When do you exercise?

0ctobre
0ctobre Posts: 22 Member
I did one month of Insanity last year and while I loved it, I found it hard to fit almost an hour of workout + showering + getting dressed/presentable again into my schedule every single day. Am I just being lazy?

I leave for work at 7:30am and get home around 6pm. What would be the best time? When do you prefer working out? I feel like doing it at night when I come home from work kind of kills my evening as I don't get to eat dinner before almost 8pm... and I do go out to eat once or twice a week. Is it just the motivation missing?? Help!
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Replies

  • bryionak
    bryionak Posts: 110 Member
    Yeah, I wish I could do it in the morning but I just don't seem to be able to. I am usually doing it at night, after dinner, sometimes after the kids go to bed. After showering it is sometimes hard to get ready to go to sleep. But it is what has been working for me.
  • bLui_bella
    bLui_bella Posts: 39 Member
    No,I did the same thing last year... and I found it hard to commit that much time as well.. I have two small children so morning was out of the question unless I got up at 3am, which wasn't gonna happen... I would usually do it in the afternoon after I made them dinner, so I was working out while they ate and then we'd do baths and bedtime routine :) I'd have to prepare food for myself on the off day for the entire week so I could heat it up after I finished all of my "chores" .

    SO, answer is no, not lack of motivation!
  • DocMarr
    DocMarr Posts: 132 Member
    Exercise is anything that gets your heart pumping - On days I can't get to the gym or go to a workout class, I try to build exercise into my day - at work I use my lunch hour to go for a walk and choose places with steep hills. I run up and down the stairs rather than take the lift (my office is on the 4th floor). I walk to and from the train station and get off the bus a stop early so I walk more. All this adds a significant amount of exercise to my day. Might be worth considering ways in which you can build it in if you don't feel like going out in the evening? :-)
  • rileymama
    rileymama Posts: 196 Member
    I usually try for the morning then walk at night if I can. I couldn't do it all at night. My days are too long, I want to relax at night!
  • Personally, I have a hard time getting up extra early to fit in exercise before work. I would PREFER to do it in the morning, but since that doesn't work for me, I do it at night right when I get home. The best time to exercise is the time that you CAN and WILL do it, or when you have the MOST ENERGY :)

    Feel free to message me or add me as a friend if you have any more questions, and good luck :happy:
  • FearAnLoathingJ
    FearAnLoathingJ Posts: 337 Member
    I like to work out in the morning,I just feel like anytime I work out in the evening I don't push myself as much. Today I woke up at 5 to go do crossfit,but when I got to my gym I go around 8 am
  • Suffer4beauty
    Suffer4beauty Posts: 44 Member
    I get up at 5 AM M-F and 5:30 AM Sat and Sun so that I can work out and shower/dress/hair before the kids come running in. I find it too hard to come home from work and work-out - most days I find an excuse not to - so I have to do mornings and force myself, or it just won't get done. Sometimes I also mildly exercise on my breaks or even a little bit at night after the kids go to bed - I have a Nordic Track stepper and I will step on it while watching t.v. - it's hard to get started, but within 10 minutes I will think, "wow, sitting on the couch while watching t.v. seems like such a waste of time when I just have to do this mild walking motion."
  • flumi_f
    flumi_f Posts: 1,888 Member
    Well that really depends on my work schedule and everything else that's happening on a given day.

    Mo after work - may be a 30 min run and then tai chi
    Tu Morning or Afternoon - Treadmill and Strength training
    We 645-730 - Swimming - Crawl and Aquajogging
    Th - 730-9 - see Tu
    Fr afternoon - off or a run 30-45min
    Sa or So afternoon- off or a run 45-60 min


    What I do notice, is my puls higher, used cals too and I feel stronger between 10-12am than if I exercise earlier in the morning. But that just doen't always fit into my day. The afternoon is mostly good as long as I didn't eat to much for lunch.
  • TracyJo93
    TracyJo93 Posts: 197 Member
    I get off work at 5 and go straight to the gym, come home and continue with my schedule. My gym is 45 minutes from my house and 15 minutes from my work. If I were closer, I would go early in the mornings, shower at the gym and get ready for work there.
  • NKF92879
    NKF92879 Posts: 601 Member
    During the school year (I'm a teacher), I try to get up at 4:45 to work out. It doesn't always happen, though. Sometimes I do an after dinner workout, but that's not usually my best effort. :blushing: Summer, when I'm home, it's whenever I can fit it in. When I teach summer school, it's generally early-mid afternoon.
  • Glasspack
    Glasspack Posts: 105 Member
    Early Morning M-W-F on the treadmill by 4:30 and T-TH HIIT class @ 5:15AM then lift for 30 - 40 minutes after work. Some days are tougher then others but I'd rather get it out of the way. At least for me this gives me at least some time in the evening with my wife.
  • Ashshell
    Ashshell Posts: 185
    It does sound like your motivation to make exercise a priority is lacking. That's understandable, but...there will always be things you'd rather do. I work full-time (8am-4:30pm) and I have a 2.5 year old. My day is packed. I go to the gym after my fiancé gets home from work at 7pm so he can hang out with our kiddo. Usually, I hang out with them for about 30-45 minutes and then I head out. I don't get home until around 10pm and I still have to take care of household duties somewhere in between everything else I have going on. It can be done, it just depends on how bad you want to lose weight or get in shape. It's hard at first, but after you get into a routine and you start seeing results, it gets easier. I actually enjoy going now.
  • 0ctobre
    0ctobre Posts: 22 Member
    All excellent answers :) It's fun to see that everybody's routine is a little different.
    My work schedule should change in August and that might give me a chance to workout in the morning. I just can't bring myself to get up at 5am... I used to do it for work and am just so happy that I don't have to anymore.
    Do you eat breakfast before or after??
  • 0ctobre
    0ctobre Posts: 22 Member
    You are a superwoman!! :D
  • nickymarie011
    nickymarie011 Posts: 152 Member
    I work from home, so I exercise on my 'lunch break' and end up eating lunch while I work, after my workout lol. I cannot exercise at night, or else I am up all friggin night. The endorphins after working out do not allow to sleep unfortunately. I know some people who are very busy end up cutting their workouts in half and doing one half in the AM and one half in the evening...seems to work for some.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    Currently I workout right after work in the evenings. We live near a national forest so sometimes we hike there before going home when the weather is nice, otherwise I workout when I get home.

    But over my many adult years I've worked out at all different times. In the morning before work, late in the evening after dinner and shortly before bed. For a while I worked the night shift and would workout in the afternoon when I woke up.
  • Im_NotPerfect
    Im_NotPerfect Posts: 2,181 Member
    When I go running, I get up at 5 am and go before the kids get up. On my strength days I do it at night in front of the TV after the kids go to bed! :)
  • During the week I am up at 4 and on the treadmill for 45-50 minutes. Then do some other exercises, get showered and ready before I have to get the kids up. Some days when I can't make myself get up I will do it later at night after bedtime but it's hard to make myself do that consistently. I'd rather do it in the morning, and be done with it.
  • 0ctobre
    0ctobre Posts: 22 Member
    It does sound like your motivation to make exercise a priority is lacking. That's understandable, but...there will always be things you'd rather do. I work full-time (8am-4:30pm) and I have a 2.5 year old. My day is packed. I go to the gym after my fiancé gets home from work at 7pm so he can hang out with our kiddo. Usually, I hang out with them for about 30-45 minutes and then I head out. I don't get home until around 10pm and I still have to take care of household duties somewhere in between everything else I have going on. It can be done, it just depends on how bad you want to lose weight or get in shape. It's hard at first, but after you get into a routine and you start seeing results, it gets easier. I actually enjoy going now.

    You're a superwoman!!!

    (sorry for the double posts... I haven't quite gotten the hang of this forum yet!!)
  • ksy1969
    ksy1969 Posts: 700 Member
    I do the AM. I used to use the excuse that I just couldn't get motivated to get up but then I found myself making excuses after work for not going. That was the point I realized I needed to make a choice. Either I was going to do this or I wasn't. So I made the decision to start getting up in the early AM to get my work out in and done for the day. Some days it was really hard, but there has never been a day in the last year and a half that I regretted going to the gym early.
  • blazergrad
    blazergrad Posts: 603 Member
    I can't do mornings either.... I get up for work at 4:30 AM already, so I'd have to get up at 2:30 to get in a workout and that just ain't happening.

    I get home from work around 3:30'ish in the afternoons and I'm usually out in my shop working out by 4:00.... a 45-55 minute weight lifting session and then I still have the rest of the evening to spend with my wife. Of course, that's providing something doesn't interfere with my schedule.
  • aliceclutz90
    aliceclutz90 Posts: 151 Member
    I normally do after work (starting somewhere between 5 and 6 pm) because it means I don't have to get up at 5am to go before work.

    On occasion though I have done spin class/a run/a swim or a gym session before work but that is not a regular thing!
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,984 Member
    Between the hours of 11am and 12pm when my gym is it's slowest. No wait time and no clients.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • I love working out first thing in the morning. But when I am working I end up doing it at night due to my work schedule. I agree with another poster who said anytime you can and are willing. However, you don't want to workout too close to your bedtime as it can affect your sleep.
  • moosegt35
    moosegt35 Posts: 1,296 Member
    Back to mornings now. Helps me get woke up and going in the morning and doesn't take up my entire evening and make it where we are eating at 8:30, cleaning up and then going to bed. Also makes me feel better throughout the day.
  • Ashshell
    Ashshell Posts: 185
    It does sound like your motivation to make exercise a priority is lacking. That's understandable, but...there will always be things you'd rather do. I work full-time (8am-4:30pm) and I have a 2.5 year old. My day is packed. I go to the gym after my fiancé gets home from work at 7pm so he can hang out with our kiddo. Usually, I hang out with them for about 30-45 minutes and then I head out. I don't get home until around 10pm and I still have to take care of household duties somewhere in between everything else I have going on. It can be done, it just depends on how bad you want to lose weight or get in shape. It's hard at first, but after you get into a routine and you start seeing results, it gets easier. I actually enjoy going now.

    You're a superwoman!!!

    (sorry for the double posts... I haven't quite gotten the hang of this forum yet!!)


    Oh, gosh...no way! Thank you, though! I am just tired of being fat. :laugh:
  • Timshel_
    Timshel_ Posts: 22,834 Member
    I just fit it in my work day. I switched to HIIT for my cardio and lower body strength training, which cut me from 45+ minutes of running to 25 minutes of intervals. Then I do a fast paced, intense 15 to 20 minute upper body strength training. Lave me 10 minutes of my lunch hour to clean up. I am luky enough to have the gym and facilities avialble on the college campus I work at, so that helps.
  • moosegt35
    moosegt35 Posts: 1,296 Member
    I can't do mornings either.... I get up for work at 4:30 AM already, so I'd have to get up at 2:30 to get in a workout and that just ain't happening.

    I get home from work around 3:30'ish in the afternoons and I'm usually out in my shop working out by 4:00.... a 45-55 minute weight lifting session and then I still have the rest of the evening to spend with my wife. Of course, that's providing something doesn't interfere with my schedule.

    Your workouts are 2 hours?
  • MaggieKillNMaul
    MaggieKillNMaul Posts: 24 Member
    I used to get up every morning and hit the gym at 5:30 for spin class, but have since lost the ability to pry myself out of bed. (could be that we cancelled our gym membership when we moved and there isn't one conveniently located) Instead, I've started walking to and from work every day (that's a total of 4 miles!) and try to do something every evening--if I don't go for a run, I at least try to take the dogs for a walk in the park. Derby a couple times a week helps a bit too!
  • blazergrad
    blazergrad Posts: 603 Member

    Your workouts are 2 hours?

    No, my workouts are usually in the 45-60 minute range, but if I tried to work out in the morning, I would have to shower and do all the other usual stuff to get ready for work as well.... so I'd have to get up about 2 hours earlier.