Parents, how do you finding time to work out?

I have 5 kids. When the older ones go to school I strap the baby in a jogging pushchair. I went from couch to 5 K with no problems. Training for 10K now.. Babe gets a little whiny towards the end of the 60 mins but we're hanging on in.
I do this 3 times a week, mon, wed and fri.
On tues,thurs and sats, I do an nhs strength programme in my living room - no equipment required. That's about 45 mins a time.

Sometimes I don't feel like doing it. 5 kids as a single mother is hard work. But I make myself. Nobody's going to wave a magic wand and make everything come together for me. I make do with what I do have.

Good luck

I have two girls 16 month old and a just turned 3 year old...they are full of some energy!! lol...i stay at home with my kids (full time college student)...i will workout in the same room as them (i like workout videos ex: p90x, turbofire, taebo, etc.)..which they will sometimes grab my equipment or climb on me while im doing a push up or something....its cute when they try to copy me though..but...i still work through it lol....or i will wait till nap time or bedtime...sometimes i will end up working out really early or super late (1 or 2 am) but i get it done...thats what matters to me...im very exhausted sometimes but i know that its all good once i get up and start doing it ill enjoy it...its just the initial step of getting up and starting...i tell myself i will never see the results i want if i dont get up and do this!

I'm lucky and hubby and I take it in turns to go to the gym in the evening. On the nights he goes to the gym I run when he comes in. It can be hard and we normally have to fit all round after school clubs too. Have also just bought a treadmill so i can run while the kids play as its school holidays.

It does get easier as they get older ( we have 4 from 3 to 14)

i am one of those people that really can't work out in the morning. I'm sluggish walking my little guy to daycare!

I find the moment to work out during the day while I'm at work... i run three times / week and i try to do *something* the other days (30 day shred, cycling, etc)

I also try to just be more active. We take our bikes to the store for an outing; baby in a bike trailer... kids get a treat, i get a water. we all get a little workout.

The trick is balance. And i know all about the guilt, but if you work, can you manipulate your schedule to squeeze some hours within daycare times? (i used to work M-W-F until 4 instead of 4:30 and i would make up the 1.5 hours by coming in early and staying a little later the other days because daycare ran from 7-6 or something) Yea it was long days for the kids, but they weren't being moved around and they barely noticed the extra time.

If you are not working, childcare at the gym is a great opportunity for your children to meet other children.

If your husband is home in the evening, cook dinner, but don't eat yours... head to the gym while your husband eats and feeds the kids,then have your dinner when you come home then take over.

You just have to find what will work in your own life, since one size fits all fits nobody (I have beaten myself up for years about working out in the morning, i just CAN'T do it)

I go during work. Lucky enough to have a boss that is really into the gym and feels if someone wants to take an extra hour on top of their lunch, go for it!

When my twins were little, the bike trailer helped tremendously! I've hauled kids all over creation.

I'll gladly admit to being a little too joyous over not having too now.

Many YMCAs have been renovated to compete with local health clubs.
At the Y, you only pay what you can afford.
Some offer child care for people while they workout.

Look into it.

I get my workouts in after my 15 month old goes to sleep. So I'm usually at the gym around 9:30 at night, even if I'm super tired, I just make myself go, because I know I'll feel better afterward. On the weekends, I go to a Zumba class and my husband watchers the baby. We also try to incorporate activities as family, like hiking or swimming. Good Luck!!

I work out whenever I can. I work full-time and have a 4 year old. So on days when I can go at lunch, I go at lunch. On days I can't, I wake up at 5:30AM, 6AM and work out to a DVD in my basement or hit the pavement for a run. If I don't wake up in time and I couldn't work out at lunch, I do the DVD or run in the evenings leaving the kid to play next to me or with my husband. If NONE of the above work, I walk from the train station to my office (30 mins) instead of taking transportation.

You don't HAVE to work out for 30 mins or an hour at a time. Take 10 mins at a time if you can. Take your child to the playground and do pull ups on the monkey bars, jump up and down the steps of the slides 10 mins at a time. Run around the playground while keeping an eye on your kid. Stand up instead of sit down watching TV, oh and while you are standing, do squats. Find the time, if it's 10 mins, do 10, 20 mins do 20...anything is better than nothing.

Just my 2 cents..

I cannot speak highly enough of the Y. Both my husband and I work. But I go to the gym right after work. And granted I leave my child in daycare until I am finished but if I had to I would pick her up and put her in the childwatch program at the Y while I worked out. We do that on the weekends when we work out. The Y has just about every cardio machine you can ever want. They have machines to do weights or free weights if you want to go that direction. They offer personal training at great prices. Most have pools and tracks (indoors or outdoors). They also have community things like runs, walks, pick-up basketball games, triathlons etc. And what I find best of all is as your child grows you can start engaging them in sports and other rec activities right there knowing how wonderful the people are. Its a great community and place. Since joining and thinking about getting myself in shape I know I have put my daughter's wellbeing onto a good track as well.