How did you fit in exercise? (Full time work/school)

SemperAnticus1643

I go early in the morning while my kids are asleep. Set the alarm and walk out the door. That way I have all evening with them after work. That's what works best for me.

warriorprincessdi

I have this posted in my home gym It helps me...

Sorry I have no clue how to re-size

leggup

My exercise time IS my me time. It's the most me my time could possibly be, because I'm focusing on me. Finding an exercise you enjoy doing is probably the best thing you can do. That aside, try to find something you can do that couples with another activity you like, like riding the elliptical while watching Netflix, or listening to a book on tape while jogging.

Other things that can help: make sure you're being as efficient as possible with work and school. Plan grocery lists in advance so that you can hit up the store on your way home all at once, instead of making multiple trips or having to go to store after you've already made it home. Record your lectures (if allowed) and play them back when you're working out. Plan your outfits the night before for everything you will need the following day. Get workout clothing/gear (water bottle/gym bag/sneakers) that you would actually want to use.

Never stay up late playing on your phone/computer/tv the night before a morning workout. You're less likely to commit to a workout if you're short on sleep.

thecrushinator

Mentally shift to thinking of your work out as your "me time" also try a class or gym that makes you pay inadvance and / or charge extra if you miss.

fat2skinny50

I wake up 1 hour early, do the treadmill, jog/walk for 1/2 hour, then i use my hands weights and do sit-ups for the remaining 1/2 hours. Once at work, on our break of course, a co-worker and I run up the stairs and then on our lunch hour a few of us either go for a jog or fast pace walk depending on the weather. You can do it, you just have to put your mind to it and find what works for you and do it, no excesses Good luck, if you want add me as a friend i will cheer you on and push as much as i can.

erikarobles

Maybe some kind of workout like Focus T25 will work for you. Focus is only 25 minutes and you get an awesome workout!!! Something to think about! Good luck

LAT1963

Don't short sleep just to exercise.

You might have to do a detailed look at your schedule to find time. If your aerobic exercise is walking or running, you might be able to squeeze in short exercise sessions between classes (running instead of walking to your next class?), or use half your lunch break at work. It used to be thought that exercise needed to be continuous but lately report say 10 minutes here and there adds up the same as one continuous session.

Weightlifting only needs to be done once a week, so if you can block out a couple of hours one day a week to do both upper and lower body on the same day, you're okay. Aerobic exercises (walk, run, swim, dance...) need be at least 3 times per week.

That said, for some people getting up an hour earlier to get the exercise *done* before anything else is the best way to keep their psychology on track and actually do the exercise. Thing is, you have to go to bed an hour earlier so that your sleep duration is preserved. Sleep deprivation has been shown to cause over-eating.

add: if you work out in a gym, most these days have TV monitors set up with cable or satellite TV and you can choose your channel while on treadmills or spin-bikes. Bring headphones and you can get your exercise done *while* watching that "me time" show that used to glue you to the couch.

_Resolve_

For a while I was getting up at 4:30am and going to the gym for an hour and a half 5 days a week, that lasted about a year. In that time I was going to bed at 9 to get some average sleep in and still make it happen. I changed my focus and now get my time in after work from 5-6:30, but if I had to because other aspects of life got to busy again I could go back to mornings. Just fit it in when you can but it is important to make time for yourself.

xcalygrl

I worked full-time, part-time, and went to school full-time not too long ago. I had a couple of different plans of attack.

-I would wake up early, get a good 30 minute workout in, shower, and then off to work.
-I would workout on my lunch break, which was 1 hour. It was enough time that I could workout, shower, and get back to my desk in under 1 hour.
-I would go to work, leave work and go straight to school. The school I attended had a gym. I would use their gym for 30-60 mins, shower, and go to class. I often ate my dinner sitting in class.
-On the weekends, I planned workouts around my obligations. If I knew I had Saturday morning class, I would make sure that I had a workout planned at the school gym or at the gym on my way home. I would not go home before the workout because then I wouldn't get the motivation to leave the house again.

I made sure I scheduled 60-90 minutes every Sunday evening to meal prep for the week to make things easier. Having food ready to go made eating right easier.

bonkosaurusrex

My routine:
Get up at 5 am, work out. Go to work at 8. Go to class at 530 pm. Go Home. Do homework. Go to bed. Rinse. Repeat.
Edit... I also have a 2 year old!

headofphat

I've come to the conclusion that a person will do something if they really really want it. Not judging, but maybe you don't want to work out bad enough. Just being honest.

kristenlora

I workout in the mornings (6am) before I got to work. Sure, it's early - but its over before your brain has time to catch up I've also added a lunch hour yoga class, but I'm lucky to have a yoga studio within walking distance of my office.

I've made a couple at-work changes that seem to have helped - I try to stand at my desk for at least half of the day. I know that isn't possible for everyone, but sitting on a ball has helped me as well. Also, I leave my desk every hour - fill up my water, take a bathroom break, and do 10 air squats or 10 lunges. You can do them in the bathroom if your office frowns upon that sort of thing. By the end of the day you've done 80 squats or lunges - not bad for an office addition!

wordyroo

Work full-time and have two small children under 3. Getting up earlier would just mean they would get up earlier, so I do 15- to 20-minute HIIT workouts three times a week while dinner is cooking and add as many steps as I can during my work day and weekends as I can.

engodwin

If you have time to wait (on anything) or watch tv then you can fit in time to exercise... Full time work and student - If I have 10 minutes I do something.

Just move your body.

Don't sit when you wait. Stand. Do steps back and forth.

Buy 10 minute workout DVDs (or 20 or 30 minutes)

Walk around on commercial breaks when watching TV. Or do pushups or planks or squats or situps.

Park in the back of the parking lot.

Take the stairs.

Walk on lunch breaks - 5 minutes before you eat and 5 after (leaves 20 minutes to enjoy your meal - if you get 30 minutes)

I am not one to get up early - I suck at mornings - so I made a rule for myself that I wouldn't go home until I finished my workout - whatever I wanted to do for the day - because I know that if I go home I'm not going back out to go to the gym.

Take gym shoes everywhere.

Buy a jump rope. Use it.

Or a hoola hoop.

Not that any of these alone are going to get you a really good workout in but it gets you started. Once you see results and build up your energy level I think your mindset will change and you will WANT to go to the gym and wont ask how you can fit it in - you'll MAKE it fit it. It's all about the mindset....

Good luck - You can do it!

13suzie

If you want something done, give it to the busiest person you know.

Truth.

At my busiest (working, full-time school/Ph.D. program, two little kids, traveling, and volunteering), I found that the answer was to workout before the world woke up. It was a trade off for sleep, but it gave me so much energy that the extra hour and a half of would-be sleep couldn't compete with the impact of a solid workout. I found that the most efficient exercise in terms of burning calories and achieving high level of fitness was running. (No commute to open front door and head outside for a run!) However, when I would have loads of reading to do, I'd opt for using a gym treadmill and I'd set the incline on the max setting and use a walking pace of 3.5 so that I could read as I "climbed a mountain." (<--huge calorie burn!) Easy strength add-ins like push-ups after the run or chair dips made it possible to maintain strength without going to the gym.

Efficiency has always been key for me - I try to limit commute time or simply take advantage of circumstances that would otherwise be dead air time. For example, to this day, the service manager at Honda knows that I always go running when I bring my car in for an oil change! If my tires need replaced at Costco, yep - I use the 40 minutes for a run. If I get my hair colored, I use the time to read research for work. These little plug-ins have always allowed me to free up time for exercise or simply to plug in exercise time into what otherwise might be wasted time.

My biggest and best secret to daily exercise is making it a first thing in the morning priority. Not only does it not get eliminated (given it's placement at the front end of life) but it ends up working as fuel for the day.

If you do have interest in having a gym membership, consider choosing a gym that has lots of locations so that you can flexibly fit in your workout based on where you have to be on any given day.

Since you mention being a full-time student, it is worth addressing the fact that you likely have a school rec center. Consider structuring your class schedule to fit a midday workout in the mix. University gyms are usually very decent and are also a great place to unwind midday. Owning a gym bag may sound like a silly suggestion, but if you always take your running shoes and a workout outfit with you, you are really likely to make it happen on the fly! Be prepared.

Last little tip would be to always take your meals with you! You will be eating healthier, saving time and saving money. Those 30 minutes that are saved by not ordering food or waiting for service might just be the 30 minutes that you spend on the university track doing repeat miles or walking around the block outside your place of employment (or climbing stairs in the stairwell) during your lunch hour!

IamMCM

I used to fit exercise in first thing in the morning so I had no excuse not to get around to it later in the day. That worked well for a while, since my work schedule was very flexible, but then work exploded and I didn't even have time in the morning. I promptly regained the pounds I had lost in the prior year. Now I'm starting a new job on a more regular, although still flexible, schedule. I'm much more of a night owl, so I'm shifting my workouts to the evening. I'm also joining a health club where I'll commit to going to two classes each week, as well as getting over to the lap pool a night or two in between. Work won't interfere, so the trick will be to mentally slap myself silly when I try to rationalize, "I'm too tired to go today." Even if that's true, I have enough exercise DVDs to still pop something in.

deksgrl

You make time for it somewhere when it becomes important to you. Yeah, sometimes it will suck and you won't want to do it, but you won't reap the benefits unless and until you start putting the time in. Everyone else has posted a lot of ideas on what works for them, of course you have to fit it in where it best works for you.

apparatus195316

This is embarrassing....I use my vacation time.

I'm raising two girls on my own, my commute is 60 minutes round trip, and most times after I get home, make dinner, clean up the house, do laundry, bathe the children, read bedtime stories, and finally get them to bed, I'm too exhausted to do anything other than lay semi-comatose on the couch and watch a chick flick.

Sunday mornings before work I do have the ability to come in an hour early to my company's onsite gym and fit in a run before my shift starts.

Tuesdays and Thursdays, I use an hour of PTO on the end of my shift and run down to the gym.

Not ideal. I wish I could be saving vacation time for, well, vacation. But for now, it's working.