Finding time to exercise...

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  • Siannah
    Siannah Posts: 456 Member
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    Can you exercise before work, or during your lunchbreak? Or maybe straight when you're back from work, before you do anything else?
    I think you should treat exercise as a chore, just like you have to do your laundry, you have to do exercise. It doesn't have to be 2 hour sessions either, a 30 minute HIIT is just fine.
  • lisali2011
    lisali2011 Posts: 6 Member
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    By making time, not trying to find it.

    Truth! I'm a working mum with 3 young kids and I make the time. We're all living busy lives, but we need to prioritise, and health is high on that list.

    If you're really struggling I'd def build in some walking on your daily commute to/from work. That's how I started :)

    Good luck!
  • tcunbeliever
    tcunbeliever Posts: 8,219 Member
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    3 sessions of 10 min. is as effective for cardiovascular health as one 30 min. session...so if you are too tired after work to fit in a full workout routine, then work out 10 min. before work, 10 min. on a lunch break, and 10 min. after work...you will start to have more energy as your body adapts, but even 10 min. once a day is a good start.
  • MissTati85
    MissTati85 Posts: 10 Member
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    As a teacher, I have no time either - so I had to make time. I've put off teacher related things so that I can have time to exercise. My house is a mess right now because I haven't had time to clean it up since I'm choosing to exercise instead. Cleaning can be exercising too- you're moving around, going up and down stairs maybe, using energy to get your house back into order. I try to do as much standing as I can while cleaning, so that will help as well.

    Something I've started doing is that I like to watch a couple of shows when I get home from work. On go my exercising clothes, I attach my Kindle fire to my elliptical (I put it right over the screen so I can't tell how much longer I have :) ), I turn Netflix on, and I watch my shows. No more laying on the couch, eating, and watching the shows- now I'm doing something much better for my body.

    Perhaps there's some type of activity you're doing that you can switch it over into exercise time. Yesterday I did 15 minutes on the elliptical before cooking dinner, took care of dinner, sat for a bit, and then got back on for another 30 minutes while I waited for my husband to come home, eat his dinner, so we could go run errands together.
  • KANGOOJUMPS
    KANGOOJUMPS Posts: 6,472 Member
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    i start at 4am,, there is no excuse, it is done and out of the way.
  • zumbarock
    zumbarock Posts: 86 Member
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    I incorporate as much exercise into my workday as possible! I work on the 13th floor, therefor I take the stairs. EVERY time I have to go up or down it is 260 stairs.....yes I count them everytime and it's 260 stairs! I run them, I lunge them, I dance up them....make it fun right!? Drink alot of water at work? Squats-20 of them everytime before peeing, hey, little things add up! And yes, setting a date with yourself to work out, has to be done! Make your workouts competitive, do more everyday then you have done the week before! I am competitive, and have to beat myself. And try something new everyday, one new thing. Walk or run on lunch breaks!

    If in your mind you say you don't have time, well then.....you won't. Good luck!
  • tricksee
    tricksee Posts: 835 Member
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    I walk to work every single morning. It takes me an hour which means I'm up an hour earlier than I need to be if I were to jump the bus. I could also drive if I wanted to, but I don't.

    I get a lunch hour, 45mins of which I spend in my own little gym that I knocked up from my friends unused exercise equipment. I could sit at my desk or chit-chat in the kitchen if I wanted, but I don't

    At home I do workouts while the missus feeds our 4 month old daughter. Press-ups, chin ups, sit ups, planks, dips etc... I could watch TV if I wanted, but I don't

    Of a Saturday, I'm up and off the gym at 8/9am with a buddy of mine. I could easily sleep in if I wanted, but I don't.
  • 2stepscloser
    2stepscloser Posts: 2,900 Member
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    By making time, not trying to find it.

    When I started this journey 12 weeks ago. I heard the following which was motivational : "if you were diagnosed with cancer, would you find an hour a day for treatment? Why won't you do it for exercise?" That spoke volumes to me!

    I often feel guilty for exercising in the evenings. I work full time and feel like it takes away from my family, but I do it anyway because I need it for myself.
  • Frozen300
    Frozen300 Posts: 223 Member
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    I feel your pain. For the next 6 months I'm working nights and it's totally messed with my workout schedule. Sleep all day, family comes home, my day turns into their day, by the time I'm done with them my gym is closed (small town gyms suck). The gym is open after my night shift but I have zero energy for it.
  • Valerie_Malone
    Valerie_Malone Posts: 59 Member
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    Getting up at 4 a.m. is for the birds, but it is the only way I will get my exercise in. I've been getting up at 4 a.m. for the past three weeks to workout for an hour and a half for 5 days a week. I found that If I don't exercise in the morning, I usually find an excuse not to exercise later in the day.
  • Cal28
    Cal28 Posts: 514 Member
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    by the time I'm done with them my gym is closed (small town gyms suck).

    TOTALLY! I loved the gym classes but it only opens at 6am (too late for me) and the last class is 6pm (too early!)
    Really miss gyms with 'normal' hours.
  • cityjaneLondon
    cityjaneLondon Posts: 12,264 Member
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    When I wake up in the morning, before I get out of bed I do my foot exercises for my pronation, my ankle exercises for my weak ankles, my pelvic floor exercises, my face exercises (yes they do work) and then I sit up and before I make a cup of tea I do arm exercises. Oh, I have also done lymphatic drainage massage. A lot of these can be done together so in total it takes 15 mins max.
    In the kitchen I do leg raising, balancing, squats. All while waiting for the kettle to boil. In front of the TV I do dumbells, more of the morning stuff. While cooking I sometimes do a bit of dancing or marching on the spot. MOVE! !!! Simple.
    I have lost 40 lbs.
  • irishdancer1984
    irishdancer1984 Posts: 8
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    I have a 3 year old so I kinda know a thing or two about being tired :smile:

    I find that I have to push myself to workout because if I gave into being too tired, I wouldn't get anything done. Also, I've seen that I have more energy after the exercise which is a win-win.

    It's totally fine to drag your exhausted butt to the gym (or workout at home) and commit to just 20 minutes if you think that's all you can do. I bet that after 20, you'll be reenergized and keep going.
  • jaymesjourney
    jaymesjourney Posts: 85
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    "if you were diagnosed with cancer, would you find an hour a day for treatment? Why won't you do it for exercise?" That spoke volumes to me!

    Thats an amazing quote! I normally have to get up at 500am to be ready and out the door by 545, drop of the DH at work and make my hour commute to work. By the time I get off its 430-5 and I cook dinner and just want to relaxxxxxxxx. I need to learn how to get more excerise and it looks like I'll have to do something small in the morning and do my insanity at night!
  • xynyth
    xynyth Posts: 89 Member
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    I also had trouble finding time to work out so I ended up having to make the time. I now get up at 430am 5 days a week and hit the gym for an hour before anyone else in my house is up. I get home, eat some breakfast and then get my husband and kids up and ready for the day. I'm a full time student, I have a job (working afternoons/evenings) and I arrange my schedule so I that I don't have to put my youngest child in daycare so I'm home with my kids full time too. The ONLY way I am able to get in a workout is by starting my day earlier. It was hard at first, but now it's my favorite part of the day, and even on the days I just don't want to get out of bed I tell myself that once it's done I don't have to think about it for the rest of the day. :)

    Try getting up early and doing a workout video, or whatever else motivates you. I know for myself that if it doesn't get done in the morning it's just not going to get done.

    Good luck!
  • amylouize2012
    amylouize2012 Posts: 268 Member
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    I was trying to slip away to the gym on my lunch hour and then have my lunch at my desk while I work later but it is gone so hectic in here that I am barely getting lunch breaks any more.

    I was running up and down the fire escape for a while (pretty sure everybody I work with thinks I'm crazy) but have now decided that the best thing is proably to bring my gym bag to work with me and go on my way home that way I don't go home and sit down and then have to pry myself out of the sofa and go back out, which i will convince myself I'm too tired to do.

    Best not to relax until it's all done i think, then you can relax in peace, gulit-free xx
  • caring4cath
    caring4cath Posts: 19 Member
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    Hi there,
    Don't know if this helps. I am a shift worker, so hours all over the place. But have a fortnightly roster. Over 3 weeks I have taken the time, to have a look at what is important to me in my life. So made up a fortnightly time table, put in what was most important,
    added time for me, some exercise and some just relax time. Let my family and friends know what I was doing, and that I was doing it to make changes for a healthier lifestyle. So know, I have logged in a few friends here, and there, and before we cuppa and chat we walk, found my family and friends were happy to get on board.
    So have a look, decide whats important and put that in first, so if getting healther and trying to maintain it, have a look see where you can just fit some small amount on a regular basis.

    If you are like me, sometimes, life just seems to take over and I get lost in it all.
    You can do it.

    Take care,
    Cath
  • HatherM
    HatherM Posts: 404 Member
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    I know it sounds like an incredible cliche, but after work I'm usually so tired I either fall straight asleep or I have to do some washing and cleaning around the house. Seems like I'm always running out of time to exercise or just am too tired to do it. And I suffer from CFS so that doesn't help one bit. I get tired so fast after work and when I do exercise I make my fatigue so much worse. I tend to stick with yoga on my day of, since that's the only thing my body can handle at that point.

    Any tips of how I can exercise more efficiently?

    Obviously I don't know what job you do or your situation, but I used to feel very drained & tired after work & just make food & sit around watching TV.

    Now I get up an hour early & do 30mins of exercise most mornings, I also go for a walk straight after work, plus most nights I'll try to fit something else in too anything from 10-30mins.

    It is tough at first but once you get into a routine, it actually DOES get easier & it makes you feel so much better. Even if you can only find 30mins to start with you'll notice one hell of a change.

    The most important thing you can do for yourself is to 'Make time for yourself' :happy:
  • Siannah
    Siannah Posts: 456 Member
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    Squats-20 of them everytime before peeing, hey, little things add up!

    Tee hee I like that, I'm going to do that too!
  • lauren_gibbons
    lauren_gibbons Posts: 61 Member
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    By making time, not trying to find it.

    ^^^^ This, if you want it bad enough you will make time

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