People who work, how on earth do you exercise?

[HeadFairy]

I work 3 or 4 days a week (7 day fortnight) but they’re long days, 12 hour shifts with an hour and a half travel time each way. I rarely get a lunch break and there are no shower facilities at work. I get up at 4.30am on a standard working day so before work isn’t practical and I don’t get home until 8.15pm. My days off are filled almost entirely with domestic stuff, housework, cooking ferrying teens around etc. DH does his fair share at the weekends, he works a 5 day week. I manage to get a short run twice a week but I know that’s not enough. I’m overweight and unfit. How on earth do people find time to properly take care of their fitness?

I go at 8pm but you're clearly not going to fit it in on your work days. You have more clear days than most though and surely on at least one your children are at school? The only answer is you carve out time to make it happen, just like you ensure the supermarket shopping or washing gets done. I personally think 3 times per week is fine for base fitness so you only need to find time for one more session.

It is really hard. I try to build exercise into my commute so one day a week I run to work (about 6 miles) and cycle 2 days. I have a lunch break which I use for a Pilates class once or twice a week. Everything else has to be fitted into the evenings or weekends - some are fine and I do everything, sometimes it just doesn’t happen. It sounds like you are absolutely flat out - are there any pockets on your non working days when you could book in for a regular class?

I’m impressed you are getting in two short runs tbh. Well done on that.

i guess you could try 10 min blasts of strength or mobility or cardio in the day, easier to fit in than a one hour session.

Op, you need to make it a priority and make time
You work three or four days a week, so on the days that you don’t work you need to make time for exercise.
It is all about consistency .
Fifteen minutes for a YT video three times a week

I’m not in your position but do think it’s about prioritising yourself (I know it’s hard). The other thing I used to find is that running takes so much time where as you can get a lot of benefit (if not more) from a 30-45 min weights workouts with someone like Caroline Girvan. Easier to fit in. There are also lots of 20 minute ones, short but at least you’re feeling you’ve done something.

When I worked long shifts I exercised on my days off. 3 days one week, 4 the following week. An hour each workout. I made it non negotiable unless my head was falling off.

Now I’m 9-5 I do it at 5am.

I know I need to do more, I’m not ageing well, joints starting to creak and I need to build muscle.

I don't work as long shifts as you, is the short answer. I do it first thing in the morning when I go to the office and between 5-6pm when I WFH.

i’ll look those up, thanks. I always thing charging around the house trying to clean/tidy up is good exercise but I do need something more targeted.

I think this has to be my solution. My worry is that such a short blast isn’t that effective

i have a gym in work that has circuit and spinning classes from 7-7:45 so I go and then have a shower there and change. At my desk for 8. I do that 2-3 mornings a week and then I walk for an hour 3-4 evenings too.

I do classes on my non-work days. Pilates twice a week and Yoga. On busy work days I just try to move where I can. I have an under desk treadmill I use along with standing desk, but that’s only helpful if you WFH.

I'm a single mum, work 5 days 8.30-5 but also have school runs to fit in.

I Parkrun 9am Saturday (teen ds still asleep), swim with ds Saturday afternoon, martial arts class with ds Sunday evening, run one evening a week while the supper is simmering.

I've just discovered I can cycle to work without going in traffic, so I'll do that during the summer holidays (no school run).

I go at a weekend ( so days off) and once in the week. It is a commitment and it can be difficult but it’s another thing I have to do

As I get older I think things like yoga/pilates are vital. Could you do a local yoga class once a week?
Also you mention your weight - and for me I really find that my weight is linked to my diet rather than the amount of exercise I do (or don't) do!

I forgot to say I also have 2DC so I go to the gym on the day that their dad drops them to School. I have separated and we have 50-50 custody. So it works for me that way.

I do short YouTube workouts every evening, around 8pm, before I get in the shower. Even doing ten minutes, I really noticed the difference in my fitness and energy levels.

Exercising at home is so much easier for me to fit in. As someone said above, you need to treat it like you do the weekly food shop. Appreciate it isn’t easy, but once you get into a routine, it just becomes something you barely think about doing.

YouTube workouts on days off.

Lucy Wyndham-Read is good. There are loads of others.

I go to the gym 3-4 times a week, but DC are teens and they get themselves ready for school and out. DS2 feeds the animals before school as he's usually up and at it. DS1 is a night owl. I also work remotely most of the time which makes it easier. I log off work, change and go straight out so I can't start doing anything else. I pre book my classes too as it's too easy to put it off if you're just doing something by yourself. I go to a CrossFit type gym and we often do stuff in pairs or a group that involves working together and if I don't show up I know I'm going to be letting folk down. Classes are usually 45 mins which is easier to fit into my day than, say, a long run.

I usually do Saturday morning as well, as DH takes DS2 to climbing and DS1 tends to sleep in. Climbing is their father/son thing, so I haven't ever got involved a great deal except going to competitions and helping him plan/pack for trips. I go to the gym on Saturday then go do all the weekly animal tasks (we have pygmy goats, chickens, and recently acquired a pair of babydoll sheep, who are adorable but incredibly stupid!)

All this would have been much more difficult when they were younger, I didn't have this routine before they were both in secondary. Working remotely helps massively too.

Can your husband do more housework int he weekly evening?

Weights at home are extremely effective, it go to gym straight after work. Not that I could do that after a long day.

Do you get a lunch break? Could you incorporate a walk into that? If you have 7 days per fortnight not at work, then you've got 7 days you can do some exercise. I wouldn't worry too much about the work days as that is a decent amount of exercise per 14 days

Early mornings at the weekend or late evenings after ds is in bed, DH works every other Saturday so it takes some juggling. If you're only at work 3/4 days you need to find time early or late on the days you don't work. I work 5 in 4 so 4 long days too.

Well I don’t work 12 hour shifts with no break for a start! You must be knackered! I start work at 9 so I get up at 6:30 to exercise, home by 8:30 work from home and shower at lunchtime.

Morning! After many years of battling my weight I had to bump my own wellbeing including exercise and eating all the way up to the top of my priority list. I had to give it loads of thought and energy as I realised otherwise nothing was going to change. Your work pattern looks really challenging so you’ll have to design a week that works for you, probably using the day off to prioritise your health over housework - and using your weekends for exercise too. For me, making it work looks like -

10k+ steps a day - walk the school run and get significant steps in before I start work at 9.30am. On office days I choose to get up early and walk 35 mins to station instead of drive. Ditto the weekend - big long walk as soon as I wake up to start the day well. I now always walk instead of drive where I can - to collect a parcel, collect a child (!) or nip to buy a couple of things from town. (It was 10k step target when I started this 18 months ago and now it’s regularly 15k-20k because I love walking and get out first thing, lunchtime, walk with family members in the evening. It’s a gamechanger.)

For the last six months I’ve done an exercise class three times a week. I book this in via the class app and again prioritise it over lots of other things - I get up early to do the 7am or 8am class if I
can. It’s an expensive class with a cancellation fee payable if it’s 24hrs or less notice, so I have to go! I’ve also finally found an exercise I enjoy and look forward to.

My main tip is that if you want it to happen, you have to quite aggressively prioritise it. My kids are teens/nearly-teens now. I couldn’t have done it when they were smaller, it’s the freedom to leave them at home for an hour to go for a walk or a class that gives me the time, whether DH is in or not.

Not what you asked, but in this 18 month period I’ve had to transform my eating to go alongside this - I started off doing the Fast800 Michael Moseley plan very strictly, alongside calorie counting on My Fitness Pal. Again, buying the ingredients and cooking them took some effort but the recipes are simple and tasty - and I was a woman on a mission! I now still eat carefully but less strictly, and prioritise high protein.

Long story short - in my experience you have to really want to exercise, and put a lot of effort in to make it happen! Life for me was too busy and I never built exercise in. It’s worked for me for the first time in my life and I now see that fitter/healthier/slimmer people with exercise and nutrition in their life have actively made it happen, and spent a lot of headspace making it do so. Your working pattern sounds super challenging but I hope some of the above resonates to make it work for you. Good luck!

I carved out the time- for me that meant 6am on weekdays and weekends a little later but still in the morning before I get on with the day. I wouldn’t try on your working days- long shifts. But on your non working days treat it like another task, if you had to
do something for the family additionally on those days you’d find the hour. Make yourself a priority.