To ask how you fit in exercise?

[drspouse]

I currently work 4 days and so does DH but he commutes quite a long way so I do most of the drop offs and pick ups. He does WFH sometimes but not on a regular day.
I cycle to work mostly on the day he's at home and I try to cycle with DD who currently goes to my workplace nursery but a) she's 4 and heavy and b) often I have too much to carry as her seat only allows one small pannier.
She's starting school in Sept but I'll still be doing at least 75% of the school runs.
I have a horrible hamstring pain at the moment so I want to do some yoga but leaving aside that many of the local classes close for the summer, they are all at 8 am (useless for school run) or 5 pm (ditto after school club).
I also really need to do some aerobic exercise - I do 10K steps most days with school run/errands/dashing to meetings at work but it's not helping me lose weight sadly.
So do share your secrets!
I'm happy doing gym classes but the machines leave me cold.
I'm in the kind of job where I have a meeting at 12, 1 and 2 one day but then can take a bit over an hour the next but it's not massively regular. Not sure I could fit in a full gym class plus shower at lunchtime regularly.
Weekends are quite full on (two DC, older awaiting SEN diagnosis, we try to both have a breather away from the DCs but we do have to schedule them, and us therefore, to help them both feel like they know what's happening).
Pre DCs I cycled more, but also went for a lot of long walks that they can't do. I also have annoying chest infections most winters!

I work out at home with video from YouTube. Kids can join in or do their own thing. Or I do it when dc asleep.

I work 4 (very long) days and DH is fulltime.
I do a boot camp on my day off (my DC are at school but several other people bring their preschoolers with them). I go for a run with a local running club one evening a week (after DC in bed) and with friends one weekend morning, usually before DC wake up. Or sometimes I take them with me to the local park and do laps while they play.

There are lots of yoga videos on YouTube and amazon prime, sometimes I do those as well although I much prefer being outside!

I have a yoga app. I started with the DVDs by the same guy, but after a while got bored. The app is £6 a month or so and has literally hundreds of workouts with more added weekly ranging from yoga for people who have to do it sitting down to major advance gravity defying stuff that I can't do yet.

The workouts are split into different sections according to time and level of challenge and I manage five days a week - some days it's twenty minutes, a couple of times a week it's an hour. It's made a massive difference to my general health / weight / body shape and there's a friendly chatty Facebook group too so it doesn't feel too isolating either.

I may have a day off without the DCs Sept-Dec so that might help. After that I'm changing my hours so would have to rethink.
Neither of my DCs would join in or cooperate sadly.
I can possibly do yoga once they are in bed but bedtimes can be a struggle so starting something aerobic at 9 would be a recipe for insomnia!
I am crap at running - our women's easy run locally is at 6 (DH usually home about 6.45, and when he is home to do pickup I work till 6) and last time I tried running with a proper club I was way way behind everyone else! And I was 15 years younger then... I'm just not a runner.
There's also a women's cycling club but their shortest rides are 4x what I can manage and they mainly go out on weekdays when I'm at work!
I'm definitely a wannabe exerciser, not a sports person.

If you do yoga on the TV/app, how do you tell if you're doing it right?

I bought a cross trainer and a treadmill and have them set up in the garage as with 2 dc and a husband that works shifts I really struggle to get to the gym

Jessicasmithtv on YouTube and the Down Dog yoga app! Both have sessions ranging from 5/10/15 minutes up to over an hour. If you're really short on time whilst little ones are little, get into the habit of doing a 5 or 15 minute something whenever you've got a chance, as many times a week as possible. It'll get you into good habits and get you fitter, then as they grow up and you may have a little more time, you've already made a head start on your exercise.

I can see myself doing videos at home but given how I feel about the gym machines they would just gather dust!

Down Dog app has videos! So the lady on the screen does all the positions as you do them - So I just sneak a peek to see if I look like her! And the spoken instructions are very detailed depending on which setting you have it. She tells you exactly where to put each part of your body and how it should feel.

Thanks argu that's a good point.
I do the odd 5-10 mins on a weekend morning (with a child hanging off me for added resistance) already. I could maybe do a bit more in the evenings, at least that much, unlikely to be an hour!

Get up earlier than anyone else. I do an hour and a bit at the gym most days, and am home and showered for 7.30am.

I'm afraid I'm massively uncoordinated and I can't really tell if I look like the instructor, I never have been able to.

You don't have to be 'good' at running to run, and you don't have to run with a club.

Findo DH leaves at 7 when he commutes. Sometimes earlier. So he'd need me back by 6.30/6.45. Ain't going to happen, sorry!

I do a 7.00 am yoga class twice a week.
Body pump at 9 am twice a week.

But I only work part time and my youngest is 18.

No that's true about running but you do need to not be at work and not have the DCs with you!

speak I can't do anything at 7 or 9. Sadly that is when classes are, here, too.

I run between 9.30 & 10.30pm. I only do about 30 mins. I have some weights and a step in the garage I do HIIT with.

I walk the school & nursery drop off, pick up so I do about 22000 steps a day.

I work full time and so does my dh. We have children also. I get up at 6 am every morning and do yoga from 7-8 in a studio. I love it and it really sets me up for the day. It can be hard to make time but sometimes you have to be selfish and take the time until it becomes part of everyones routine. I like the fact that I have my exercise done before my day starts and I don't have to think about it then.

I used to do lunchtime classes but they are abit of a faff and it's easy to not bother when you have meetings or are feeling tired.

Evening exercise is too much for me I am wrecked after the day and just want to sit down and relax for an hour before bed.

Even if you got out for a walk at lunch time and could manage a class or 2 a week it would be a start. How are weekends I try and fit in a pilates class on Sat and Sun, early it doesn't take up the day.

I'm massively uncoordinated too OP, and probably never look much like the actual yoga lady! But I figure so long as I'm stretching and sweating, I'm probably doing myself more good than harm, even if I'm not doing it perfectly. There's introduction and beginners levels which are really easy once you get the hang of them. I would say just give it a go! But these threads can feel pressuring sometimes which isn't nice, so I don't want to do that.

Re running - can't you get up early (ref my earlier post) so you can go out while your husband is still home? What time does he leave in the morning?

Ah, just seen your earlier reply. That's still do-able but I admit, definitely less so.

Mysweet I can't do a class then, or any time after 6.30 am, as I've said. And I'm not doing a class at 5.30 am (even did such a thing exist).
I'm also knackered at night
If I did running at 9.30 pm well, a) I wouldn't but b) I wouldn't sleep.
My ideal time for exercise would probably be 9 am (or 8, or 10) but obviously that's out.

I do a mix, a lunchtime gym class a couple of times a week when meetings permit (I take more than an hour but work long hours when needed so it's acceptable in my workplace), an early morning workout once per week at home and a DVD at the weekend. I use DVDs I already have, or the fitness blender website. I would love to get out running again, and need to work out where it fits in!

It looks like DVDs are your best option, or something like You Are Your Own Gym by Mark Lauren - a book with an app to follow if you want that too. You can devise your own bodyweight workouts to do at home. Cardio can be short bursts, doesn't have to be sustained effort for an hour, and you can do stuff in house too.

I exercised at home for years when my kids were tiny; I do recommend it but I think it's good to have a solid routine because otherwise it's too easy to sack off.