How do you fit your exercise around work?
Ezciren
Posts: 20
Hi,
I'm looking to lose 30lbs before christmas and to do this I have completely cut out all bad snacking, fried goods and carbs in the evenings. I also want to start doing more exercise but I'm finding it really hard to motivate myself before and after work. Does anyone have any tips or easy exercises that they can suggest?
I'm looking to lose 30lbs before christmas and to do this I have completely cut out all bad snacking, fried goods and carbs in the evenings. I also want to start doing more exercise but I'm finding it really hard to motivate myself before and after work. Does anyone have any tips or easy exercises that they can suggest?
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Replies
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I get up at 4:10 to be at the gym by 4:30.
Don't really have tips or "easy" exercises. Either you want it or not, IMHO.0 -
When I'm in our home office, it is pretty easy:
- Cardio in a fasted state in the morning
- Strength training at around 2pm (late lunch lasting about 45 minutes)
When I'm on the road (which is about 50% of the time):
- Hit or miss
- Still do cardio in the morning in a fasted state
- Strength training is after work, but not as consistent.
Either way, I try to kill it on the weekends.0 -
I get up at 4:10 to be at the gym by 4:30.
Don't really have tips or "easy" exercises. Either you want it or not, IMHO.
^^^This^^^
Sucks to high heaven at first but you gotta do what you gotta do.
The Only viable alternative is if you live close enough, train to work i.e. run to or from work, cycle whatever. Easiest way to get a cardio fix in.0 -
I wake up at 5:15, get to the gym at 5:30, similar to RGv2.
Exercise isn't easy. If its easy, it ain't exercise. Cheap exercises you can do without spending money: Running. Push-ups. Pull Ups. Crunches. More running. Squats. Lunges. Etc. Take a look at this: http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2009/12/09/beginner-body-weight-workout-burn-fat-build-muscle/
Otherwise, go to the gym. Pick up new rules of lifting for women, and start picking up heavy things.0 -
It can be hard at first, I would suggest that if you do have a gym membership that you go to the gym on your way home from work, do not stop at home first. Also, I like to sign up for outside exercise classes. The simple fact that I paid for them is usually a good motivator for me to get my butt in gear. It is just like changing your eating habits really, make a committment to yourself, make a daily appointment for exercise and live up to it.0
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I go for runs on my lunch break, sometimes taking extended lunch breaks. I take walks a couple of times a day as well. To be completely honest, you need to find something to keep your eye on the ball either before or after work if working out during your work day isn't an option. This isn't going to be easy and that's just the straight up truth.
You can try some things to try to remind yourself and get yourself to the gym/working out before or after work or to help get some extra physical activity in:
- Take the stairs rather than the escalator/elevator
- Park farther away
- Litter your life with post-its on why you want to change. Post them up in your office, bedroom, bathroom, pantry, on the fridge, on the door to your place, etc.
- Keep a packed gym bag so you've got everythinig you need to workout right when you leave. Better yet, change right before you leave and head straight for the gym
- Find a friend to workout with you and help keep yourselves accountable.
- Find a group activity (i.e. a class, a running group, etc) and join. They usually have specific scheduled workouts each week.0 -
You need to, sorry to use such an over abused phrase, "just do it." I finally settled in to the best time for me: 5am. I was originally working out around 8pm, after my kids went to bed. But I found that I really had to dig deep to find the motivation to complete my workout, be it cardio or lifting. So I tried doing it immediately when I got home form work. Again, FAIL.
Finally, I got out of bed one Monday morning at 4:50am, let my dogs out to go potty and, once they were back in the house, I was downstairs in my basement warming up to lift at 5am. The next morning, I did the same thing and was in my gym by 5am on the treadmill to run for an hour. I am ALWAYS done and in the shower by 6am. I head downstairs for breakfast around 6:30.
It was tough for a few weeks until my body got in the groove so to speak. I had to go to sleep a little earlier, but I am finding a LOT of benefits to that time of the morning. First and foremost is that I'm all jacked up and ready to go after my shower. My energy level is WAY higher. But the best thing is eating breakfast with my kids every day. They always manage to creep downstairs between 6:30 and 6:40am to get some alone time with dad...
Bottom line to a looooong and drawn out post? Try a few different times throughout the day. But don't do it just one or two days, try it for a week, see how you feel, write it down. Try a different time the next week, and the week after that until you find the one that makes YOU feel like you've actually accomplished something, Best wishes!0 -
I make it a point to fit it in. It helps to figure out when your body is more willing to cooperate with excercise. I'm not an early morning excerciser. I can do 10pm for body weight strength though. I use the You Are Your Own Gym app because you can do it anywhere else
Running is my primary focus though. So if I know I'm going to be able to fit a run in during the day, I plan it for my lunch hour at work. If not, I plan to run commute home, 5 miles, 2 of it steeply up hill, pushing a jogging stroller. I'm able to fit 15-20 miles into the work week and a 10+ long run on Sunday.
Can you combine excercise with your commute? Bike to work?
About motivation, you may have to force yourself at first, but it gets easier as you keep at it.0 -
I'm lucky in that my gym is right around the corner and I have a 1 hour lunch break. No excuses.0
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I wake up at half 5 every morning and get to the gym at 6.0
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I get up at 4:10 to be at the gym by 4:30.
Don't really have tips or "easy" exercises. Either you want it or not, IMHO.
I agree with this 100%. If its important to you , you will find a way to make it happen.0 -
I get up at 4:10 to be at the gym by 4:30.
Don't really have tips or "easy" exercises. Either you want it or not, IMHO.
I agree with this 100%. If its important to you , you will find a way to make it happen.
Both of these.
I work out from 9 PM to 11 PM... and I work 3 jobs- 7 days a week (well not all of them 7 days a week- one full time job- and 2 part time jobs)
If it is important to you- you will make it happen. plain and simple.0 -
I get up at 4:30 in the morning to make it to the gym by 5. If I don't do it before work I dread it all day knowing I have to go after work. Unfortuantely, today is one of those after work days. Oh well, I can do it.:laugh:0
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I go after work. After a stressful day of work an hour in the gym is the perfect cure.0
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You just make time. I wake up at 6 in the morning do breakfasts for me my BF and two kids, lunches, get the kids ready, get myself ready, commute to work, work, pick up my kids, commute home, cook dinner, eat dinner and feed my kids, bathe my kids, feed my little one a bottle and lay her down by 8. I then work out from 8-9pm, put my older one to bed and read him a story directly after, take a shower and finally sit down by 9:30pm. Anything worth doing is usually a pain in the *kitten*. Good luck!0
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yup.I get up at 4:10 to be at the gym by 4:30.
Don't really have tips or "easy" exercises. Either you want it or not, IMHO.
I've been getting up at 5.15, leaving house by 6(ish), walk 12 minutes to the gym, and after workout/shower i catch the bus from there to work. and yes, this means (for me) that i have little time for anything else. but you know- i made me and my health a priority and it work for me.
as of mid-september when my gym membership runs out, i'll be able to get up a tad later and do my workout at home or do walking outside. (planning to do a mix of C25K and 30DS)
the trick (for me) is to have EVERYTHING prepared the night before. my gym bag is packed (towel, flip flops, toiletries, earphones, cothing for work) and my gym clothes (that i wear from home to gym) are set out. My food is ready in the fridge so i grab and go. make sure i have bananas and that i have coffee prepared (I drink french press cold coffee with milk). if i would have to start making lunch and looking for clean clothing i would never get out in the AM. On the weekends i spend a little time making sure i have food for lunches (salad fixins, cooked chicken brest etc) and enough sets of gym outfits.0 -
I am NOT a morning person and couldn't do that 4:30/5:00 thing if I tried. I work 10 hours a day and commute an hour each way, but I hit the gym (almost) every day right after work. Which works up a really nice appetite for dinner. And I still have time to decompress before going to bed at night. If you want something badly enough you'll make it work. Good luck!0
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I start work at 8 a.m. and don't get home till after 5 p.m. every day. Depending on my husband's schedule I usually get up at 5 a.m. and do my workout or I do it as soon as I get home from work. 90% of the time I get up bright and early.
I agree with the above poster...when I get up early to workout I make sure EVERYTHING is ready for me the night before so I just get out of bed and go right to it.0 -
I get up around 335am and get to the gym by 4. Whatchu gotta do is get out of bed as soon as the alarm goes off, therefore you're already out of bed and ready to go before your sleepy body realizes what you're doing. don't give yourself time to talk yourself out of it.0
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I have an hour lunch. So I fit it in there... two days aweek though, I extend my work day by 30 minutes so I extend my lunch hour by 30 minutes. It has worked for me so far. Because I can't even get up at 5:30 to get ready for the day... like hell I'm gonna be able to get up at 3:30... I wouldn't be able to see or talk to my family at all because I would have to go to bed the same time my toddler does, at 8pm. And I don't get home until almost 6pm...0
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I'm lucky that my boss is extremely supportive. The majority of the week I'm at bootcamp Mon/Wed/Fri from 8am-10am. Tues/Thurs I go to the gym during my lunch 1-2:30pm. If something comes up at work that I can't work around I just get up earlier in the day to get to the gym or I'll go at someother time during the day which ever works best.0
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I get up at 4am. I have to. There is no snooze option. With 4 kids & a full time job, there is NO other time I can do it. I finally realized, if I want results, I HAVE to sacrifice...not just do what was convenient0
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There's nothing "easy" about exercise. If it's easy, you're not doing it right.
If you're trying to find time to exercise, you never will. Time is illusive and trying to find time is a passive en-devour; you have to be proactive and make time. For me, this means 4 AM on some days...on other days it means using my lunch break to go for my run while my buddies go out to lunch...it means going to the gym on Tues and Thurs evenings after work and getting home late whether I feel like it or not...it means getting up with the sun on Saturday morning and hitting the gym while my family sleeps in...I like to be home before they wake up to cook breakfast.
Nothing about any of this is easy...if you're looking for easy and progress...well, you'll be looking for a long time.0 -
Early morning....I find that I can be out...get in my run or bike ride and be home in time to make breakfast for myself and my husband and do a few things around the house and get to work. I find that I'm super charged with energy after my morning exercise so I'm sooo much more productive with my time after a run or ride. (and lets face it...if I wasn't getting up to exercise I'd be laying in bed reading or wasting time playing mindless games on my phone)
As for evening workouts. I take my gym bag to work with me. I change before I leave the building. I go DIRECTLY to wherever I'm working out. I do not stop at the house. I know that if I planned to change at home I would get home and I would see the 'dirty dishes' or laundry baskets overflowing and I would stay home....any excuse really to stay there would work. This is crazy because on the three nights I do zumba after work, I literally drive RIGHT BY MY HOUSE....and I get to the parking lot where my zumba class is held about 15 minutes early. I sit in my car for 15 minutes...that's my me time (I read, or answer emails or whatever). Yes, those 15 minutes could have been spent at home....but I can't do it....I would never make it to zumba.
And just like my morning workout...I get home from zumba energized and I whip through the house getting things done! Exercise really does create an energy that gives you more time to complete everything. It's odd, but very true!0 -
I struggled with the whole finding time subject for a few months before I found a routine that worked for me. Having to go to the gym was always off putting as it was a 20min drive and always seemed like a chore.
Then I decided to take up running so my exercise begins pretty much as soon as I step out the door. I don't get up any earlier (I get up at 6am) but instead of faffing around doing the odd bit of housework or watching breakfast TV with a cup of tea, I put my running gear on (all left handy the night before!) and head out with the dog. By 7am, I've had my run, the dog's had her exercise so all I need to do is have a shower, dress and out the door by 7.30 right on schedule.
For strength I just do some bodyweight exercises - usually in the evening - so again, I don't have to make special arrangements to fit them in. I usually do my push ups etc during ad breaks lol
Once you work out what's the best fit for your routine and lifestyle, you'll be fine. It's just finding the best fit
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I schedule it in my Smartphone just like a doctor's appointment.0
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I work a high pressure desk job 8:30 to 5:30 getting home usually around 6. I work out 6 days a week and right when I get home otherwise I wouldn’t do it. I CANNOT get up early. I struggle to get out of bed at 7, let alone getting up at 5 or 5:30 for a work out. It’s never going to happen.
On cardio days I drink a coffee around 3 to keep up my energy after a long day and on lifting days I drink my pre-workout on my way home so by time I get there I’ve got that boost of energy to get the job done.
You can do it; it just needs to be a priority. Maybe start by scheduling 2-3 workouts a week and build them up from there. That’s what helped me.0 -
When I was working 50+ hours a week, most of my exercise came in the form of riding my bike to and from work every day. I live about 10 miles away, but with traffic, it only took me about 10 extra minutes going to work and about 20 coming home (uphill on the way home).
Also, the alarm was set for 4:00am. Not fun, but getting home totally starved after my work day required me to prep all my food before I left in the morning. Otherwise, I'd just call for pizza delivery.0 -
Up around 4:30, try to be working out by 5. I work out at home. My husband is up at 4, out the door at 4:40 to be at the gym when it opens at 5. We both work a full time at regular old desk jobs.0
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This doesn't work for some people, but I do yardwork as the bulk of my exercise. Shoveling, moving and spreading 10-12 wheelbarrows of gravel, or mowing or weed-whacking an acre, or moving heavy rocks and pickaxeing out a firepit, building up raised beds for a garden, etc. are all fantastic workouts, and my yard looks better every day (and so do I!). I do this all after work, sometimes after dinner depending on if there will be enough daylight. I find I can justify it more easily to myself than taking a full hour to do plain cardio or weightlifting in a gym setting because I'm taking care of my home, and working up a hell of a sweat at the same time.
When weather is inclement, I do cardio workouts at home (love Sweatin' to the Oldies!) when I'd be doing yardwork, but otherwise I'm outside with gloves on doing something almost every day.0
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