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?

Do less domestic stuff - if you have 2 days and they are teens the housework should be an hour giving you several hours a few days a week

ferry teens less - they shouldn’t have more then time than you

i used to run during teen class

Can you fit it into your commute at all e.g. cycle, walk or run part of it. I appreciate you don't have showers at work so running there isn't an option, but could running part way back work?

I got a bike on the cycle to work scheme intending to part drive and part cycle. In the end I haven't used it for that as cheap bus fares came in, but do use it every morning to cycle to another place I go to daily. Previously I was driving that. It took me 11 minutes each way to drive but 13 minutes to cycle it plus an extra minute either side for putting on / taking off extra clothing. At a cost of 6 minutes I get an extra 26 minutes of exercise and have cut fuel costs. When cheap bus fares end I will part cycle to work. I would cycle the whole way, but there is no safe route.

You can’t fit in much on your work days. I’d carve out an hour on your non-work days for a proper work out, and potentially do a 10-15 minutes YouTube strength session either when you come home or squeezing it in a break during work.

As others have said, diet is more the issue with weight rather than exercise levels. I used to work a very similar shift pattern (13 hours, three on two off, antisocial hours) and I had to be super organised with meal prep to make sure I didn’t just eat shit from the work vending machines. Trying to stick to regular eating habits is so, so important on shift work for both weight but also energy and sleep reasons.

I also couldn’t exercise on working days: I was absolutely broken at the end of a shift so I feel your pain. I had to treat exercise like a second job almost, as in a commitment on certain days that couldn’t be avoided.

Look at your diary and actually schedule exercise appointments in like any other appointment. Then you can see it coming, and make sure you are prepped for it. You need to prioritise yourself like any other health appointment, you are important, you deserve it and you need to be healthy for your kids.

I second Caroline Girvan or other YouTube strength based videos. 20 minutes of one of those twice a week, on top of twice weekly short runs, and you’ll be golden.

Simple: I don’t - with work, chores and DC, I’ve absolutely no time or energy. I aim to start again when DC leave home!

And you'd be right, I am afraid.

If you want to build muscle or strength you need longer than this, to warm up and progressively overload the muscles.

You are very busy so don't beat yourself up - and it will get easier. I agree with pp that you need to prioritise yourself. Less housework maybe? Can you spare any money to help - a cleaner or a PT once a week?

I would see what is available locally - some parks now have strength and fitness classes for example - it is often easier to commit to a regular slot I think if you have a busy family life even though it may seem like the other way round. Is there anything you could do with the teens? A boxing class? Park bootcamp? Tennis?

How active are you in general, on your work and domestic days? If reasonably active, I'd focus on finding time for strength training twice a week even if it means losing a run slot.

OP lots of threads on who to look at in the Exercise threads. Most of them have programmes of varying lengths which I find keep me motivated and I know I’m getting a balance. Here’s a list of the ones I’ve done and like:

Caroline Girvan (she’s quite tough, look at the CG thread, might not be best as a starting point if you aren’t very fit)
Growingannanas
Heather Robertson
Lucy Wyndham Read
Sydney Cummings

for Yoga
Yoga with Adrienne

I walk the dog and I do some YT videos when I can. I work five days a week so it’s hard to fit it in - I just do what I can and don’t stress about it.

The short answer is I probably do less housework than you.

I work full time but not long days so I can fit in exercise whenever and obviously that helps. But on my days off I make exercise my first priority with everything else fitting in around it. I actually can't even imagine getting up on a weekend and spending an entire day cleaning!

Get out of that mindset.

Get the teens to do more chores and buy yourself 30 mins a day to do something.

Every other week you have 4/7 days where you're not working so can exercise while they're in school.

Could you add weights straps to your arms/ legs while you’re doing house work? I’ve a 12 kg kettlebell on my stairs that I bring up and down when I work from home… also rowing machine behind sofa is great for 20 mins blasts . I follow dark horse rowing on you tube and watch tv at the same time

I drop little one at nursery 7:30am and take the dogs with me and then go for a run 7:30-8:15am. Then go to work.

I also have a treadmill so sometimes when baby is in bed at 7pm I do 30-40 minutes on the treadmill.

Your work days are long so I don’t think you’ll fit anything on those days but the other 3/4 days should be relatively easy to?

We don’t have a cleaner or anything, I work 4 days and husband 5 days and we both manage to fit exercise in regularly. I have to say getting the treadmill has made a big difference though.

You're already getting enough exercise for your health: do at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity a week or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity activity a week, says the NHS.

Almost all sources say small chunks of exercise are just as good for you as one 30-minute session and possibly even more beneficial.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/54mscpFxdQWZMk6jZbq3cWb/don-t-worry-about-going-to-the-gym-shorter-bursts-of-exercise-could-be-better-for-you

https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/short-bursts-of-exercise-may-offer-big-health-benefits (this study used two-minute bursts of exercise)

https://www.healthline.com/health/fitness/fit-it-in-mini-workouts
"Accumulated exercise over the course of the day is as effective as one continuous session. Don’t take our word for it — trust the science."

On work days, try and move as much as you can - park as far away in the car park as you can, use the loos on the next floor that sort of thing. And then on your days off, you just have to prioritise it. Think of it like an appointment. But the best way to lose weight is what you’re eating. Exercise only accounts for a small amount of movement a day. You need to eat less

I was going to say that I go to the gym at 6am, and get home in time to kick the teens out to school, but your work days sound brutal!

I'd concentrate on leaving exercise for your 3 or 4 days off. I find making a commitment - paying for a class, arranging to meet a friend etc - makes me go more than will power alone.

Yeah I don't think it's the lack of exercise that's the issue, it's you not putting you first.

• don't do domestic stuff (either let standard fall or let others do it)
• stop ferrying teens about
• potentially cut work hours
• find an exercise you are likely to enjoy
• don't expect exercise to change your weight, think of it more about overall health and looking after yourself. You will feel better, sleep better and probably eat better.

I swim and walk. Swimming is like a military operation but I fit it in cos I see it as medicine. Walking I do in and around everything. Exercise for me is more about mental health.

Working out at home just doesn’t work for me, there’s always people in the way, or other excuses, I look around the kitchen and see things that need doing. We don’t have much space and there is nowhere to can keep weights etc so they are close to hand. I do have a couple of dumbells in the kitchen though for a quick blast if I haven’t done enough strength that week.

Things at fixed times out of the house work for me. Parkrun on a Saturday morning (sometimes varying which one so I can drop teenagers to work). I joined the local sports centre, they have loads of classes daytime and evening all bookable on the app. I look for spaces in my week and book in and go, no excuses (unless eg a night out comes up). I work 3.5 standard days a week (none from home but less than half an hour commute). Get home, change and straight off to classes. Doing two different ones back to back saves on time getting to and from the sports centre, so I might do eg zumba followed by yoga. Go to the gym in the evening if there isn’t a class. When the DCs were mid teens/younger and still needing a lot of evening taxiing this was all harder, but I would put my running gear on and go for a run while they were playing football or whatever and go to classes on evenings when I wasn’t taxiing. Basically never stay in in the evening (on Fridays I do an early class at 5.30 and then flop on the sofa). The only issue with working out in the evenings is fitting dinner in around it, I tend to eat my main meal in the middle of the day at work now.

So on a typical week I will fit in 5 classes plus parkrun, walks as and when I can, trying to incorporate some hills. Stretches at home. I’d like to do more, but all this is loads better than I was doing a few years ago. House is a bt of a mess but exercise takes priority.

@HeadFairy

do the teens really need quite so much ferrying about from you? Public transport??

I work to the mantra of "something is better than nothing". Even short workouts add up and help. I do Joe Wicks and Own Your Goals (Davina McCall) at home in the morning before breakfast. Start with 15 mins three times a week and build from there.

With your length of working day, there's no way I'd fit in any exercise on those days. I'd squeeze something in on as many of your days off as possible. Surely domestic stuff and ferrying teens can't leave you with no time at all?

I leave for work at 7:30 and get home at 5:30 ish, but often need to do a but more work in the evening at home (teacher). I go to a pilates class 2 evenings a week but am currently failing to do much more than that, other than a dog walk or two at the weekend. I'm thinking of using the gym at work some days instead of working in school between 3:30 and 4:45, then doing more work at home. I'm a bit frazzled and unproductive straight after school anyway.

I try to always go to the gym on Saturday and Sunday early evenings after kids activities are finished. And once during the week on my day off - strict routine of cleaning the house and Pilates/gym as a non negotiable as it makes me feel so much better. I do also try and walk as much as possible and frankly eat less than I used to as I’m perimenopausal and didn’t want to be on a slippery slope to weight gain.

What I would say is that having a personal trainer set routines and regularly adapt for me that did really challenge me rather than perhaps maintain how I was made the biggest difference if you’re looking to feel fitter or lose any weight.

I can't do workouts at home. I have tried, but it's easy to put to one side.
I do 2 classes a week, strength. One after work and one at the weekend. I try to run in the week, but that's not always possible. I try to do a run at the weekend too.

The trouble is, unless you actually love exercise, there's always something else you can be doing instead- like reading, or sleeping. Especially if your job makes you knackered.

I've been off this week, so I've been up early and had a little 5k every morning. But I'm already regretting not getting my lie ins banked!

Like a pp, my weight is more linked to food than exercise. I was injured the other year and couldn't exercise. I weighed less and was slimmer, because I was more conscious that I had to eat less. For dh, exercise is a magic bullet every time. It's not fair.

I work a normal 9 to 5, but only in the office 2 days a week.

I go to the gym after work on my 2 office days and Sunday morning. I walk my dog about 3 hours a day (more at weekends) and get up at 5.30 on one of my WFH days to go swimming.

Have you thought about swimming to get you into a routine? If you think you're too busy, you could swim in a morning on your days off, shower at the pool and then think you haven't lost that much time as you'd shower anyway?

A short blast of actually lifting weights or jacking your heart rate up is more effective than assuming you’re getting much or any exercise “charging about the house” and it’s a good start!

prioritise it in your off days, you’re part time so don’t worry about the long work days and join a class or soMe Thing when you’re not working. You’ll be able to fit the other stuff round especially if kids are teens.