Fitting in a workout as a working professional.

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  • JNick77
    JNick77 Posts: 3,783 Member
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    I'm having the same problem. I work 7pm til 7:30 am, usually 3 days at a time. I get home go to bed, get up 8 hrs later then get ready to go to work. On my days off it's not a problem. I try doing some activity at work every night. Any ideas would be appreciated.

    Graveyard shift is tough to manage. There's always right after work or right when you wake up.
  • Flawless_K
    Flawless_K Posts: 42 Member
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    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 am also a professional working in a large city plus I have a 6 month year old whom I have to drop off at daycare before Starbucks then work. But with that being said, I don't think the fact that we are professionals have anything to do with "LIFE". We could be at home, in the country and there will always be something! My solution=get up earlier or be prepared to stay up late. Even consider your lunch hour if the gym has a shower. I get up 5 AM 2-3 times a week to do a Jillian DVD (which is a helluva work-out for 30 min). The rest of the week is filled with group exercise classes like spinning or Pilates which I wake up at 4:30 AM and commute to get there. You just have to find a way BOO. Good Luck!
  • Flawless_K
    Flawless_K Posts: 42 Member
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    I am up at 4:30 and working out at 5am. At work by 8. I have a desk job, professional, although I'm not sure what tat has to do with anything. You have to commit. Someone else mentioned kids, yes. It gets worse later. You have to commit and never waiver. It's not easy. If it was, everyone would be fit.

    PREACH
  • glowingcactus
    glowingcactus Posts: 9 Member
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    I go late at night 8:30 or 9:00 pm. When the kids were little it was after they were in bed, now they put themselves to bed by the time I get back. I'm much better at night, even after a full days work, than I am in the morning.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    Get up earlier...I work full time, have 2 kids, and am take 2 classes at my university...you have to make time - I get up at 4 a.m....you just have to want it bad enough.

    This.
  • LoraF83
    LoraF83 Posts: 15,694 Member
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    Pretty much everyone on this site has time constraints, obligations, family to take care of, work to do, etc. So, it's just a matter of deciding how important exercise is to you. If it's important, you will find the time. If it's not, you won't.

    Sometimes, I have to get up at 4:30am to get my workout in before my daughter wakes up and I have to get both of us ready for the day so I can be at work on time. Sometimes, I squeeze in a workout after work and other activities (hoping to go for a run around 8pm tonight after her soccer game).

    You can find the time if you really want to.
  • unhgoose
    unhgoose Posts: 122 Member
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    I get up at or before 6 am to squeeze in a work out before the kids wake up, and I go to work at either 7:30 or 8:30 am depending on the day. Evenings are out because of the dinner and going to bed routines. What I love dong are the Firm Express videos (20 min but intense) or Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30 (33 min). I also run on the weekends.

    As others have said it is all about making a commitment and it only gets harder as your life gets fuller. That is why I love the success stores. I love proof of just how successful people are.
  • LeenaRuns
    LeenaRuns Posts: 1,309 Member
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    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.

    Yup. I'm up at 3:45 am to workout, at work by 7:30 am. I work full time, have an internship for my Master's part time, have a 2-year-old son, and am communications chair for a museum. Oh, and I'm training for a half marathon. You can't just find time, you have to make time.
  • sarahg148
    sarahg148 Posts: 701 Member
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    Could you possibly get a piece of cardio equipment at your place so you don't have to travel to a gym? That would save you time, too. I hate having to rush around to workout. Having some gym equipment at the house is a real time saver. I'm also more of a night person, so working out in the am is NOT my thing. I'd rather exercise at 10 at night.
  • alpine1994
    alpine1994 Posts: 1,915 Member
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    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
  • katies71123
    katies71123 Posts: 57
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    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
    JasonDetwiler Posts: 364 Member
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    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
    JasonDetwiler Posts: 364 Member
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    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
    GeekGirl23 Posts: 517 Member
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    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
    ChrisRS87 Posts: 781 Member
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    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
    lalin1105 Posts: 6 Member
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    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
    ChxSurf782 Posts: 169 Member
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    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
    Ws2016 Posts: 432 Member
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    Get a gym membership close to work and go in after work, commute tome home should shorten, right?
  • questionfear
    questionfear Posts: 527 Member
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    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
    kwtilbury Posts: 1,234 Member
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    Head to the gym at 6/6:30 AM, home by 8 AM. Get ready and go to work. What's the problem?

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