Working parents - what's your workout schedule look like?

jasonsunlee

It's tough... I have 3 kids (7,4,3). I get them to knock down around 10pm or 10:30pm at latest and then I'm off to the gym. The first few months of late night work-outs really kept me wired and up at night. Almost a year into the process, I'm the healthiest I've ever been and I sleep like a baby after getting home from the gym and showering.

I go about 5-6 times a weeks and now enjoy the fact that there are less people in the gym. I'm usually in the gym 2 hours.

MommyMeggo

Weekdays I get up 30mins early (at 4:10)and ride my recumbent bike 30-45mins.
1 hour ride each morning on the weekend.
I walk my entire lunch hour M-F.


Ill pick up some weights to work the arms when I remember.
After my knee injury in June I cant do all the components of the 5x5's I was doing...otherwise that would be in there in the evenings 3 nights a week when my 3 Littles hit the sack at 7:30.

Bedtime is 9pm usually, Im beat.

Nicki_pick

Dang Jasonsunlee! So late!!! I.WOULD.DIE. but I'm glad that works for you. What time do you get up in the mornings??

MiamiSeoul

5a.m. and I've started using any TV time to march/walk/run; do crunches/squats/free weights. You can do it!

Nicki_pick

Okay.... seems like the majority of you feel as though mornings -really EARLLLLLYYYY mornings work best for busy fam life. I think I'll try that out, as well as trying to do a bit on my breaks. Thanks again everyone. This has been so helpful

cwolfman13

Nicki_pick wrote: »

Just wondering how you juggle your schedule between work and family and taking care of YOUR SELF? Where do you fit in your workouts during your day? Is it something you schedule in or do you just fit them in where ever you find a gap in your schedule? How many times a week and for how long a duration?

My training is scheduled.

I usually ride either in the early morning or during my lunch hour during the week. As we get into fall and winter it will be lunch hour evening...I like riding early in the summer...usually out on my bike by 5:00-5:15.

My wife and I alternate gym time...I have Mondays and Wednesday evenings...my wife goes Friday late afternoon but she usually runs on Tuesday and Thursday evenings while I take care of the kiddos and get dinner for ourselves going. I like taking a longer ride on one of the weekend days and leave one open for rest/recovery and general family fun time.

Nicki_pick

Cwolfman13 - I absolutely love that you and your wife support eachother so much in this area!! That is the ideal situation for anyone I think.

Nicki_pick

GuitarJerry wrote: »

Up at 4am.

Youchhhh! That's hardcore!

JenHuedy

I'm up a 4:15am to feed & walk the dogs.

Then Mon-Wed-Fri I run 3/4 mile to the gym so I can get there when they open at 5. Lift about 45 min and run back home. Tues-Thur I run outside for an hour or treadmill in the basement if the weather is uncooperative.

Then a quick shower before I wake up the kids at 6:30 and make sure they get themselves off to school while I finish getting ready for work.

Leave for work at 7:30; walk during lunch hour; home at 5:45. Cook supper and prep lunches for next day. Watch tv on the treadmill if I haven't gotten my 15,000 steps for the day.

Bed at 9 in I'm lucky. Usually closer to 10.

They kids are 14 & 17 now, so it's easier then when they were little. Hubby worked out-of-town when they were younger it was a lot harder to get a regular routine. That's when I got into the habit of walking outside on my lunch hour and on the treadmill while watching TV in the evening.

robininfl

Nicki_pick wrote: »

Okay.... seems like the majority of you feel as though mornings -really EARLLLLLYYYY mornings work best for busy fam life. I think I'll try that out, as well as trying to do a bit on my breaks. Thanks again everyone. This has been so helpful

Whenever you can find the time - I do early mornings now, but when my older kids were little and I was in college, I'd take night classes that ended at 9pm and work out after that. I would never have thought I could be a morning exerciser back then - the workouts got me tired then I'd go to sleep.

When I had to drive across town to take one to diving practice, there was jazzercise nearby so I'd drop her off and go do that - they had babysitting for the littles.

Now it's the early mornings, and evening yoga, because it fits in.

You just have to make it a priority, and find the time that works for your current situation. Then hold to it.

mommarnurse

joemraz66 wrote: »

My primary mode of exercise is biking, which I do down in the basement, in front of a computer (virtual traine/Zwift). I used to run a lot, but knee pain/trouble makes it a lot less enjoyable now-a-days.

I bike around 130 miles a week which typically takes around eight hours over the course of a week. Depending on what I have on my training calendar I ride in the morning before work or when I get home. If it's a 30 minute recovery ride, I'll do it in the morning. Longer rides are done at night.

I'm typically on the bus heading to work at around 6:30A and back home around 6P.

When it's all said and done, it really comes down to the importance of exercise for you and what you are willing to put off/compromise. If you take a step back and honestly analyze your day you will see that doing some form of healthy activity is easily achieved by taking as little as 30 minutes to do it.

My sister has her three kids chase after her on their bikes while she runs. There is always time to exercise while still being a caring parent.

While I bike I watch TV/Netflix. I watch the same amount of shows weekly (maybe a little more now) but no longer from the "couch" position.

I do the same with the kids on their bikes!

enterdanger

I can't do mornings without injuring someone. Not a morning person. So I usually go on my lunch at work (we are lucky enough to have a gym in the building) or I'll go around 9pm when the kids are finally in bed. The only time I have at home with my kids during the week is from about 6:15pm - 8:30pm so I'm not inclined to let anything, even exercise cut into that time. On the weekends I'll sneak an early gym trip in...early for me is like 8am. Or we will do something fun together like the pool or pokemon hunting. My little buggers are 3 & 5 so we don't do much bike riding yet.

mommarnurse

Well, it's really difficult sometimes. Sometimes you have to be creative and the schedule is never the same. Since I work 3-4 12hr shifts a week, I do the most on my days off since my 3 kids are all in school. If I can't get my exercise in in the morning on my days off, I'll wait til after dinner around 7pm to get a run in, or before dinner maybe a class at the Y I will do. I can let the kids spend the night at my in-laws the night before so she can take them to school and I can go to the gym for an early class and/or early run before work the next day. I try to get in 10-15 miles of running a week mixed with 1-2 fitness classes a week at the Y (strength training, kickboxing, crossfit format, etc). I've been know to take the kids to baseball practice and run around the area to get in my run. it's all a matter of priority if you're willing to put in the effort to "make it fit".

Nicki_pick

enterdanger wrote: »

I can't do mornings without injuring someone. Not a morning person. So I usually go on my lunch at work (we are lucky enough to have a gym in the building) or I'll go around 9pm when the kids are finally in bed. The only time I have at home with my kids during the week is from about 6:15pm - 8:30pm so I'm not inclined to let anything, even exercise cut into that time. On the weekends I'll sneak an early gym trip in...early for me is like 8am. Or we will do something fun together like the pool or pokemon hunting. My little buggers are 3 & 5 so we don't do much bike riding yet.

Love it girl!

ElJefeChief

Up at 5:30ish, on the bike from 6-7am, pushups and crunches after that, if my back is feeling OK, two 22 minute powerwalks during the day, maybe sneak in more crunches and pushups throughout the day to keep the blood pumping. Bed by 10:30ish. I do this 6-7 days per week. And it's not a chore at all - I really, really miss it when I don't get my workouts in.

Nicki_pick

Alright. Here's my plan- ease into waking up earlier to get my workout in. Tomorrow 5am I'll walk my dog to the town track and run some.

You guys...good lord!...are dedicated. So glad I posted this question!

So one more question.... those of you that work out late in the evening - does it not effect your sleep at all? I've done it a few times, but always sleep horribly afterwards. Is this something that happens to everyone? Does it eventually go away?

enterdanger

Honestly @nicki_pick I'm so tired at the end of the day I sleep like a rock even if I just went to the gym.

quiksylver296

I hit the gym in the evening while my son is at his sports practice (right now it's football, the rest of the year it's boxing). Practice is 1.5 to 2 hours, so I can always get at least 1 hour in at the gym. Dinner when we get home. In bed by 8:30, asleep by 9:00 usually. Up at 5:00.

rgbmore

After a ton of whining, I finally work out 5x's a week 6am-7am. I work full time, have a special needs child (and she HATES me working out at home, for some inexplicable reason), and she still doesn't sleep through the night.

I set my alarm and put it in my bathroom so that I have to get up and walk to turn it off. Right next to it are my workout clothes I set out the night before.
Go out and run for an hour
Get back right as baby girl is waking up, get us all to work/school/etc.

I go to bed at 10:30, she wakes up usually at 12:00 and 3:30 for 15 minutes each time if I'm lucky. I kept using that as an excuse to sleep in but really the extra hour didn't make much of a difference. I feel guilty when I workout when I could be spending time with her (since I work most of her waking day), so it has to be 6 am!