Fitting in a workout as a working professional.

katies71123

I have to be at work by 7:00 AM but still usually do my workouts in the morning. I get up at 4:45 - 5:00 at least 4 days a week to work out. Sorry, but I agree with most here...you have plenty of time in the morning and have to want it! You can do this!

JasonDetwiler

Train as soon as the gym opens. Mine opens at 5AM, so I lift, go home and shower, get to work at 7:30.

JasonDetwiler

I have to be at work by 7:00 AM but still usually do my workouts in the morning. I get up at 4:45 - 5:00 at least 4 days a week to work out. Sorry, but I agree with most here...you have plenty of time in the morning and have to want it! You can do this!

+1. You have to want it.

GeekGirl23

Stop making excuses and make it a priority... that is how I fit it in.

My husband now knows how to cook 3-4 dinners very well because now he has to cook on nights I go work out... Like tonight, excited for his stirfry!

ChrisRS87

I work from 8-6 daily, and busier weeks its more than that. You just need to motivation to go straight to the gym after work for an hour or so.

lalin1105

Maybe try meal planning if you don't already. that will save time on having to cook dinner and you could work out in the evenings before dinner. Or like most said in the mornings, that's what I have been doing. It's hard for me to find my motivation that early but once you make it a habit, it will be easier.

ChxSurf782

aliciarose511 wrote: »

Hello All,
My name is Alicia and I am currently trying to get BACK into shape.
It was so much easier when I was in college!

I have been struggling to get back into shape since starting my full time, professional job after college. I work in Los Angeles/Hollywood, so I dead with heavy traffic every day. I leave for work at 845am and do not get home until around 7:30. I have been having a lot of trouble finding a good workout routine.

I have a gym membership, but am also open to other avenues of fitness.

Anyone have any ideas/suggestions? I want to pick your brains!

Do it EARLY. If you don't - unless you are seriously committed - you will justify reasons to skip a workout or your schedule will get hijacked with unforeseen conflicts.

Ws2016

Get a gym membership close to work and go in after work, commute tome home should shorten, right?

questionfear

I work out first thing in the morning, and I do it at home. I use a mix of kettlebells and bodyweight workouts, takes me 30-45min and if I am really crushed for time I will multitask and use rest periods to brew coffee, pack lunch, etc. It's a lot easier to do it first thing in the AM and if you do it at home you have even less excuses to skip.

kwtilbury

Head to the gym at 6/6:30 AM, home by 8 AM. Get ready and go to work. What's the problem?

DrifterBear

I also live in LA and work in OC and have a 46 mile one way commute. I get up every day at 440 and leave the house at 5am. Crossfit 6-7 and start work at 730. I leave work at 5pm and get home at 630pm. Almost everyone can make time for a workout, but it has to be a priority. I have no sympathy for someone who doesn't even LEAVE for work until 845, you've got WAY more time than I do for a workout.

caitlinrn83

wgn4166 wrote: »

I have to be at work around 8. I get up at 4:15 am and I do my workout then. I feel so much better exercising before I go to work.

This. I get up at 4, out the door running by 4:15, and I'm showered, dressed and at work by 7:30. Even when I worked 12-hour shifts (6a-6p), this is what worked for me. I have no responsibilities to anyone but myself at that time of morning, and my evenings can be spent with my family, dinner, and Jeopardy
I do go to the gym 2, sometimes 3 days-I enjoy my body pump class, so I make it a point to go at least once a week in addition to running.

jlaw_1992

aliciarose511 wrote: »

Hello All,
My name is Alicia and I am currently trying to get BACK into shape.
It was so much easier when I was in college!

I have been struggling to get back into shape since starting my full time, professional job after college. I work in Los Angeles/Hollywood, so I dead with heavy traffic every day. I leave for work at 845am and do not get home until around 7:30. I have been having a lot of trouble finding a good workout routine.

I have a gym membership, but am also open to other avenues of fitness.

Anyone have any ideas/suggestions? I want to pick your brains!

I get up at 5 a.m. and have my coffee, then go for a run. I'm usually back shortly after 6, send my husband and his son off with their breakfasts and lunches, and then head to work myself at about that time. The key is making it a habit, of course, and then it's easy.

auddii

Houston traffic here, which can suck as well. I tend to go in early as traffic is always worse the later it gets.

If you have a gym membership already, are there multiple locations? Personally, I'd go to a gym close to your office and leave early in the morning to get to the gym with plenty of time to workout and shower before work. Since you'd be leaving earlier, the commute time would likely decrease, and you'd already be close, so the rest of your commute into work from the gym hopefully wouldn't be that bad.

Sharon_C

I work 1 full time job plus 1 job that fluctuates between full time and part time. I have 3 kids, a husband and a dog. I work out 5 days a week. 3 days I'm at the gym by 5:30am and work out 45-50 minutes. On Saturdays and Sundays I'm at the gym first thing in the morning (I like to sleep in at least a little bit ) and those are my long workouts (at least 60 minutes). I also try to walk the dog every day and I try to get a walk in on my lunch hour (but that doesn't always happen). Not saying you have to do all of that but it works for me.

msf74

I would sincerely hope the OP has figured out this particular conundrum in three and a half years...

auddii

msf74 wrote: »

I would sincerely hope the OP has figured out this particular conundrum in three and a half years...

DOH!

caitlinrn83

msf74 wrote: »

I would sincerely hope the OP has figured out this particular conundrum in three and a half years...

HAHAHAHAHAHA

Hell_Flower

How long do you sit in traffic for hours per week?

Would it take you any longer to just cycle to and from work? Then you don't need to fit a workout in. You've done it en route to work and home.

becky10rp

Sounds like you have time in the morning, if you don't have to leave for work till 8:45 am. You could hit your gym before work, or do something @ your house before you leave for work. I leave for work @ 5:10 am to beat the traffic here in the Washington DC area - and I'm home around 5:00 pm - I workout before dinner. If you want to do this, you will find the time. We're all a bunch of working stiffs here.

rsclause

I found that waking up at 4:30 and getting out for a run works for me. If I don't get it done first I will always find an excuse not to later. It also jump starts my day. There is also a lot less traffic at that hour, I hate waiting at traffic lights

rsclause

alpine1994 wrote: »

I wish I had as much time as you do in the morning! I have to be out of the house by 6:50am and I get home around 6:30-7. I've tried waking up at 5 and working out before work but with insomnia, I just wasn't functioning at work. I work out as soon as I get home and eat a late dinner with the bf. I have fun on the weekends! haha

My getting up early and running cured my insomnia, go figure.

DYELB

0845 isn't early. 0300 is early. If you want it you'll make time.

Get a gym membership near your office and pack a gym bag daily. Go for a walk on your lunch break. Stay up late or wake up early. Exercise on your days off.

Shells918

I would get up and go to the gym for 7, work out, shower and change there and go to work right from the gym. Bring breakfast with you and eat it on the way.
Or, if you can fit in some time at lunch, do it then. Or, go on the way home from work. I did all 3 of these things at different parts of my life. It's just a matter of fitting them in.
Or you can workout at home using videos and weights before work if the gym doesn't work for you.

47Jacqueline

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/04/27/1-minute-of-all-out-exercise-may-equal-45-minutes-of-moderate-exertion/?_r=3

lorrpb

Does being a "working professional" somehow make it harder to exercise than being an "unprofessional" worker, whatever that means? I imagine most people who are working would consider themselves "professional." I also think most working people would envy this schedule. The obvious answer is to exercise before 845 am.

sparklyglitterbomb

As others have said, go before work.

If you are in Hollywood, there are lots of places to walk. Get out of the office at lunch and take a walk (pretend you're a tourist to make it interesting, picking a new spot each time to walk to, or just head along Santa Monica Blvd, or walk around the Paramount lot) then you've got some additional exercise in. If your gym has multiple locations, see if one is closer to your office.

Ant488

Go during lunch. Utilize the gym classes that are offered. Attending the classes with other people an the instructor may motivate you to keep your schedule. Once you see the results, it will be a piece of cake for you to continue your routine.

chunky_pinup

aliciarose511 wrote: »

Hello All,
My name is Alicia and I am currently trying to get BACK into shape.
It was so much easier when I was in college!

I have been struggling to get back into shape since starting my full time, professional job after college. I work in Los Angeles/Hollywood, so I dead with heavy traffic every day. I leave for work at 845am and do not get home until around 7:30. I have been having a lot of trouble finding a good workout routine.

I have a gym membership, but am also open to other avenues of fitness.

Anyone have any ideas/suggestions? I want to pick your brains!

Totally get it. I used to live/work in that area. I ended up finding a gym that had a location close to where I worked. That way, I'd leave much earlier than normal and miss a *little* bit of the awful traffic, go to the gym, and then only be a few blocks from my office. It was much easier for me that way, instead of dealing with terrible traffic on my way home, then being too tired from work/stressed from the traffic/hungry/etc. to work out that evening.

Good luck!

MeanderingMammal

aliciarose511 wrote: »

I have been struggling to get back into shape since starting my full time, professional job after college. I work in Los Angeles/Hollywood, so I dead with heavy traffic every day. I leave for work at 845am and do not get home until around 7:30. I have been having a lot of trouble finding a good workout routine.

So this thread has turned into a bit of a Four Yorkshiremen sketch, with everyone trying to outdo one another, but I would say that if you're not leaving home until 0845 then you're in a fairly good position. That said, not everyone is good at training in the mornings. Personally I prefer training in the evening, which means going out for a run at about 1930 to 2000 for 60-90 minutes, and my long runs happen at the weekends, when I can fit in a 2-4 hour session.

I think the key point here is that you need to plan in how you're going to achieve your objectives. That may be doing shorter sessions in the week and longer at the weekend, or it may be training at lunchtime, or finding a gym close to work so that you can train either after your morning commute or before your commute home.

fwiw you'll end up having to prioritise something out. That may mean getting to sleep later in the evening, or getting up earlier, although equally that can have an effect on your performance as well.