both pre schoolers) get up at 6.30. Another 2 days I do a HIIT or kettle bells workout. Long walks with the DD's at the weekends. A Pilates class one night a week (it starts at 7 so DH does bedtime and has dinner ready and chores done when I get home)

I had a child who woke if I so much as moved my eyelashes, so I never did the getting up early option. I would agree that trying to build it into the commute might be simplest and also most enjoyable during the week. If you can find the money for a cargo bike (they will sell for almost exactly what you pay for them btw) you could cyule the kids to school, lock up the cargo bike at school, use an ordinary bike to do at least part of the way to work.

Alternatively, do less home stuff in the eveningredients and more of it in the morning so you have more evening time. As I had an early riser and hated it, I had to keep moving in the morning or i would have fallen asleep. I usually cooked the dinner, did a few basic chores etc, leaving some free time in the evening to cry and drink exercise.

Or just stick to the weekend.