How do you squeeze in a workout in a crazy busy schedule?

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  • lts42uk
    lts42uk Posts: 162 Member
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    Pick up the Jilian MIchaels 30 day shred. It's 8.00 and a 20 minute workout. There are three levels. My co-workers and I have been doing it since the 1st and it's an awesome workout, especially when you are crunched on time. You just need 3-5lb weights and I would recommend a yoga mat.

    This^ I get up half an hour earlier to get it in before the children get up! In the Uk it's only £5 - best fiver I ever spent!! I'm hooked on Jillian's DVDs now!
  • UponThisRock
    UponThisRock Posts: 4,522 Member
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    I wake up @ 5am and do it before work
  • gp79
    gp79 Posts: 1,799 Member
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    Get up earlier,before the kids do,and knock out a 40 minute DVD workout.
  • gatecityradio
    gatecityradio Posts: 401
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    I work 12 hour shifts (swing shifts at that). I plan on doing cardio for 30 minutes every day right after work. You could get a wii and get the wii fit game or get a kinect and get a fitness game for it. I just ordered "your shape: total fitness 2012" for my xbox 360 kinect. Or you could try to find a cheap stationary bike at a sporting goods re-sale store, or even try walmart/kmart. You could even buy weights or resistance bands to keep at home. I guess what I'm trying to say is have something to do at home for 30 minutes or so before bed. Doing exersices at home is a good way to get your family involved as well. On your days off you can get in your 1-2 hr full work out in.
  • jamiemnoonan
    jamiemnoonan Posts: 27
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    I have found that the only way I can get a work out in is at night after the kids are asleep. I usually do not even start working out until 9:00 at night. It was hard to make myself do it at first, but now I look forward to it! Anything you can fit in will help!
  • MaximalLife
    MaximalLife Posts: 2,447 Member
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    Alright, I need advice. School is about to start again, which means I'm back into working full time and school full time. How do you squeeze in exercise time? I'm not kidding - I work all day, my husband walks in the door and I'm out to class until 10pm. Mornings aren't really an option because of the kids, and by time I get home from class I'm done. What can I do in between??? I'm trying so hard not to get discouraged, but I don't have time in my life to spend 1.5-2 hours working out. :-(

    ok, i'll be constructive now. who says you need to spend one and a half or two hours working out a day? my longest work outs are like, an hour, once a week. some of my best work outs are 30-40 minutes, and i am dripping sweat and panting like a beast (STOP PICTURING IT!!).

    if you are really that busy, then do what i do once in a while i really "don't have time." make yourself a circuit, like 15 squats, 10, lunges, 5 push ups. do that every thirty minutes through out the course of the day.

    my latest 40 minute work out was a 21-15-9 set of thursters and inverted rows. that means i did 21 thursters (barbell in front of my chest, squat, on the up movement i did an over head press) and then 21 inverted rows. next set was 15 and 15, etc. it took me about 25 minutes. to warm up i ran for five minutes. cool down was a 5 minute run and 3 sets of planks and then stretched. total time in gym was about 40 minutes.
    And I ALWAYS found ways to sneak in a workout on the job.

    I'd do a set of push ups in the bathroom, knee bends in the warehouse, pullups on a pipe rack in the rear parking lot, and on and on. Every day I knocked resistance - full body!

    And 3 days I did a 45 minute run in the morning.
    There is NO SUCH THING as not having time.
  • 13hirteen
    13hirteen Posts: 94 Member
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    Easy option: Run or cycle to and/or from work and class.

    Slightly more equipment-intensive option: Get into weightlifting. You can get an amazing workout into half an hour and - particularly if you do big compound barbell lifts (squat, deadlift, press) - it's the most efficient all-round exercise you can do.

    That said, I've been stuck at work for 15-hour days this week so - during the late hours when I have the office to myself - I've been interspersing bursts of work with a couple of exercise sets (alternating between squats, wall sits, planks, crunches, push-ups over the course of the evening).
  • tamerkins2
    tamerkins2 Posts: 212
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    I hear ya! I work a full time and a part time job, plus have a toddler and baby to care for! My day already starts at 5:00 a.m., get the kids up and ready, go to work, pick kids up from daycare, go to part time job a few nights a week until 9:00 p.m, get kids to bed. By that time, it is after 9:30! I try to squeeze a walk in during my lunch break. Also, Turbo Jam has a great 20 minute work out video that I really enjoy. I try to do that right after the kids go to bed. Also, on the nights I don't work my part-time job, I take a Zumba class. I am trying to find the motivation to get up and work out BEFORE work. But I haven't been able to do that yet... Good luck and hopefully you can figure something out that works for you!
  • LadyCABMS
    LadyCABMS Posts: 4 Member
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    I'm in the same boat. So I have to get really creative, first forget the 30 min workout session, just keep moving! I do squats in the "powder" room, I find any excuse to walk around my office, I take the stairs two at a time, I do mini sets of leg lifts or kicks at the copy machine, or I do reps with the stapler while on the phone with a patient. I have found ways to exercise at my desk using my chair, like seated ab mini crunches, tape dispenser curlers, and sometimes I just squeeze my thigns and buttocks tight! It does look really strange, my co workers laughed...till they saw the results and now we take turns covering the phones so the other can get in a mini-workout 5 mins at a time! And don't forget to take a few minutes to visualize your results, on my break I sit quietly, visualize how I want to look and breath slowly and deeply for even 1 min is helpful. ( No chanting required) Good luck Fitness Pal....:flowerforyou:
  • CAKEDOC
    CAKEDOC Posts: 110 Member
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    I wake up @ 5am and do it before work
    I AGREE WITH ROCK
  • tiamaria8182
    tiamaria8182 Posts: 120 Member
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    I go straight from work to my kettlebells class which only lasts half an hour. I've been doing that for a few months and can really tell a difference from just 30 min a day, 3-4 times a week. I'm not a morning person at all but I've also been trying to get up before I wake my son up for school and do the 30 Day Shred - it only takes 20 minutes.
  • JustLena75
    JustLena75 Posts: 114
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    I try and fit in a walk between clinic appts. I can do the mile route around our campus in about 20 minutes. It beats nothing at all.
  • AddA2UDE
    AddA2UDE Posts: 382
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    On days that I don't have time to change out and get a full workout in, I break it up throughout the entire day into my "cigarrette breaks." I haven't smoked since 98 but I should be able to have a minute or two every 30 minutes just like the smokers, right? We have a weight pit at the office so sometimes I will go in ever 15-30 minutes and do one set of a certain muscle group throughout the entire day. Yesterday, I did kettlebell swings, 33 per set. I ended the day with 300 swings. Works very well for me.
  • AddA2UDE
    AddA2UDE Posts: 382
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    There is NO SUCH THING as not having time.

    ^^^THIS^^^
  • Sublimely_Self_Righteousreused
    Sublimely_Self_Righteousreused Posts: 935 Member
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    I have a busy schedule too. I'm a full time grad student, full time employee, father of two kids. The only way I've been able to really make it work is get up and work out at 4AM before the kids wake up. It sucks, but it's what I have to do to make it work.
  • Jo5ie
    Jo5ie Posts: 33 Member
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    I sympathise as it is hard juggling your time with kids and work etc not to mention having any energy left. I wouldn't be keen on early rising as you need your sleep more than you need the exercise! You could get a small trampette. They don't take up too much room and bouncing for 10-15 minutes a day would give you a good workout, help to de-stress and the kids would have fun on it as well! :happy:
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    You don't need to spend 1.5 - 2 hours working out every day. Use the weekends to work out. Walk or bike instead of drive whenever possible. Use time spent with your children to play active games or sports. Exercise does not have to be done in a gym, on a machine or in front of the TV. Just stay as active as you can.
  • tolygal
    tolygal Posts: 602 Member
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    Look up some good HIIT workouts - short but VERY effective!! Make sure they are HIGH intensity HIIT workouts, and you'll be set. (in my opinion - even better if you do it first thing in the morning to jump start your metabolism so you burn more during the day). Good luck!
  • roslynds9
    roslynds9 Posts: 139 Member
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    I've started taking 15 mins of my 30min lunch break and doing three laps rounds our building with my colleague. So nice to get out of the air conditioning and into some fresh air! I also try to do an exercise DVD at home a few nights a week. Just 30mins-1hour when I can fit it in.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    if you are really that busy, then do what i do once in a while i really "don't have time." make yourself a circuit, like 15 squats, 10, lunges, 5 push ups. do that every thirty minutes through out the course of the day.

    Is that a typo? Every 30 min throughout the day?? Who has a schedule that would allow for that?

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