Workouts and Having a Life...

I am a mom of three and my husband works second shift. Because I am the only one home at night, I get my butt out of bed at 3:45 four mornings a week to be dressed and out the door by 4:00. I go for a 45 minute run and come home and get ready for work. At work at 7:00. Work ends at 3:30. On the days I don't get up at 3:45, I go to the gym right after I get out of work. I spend about 50 minutes at the gym and come home to start the nightly routine. I think that if you get up just 30 minutes earlier in the mornings, you will come to enjoy it. This is my ME time with no one else around and I think that everyone needs that!

that is all..

I found I needed a way to figure out how to do my strength training in different ways.
Sometimes I do it at the gym.
I also have some weights at home.
Also I have resistance bands and those I can take a run with to the pier near my house and do a workout that way.
A trainer showed me some of the things I do and that was helpful.

I also like to play tennis - but that is more involved to make happen, so that is maybe 1-2x a week and with the winter coming I will have to find other ways.

Finally Walking and Biking are great - because they can get you from place to place AND give you a workout. Lunchtime walks can also be nice.

So sometimes I bike to work (cardio that helps me get TO work) and sometimes I even walk to work.

The other one is Stairs - stairs are a great workout and most people can find a set of stairs somewhere.

So there are a number of different ways you can make it happen - if you really want to.

Yes, sometimes I have to be very disciplined, and sometimes I make a judgment call. For example I am invited to a "Ribs Smackdown!" at a good friend's house. I will plan on loosening things up, but I will probably try to get a good solid workout that day in, and maybe a bike ride the day after.

It's definitely about a lifestyle, and I have found that every so often that includes letting myself enjoy things a bit.

You can do it!

I had a challenge getting work outs in because of my long commute in the morning and night. I have since found that using my lunch hour and going to the gym near work is effective for me. I am fitting in my workout and using my lunch time to invest in my health.

I have a full time job and twin 4 yr olds at home. My husband works nights 6pm - 6am. My gym doesn't open till 9 am. Originally I was up at 6 and out the door by 715 to take the girls to daycare and be at work by 8. Got off at 5, picked up the girls, got to the gym by 6 or 630, worked out till 730, got home by 8, fed everyone, baths and bed. Hated it. It wasn't fair to the girls because they had been in daycare all day then got stuck in another childcare at the gym and had no time with me. So now, I am up at 430 am while everyone is still in bed. I do my workout then get ready for work. This leave me time after work to spend with the kids, clean my house, grocery shop or just whatever. It's hard to get used to but I find it works best for me.

Oh and being a crazy person in the morning because you have to get up is all in your head. I don't mean to sound mean but you only act the way you allow yoursef to act. Plus at 430 am you don't have to deal with anyone and have that time to wake up and put on your happy pants.

well arent you tired by 9pm? this sounds similiar to my situation...and if i get up super early then usually by 8-9pm i am super cranky and just exhausted...not to mentions the heaaches that come from lack of sleep if i dont get to bed till late...

Wear a pedometer and keeping moving until you get 11,00 steps every day, 15 min breaks, lunch hour. Look at the stairs and yes more steps. Keep going after a week, you will build a routine. Bring hand weights to your work and couple sets daily.

By the time you go home, you are done!!!

Don't want to sound mean, but if you want it bad enough, you find a way to work it in. I usually work out at lunch, but recently started working with a trainer one night a week & added going to the gym on weekends. The one night I'm with my trainer, I have learned to throw something in the crockpot for the family since I head straight to the gym after my 12 hr day. Try adding little things throughout the day....stairs instead of elevators, 10-12 minutes walk at breaktimes, park your car further from the door so you have to walk further....

On weekends I opted to give up my sleeping in mornings to hit the gym and decided I can take a nap later if I want (which I usually don't, but it was enough to convince myself to get up early to hit the gym!) My "reward" for my early morning workouts is the bf treats me to breakfast when I get done. Win - win for everyone - he gets to sleep in & I don't have to cook breakfast! :laugh:

im not a morning exerciser but I do make myself time after work. when I get off work, Im home 5pm, i rush in and change into my workout clothes, shoes and put on my HRM and start making dinner. Once dinner is ready, I will feed my kids and husband and I will start my workout while their eating. My workout lasts about an hour and then 15 mts to shower. Im done by 7pm. I can then relax and eat a light dinner. This is the only way I will get it done, sometimes I do eat dinner with my family but I have to wait for food to digest and that throws me off pretty late. My family understands and is very supportive.

I am NOT a morning person at all, so I really don't workout in the morning, unless you count some light yoga to stretch out the kinks. I work 9 hour days and do a load of volunteer activities, then come home to a hubby, 3 dogs, and sometimes a step-son (He's only with us roughly half the time). I tried the get up early thing for a hot minute, and realized it's not for me. So in order to "work in" exercise, I had to REMOVE it from my daily to-do list. Work is not on my to-do list. Making dinner is not on my to-do list. However, these are things that must be done. Exercise is the same. It doesn't have to be at the gym every day. Go for a walk. A bike ride. Do something fun like roller skating (which burns a TON of calories, by the way). But exercise should be as much a part of your day as any other activity you have to do.
It's hard at first, but once you make the change, it gets surprisingly easy and pretty addictive too. I feel like junk when I don't get some kind of exercise pretty much every day.

I'm not a morning person, I'd love to be but I'm kind of a snarling wildebeast if I get up before 8:30, but I find myself running out of time to workout at night. How does everyone fit this in? What kind of scheduling ninja have you become to make time for exercise?

I generally try to work out while dinner is cooking, or if it's stir-fry or something like that, then I wait about an hour after dinner and work out. That gives me at least two hours between my workout and bedtime. (It takes me at least two hours to wind down.)

How on earth do you manage to get to sleep until 8:30 every day? Every job I've had required me to be at work by 8, my kids' school starts at 8, I even had 8am classes in college. You said you stay up until 1am - go to bed earlier! Move it up 1/2 hour for a few days, then another 1/2 hour until you get to a more reasonable bedtime. Or, if you really aren't willing to readjust your schedule that way, make working out a priority and fit it in some other time!

If you can't do it in the morning (I also am not good at morning workouts) you have to just put off something else that is keeping you busy. It's ok to leave a few dishes in the sink or put laundry away the next day if it means you get a good workout in!

Well... so many have replied but I am going to put my two cents in also In response to "I'm not a morning person"...You learn to adjust. Trust me, you do. I have worked 6am-3pm, 3pm-11pm, and 11pm-6am, at the same job before, and I'm not talking about swing shifts. I started out on nights, there was an opening on the afternoon shift, and then finally after a bout a year I got to go to day shift when there was an opening. You learn to adjust. It's not always EASY, but it can be done. With that said.... I dont expect anyone to go from a 1am bedtime to lets say in bed by 10pm...But if you slowly start to go to bed earlier--lets say by 15 mins at a shot... it will get easier to get up earlier. I believe no one is born a "morning person" or a "night person" but that they seem that way after they are used to doing it awhile- it becomes a pattern, a habbit. If you like to sleep in...( and who doesnt?!) On your rest days allow yourself to do that... but the days when you need to work out--- the night before hit the bed a lil earlier and make yourself get up. After your workout and when you see results ALL will be worth it--- if getting healthy is something you really want to do!