To think getting enough exercise is ridiculously hard?

[lemonzest123]

I'm on my way home from work and I'm supposed to be going to a training session this evening at 8pm...first one of the course, the only sport I truly, truly love. Except I'm not going to go because I'm so exhausted I could fall asleep right here and now if I shut my eyes.

I don't even have DC! I just work (45 hours per week plus some evenings) and spend a lot of time with my DH and DF on weekends, which involves quite a bit of travelling around.

Does anyone actually get the required 30 mins 4 times a week?? Please tell me I'm not alone.

Feel like a lazy slob!

Go! I am always falling asleep but drag myself to ride the horse and feel so much better after

Argh! Hope you make it on time lemon!

Am I'm Uber but just realised haven't exactly shaved underarms or legs

Go for lunchtime walks?

I drive 25 miles to work then park a mile away and power walk 20 mins in. So I get 2 x 20 mins 5 x per week. I often still do a lunch time gentle stroll.

It is so bad for your health to be inactive. It's not hard to go for a walk if you really want to, google how bad inactivity is and if you still CBA then saddle up for the health risks.

No one will notice your hairy pits and if they do, fuck em, you're there and you're awesome! If they have time to think about that, they're not working hard enough

I could speedwalk to work in the morning; might stop me being late!! I take a cab in the evening

Oh, and while YA kinda BU, I get where you're coming from! I always have to drag my tired and sorry arse out the door, even for exercise I truly love, but I never regret it!

Twice a week gym 20 minute workout
Once a week swimming 30 minutes
Walk dogs twice a day
I like going so it's easy. After the gym I go in the steam room or sauna for 10 minutes so it feels like a bit of an indulgence.
I do try to go before or around 6pm though, by 8pm I would have to force myself.

My dog has to be walked three times a day or he wrecks the kitchen.
So there's no choice but to walk him. Mind you, that's all I do. I have never liked exercise classes.

I made it with two mins to spare! Thanks Mumsnet. Ill let you know if I do any cool tricks!

Yay! Well done

Its hard. I am up ridiculously early at 5 a week to excersise before I go to work. I do lots of activity stuff during weekends and holidays to compensate too. If I don't excersise it really affects my moods.

Yes it is really really hard. I work full time. Kids now secondary age so take themselves to school on the bus (so no exercise on the school run anymore). I then drive to work so no opportunity to exercise from walking to bus/station. I have a very 20mins rushed lunch break (just enough time to actually eat and maybe look at my personal email) so no lunchtime walk for me. No other breaks during the working day either .as soon as I get in from work I'm doing housework or cooking dinner. Or I have to do a food shop on the way home or go to a medical appointment or dentist, or one of the kids do. Boring life admin. By the time all of that is finished and I actually get to stop all the madness I am KNACKERED. I'm 44, I haven't got the stamina to just physically keep going these days.

So I sit down with a cuppa and rest after dinner and I'm usually so knackered I end up falling asleep. then I wake up, feel guilty that I haven't called my mum or sister or even said a word to DH so end up on the phone or emailing or online banking etc.

Then it's chasing the kids up to bed and by that time it's getting on for 10pm.

Surely this is the way daily life goes for most people who work full time and have kids and no cleaner. I am too fucking tired. Bone tired.

The only parents I know who exercise regularly are people who rely heavily on other people to keep it up. E.g. SIL goes to exercise classes one day each weekend and goes running too and gets loads of housework done as she asks my MIL to look after her kids all day. She doesn't work so also has plenty of other free time.

There is no way I would ever ask anyone else to mind my kids for a day every weekend just so that I could exercise and tidy up my house. I'm sure most people don't do that either, so what IS the secret?!

I don't think it's unreasonable to ask DH / DP to stay at home long enough so you can go for a run / gym/ swim. But I have friends who are doing marathons etc and I would struggle to take that much time for myself.

I manage to exercise 3 days a week - on my days not working. Can't face it on a work day. I work 11 hour days and can hardly even think when I get home.

Go, Op! Well done for going

I go in the mornings. I work 4 days a week but can't go when home with toddler as no crèche at my gym.

I tend to go for an hour at a time before work, have a personal trainer once a week, go at least one other weekday and then once over the weekend. I always feel better after a workout.

I think its a case of motivation. I hear many say they don't have time. I did an ironman a couple of years ago for which I was training 16 hours a week. I would run or cycle the 7 miles to work. In the evenings I would swim or run once the family were in bed. Some nights I would run from 9.30 to 10.30 and still be up with the kids at 6. I don't think I watched TV for 8 months. I find that you just need to get in to a routine and stick to it.

That's quite an extreme example, though, legrand. Your average person just wants to do enough exercise to keep fit, no, they would not have the dedication to do that amount of exercise.

When your alarm goes off at 6.15am, would you expect your average person to get up at 5.30 and go for a run? that would entail being asleep by 9.30pm the night before to get a good 8 hrs. Most can't get to bed that early.

And people don't WANT to have to forgo standard enjoyable things like watching your favourite TV programme just so they can go running between 9.30 and 10.30 at night. (It's not even safe to do that in many parts of the country)

I'm not saying it CAN'T be done. Clearly there are plenty of lunatics like you around () who enjoy doing extreme competitions like Ironman and so HAVE to exercise at wierd times. Just that for the average person they have to make a supreme effort to fit regular exercise into their busy lives.

It is so so hard. I do 3-4 sessions a week of running and 2-3 of yoga. More often than not I literally have to force myself. Always feel better after though.

I do because I have no kids and do shift work with two jobs but my gym is 24 hours which helps. Everyone is different don't put yourself down for it, have this one off but try book a later class tomorrow and get an early night tonight

Think it depends on what you call exercise though doesn't it?

I only manage to sporadically do 1 hour of official exercise once a week at a gym. More often than not I don't make it to the gym. However, I do quite a lot of unofficial exercise though with my dcs

• half hour walk there and back to playgroup
• running races with ds around the park
• walking around a park/zoo type place all day with dc.
• running up and down the stairs multiple times sorting out dcs.
• dancing around the kitchen with dc for 10 mins
• piggy backs etc with dcs.

So don't know if I do 30 minutes a day or not really. It feels like it though!

I have to exercise regularly or I stop sleeping and get very twitchy. I found this out when I started teacher training and started driving and suddenly went from a brisk mile to work and return plus walking all day around a hospital. After two weeks of my new lifestyle, I felt awful and went to a class at the leisure centre next day then felt normal again.

I found it hard to shoehorn in when I was teaching FT with two young children. I did a class Saturday morning, a run on Sunday morning and during the week, workload permitting shoved in a quick run or DVD at 6am if I wasn't up planning/ marking. By the time the DCs were in bed (night owls) I was too tired for nocturnal exercise, and generally had too much work to resume anyway.

It's much easier now I've dropped the "work" part of work/ life balance (side benefit, not my main reason!)

Exercise is energising though and worth the effort.

I had no problem working out regularly before I had children. Now I really struggle and I've got out of the habit. I could do it but would need to either sacrifice time with my child or sleep (because I work full time and commute). I'm making a choice to do neither, but I do at least admit to myself that it's a choice (albeit a shit one).