How did you fit in exercise? (Full time work/school)

Gym time is "me time".

You can get up early. You can exercise during lunch. You can exercise at night. You can be a weekend warrior.

When I was in school, I went in the morning to school around 8 and went to work right after until close to 10.
So, I went to the gym in the morning before school and got ready there. It is hard to get up that early but I would pack my clothes and food the night before so I just had to roll on out of bed put on my workout clothes, grab my bag and food and hit the gym. For a period of time I also had a workout partner who I met at the gym that helped keep me going since I knew they were counting on me being there.

Full time student here who also works part time. I go to the gym in-between classes/study time or before school/work. My gym is right down the street from my college, which really helps.

You can get up early. You can exercise during lunch. You can exercise at night. You can be a weekend warrior.

Yes, this. Getting started is the hardest part, but once you have a routine you will feel bad missing your workout.

You have to get exercise where you can find it. Get up 30 mins/15 mins. early workout in your P.J.s using body weight. Walk to work or school if possible or ride a bike. Park farther away and walk. Walk on your lunch break. Workout before ar after work and school. Use the facilities at school or work if available.

I got a fitbit and work in steps during my day--lunch and park further away. I work out with my kids and turn it into something fun--take them to the park in the bike trailer and use the playground equipment to do strength training while they play. Take them to a high school track and let them play tag in the middle field while you run. Added benefit is that you are teaching good habits. Do strength training while you watch TV. Sign up for something and set a goal to add a little pressure--I picked sprint triathlons. Thinking I might drown is a good motivator for workouts!

I know how you feel. I work a full time job about 30 mins from home and have four kids. What I do is get up at 5am each morning and ride the metro to downtown Minneapolis (from the suburbs) so I can go to a Body Pump class on MWF and do 30mins of cardio and then on Tuesday and Thursday I get here and walk for an hour and half. During lunch I do Boot Camp on MWF and Tabata and Kickboxing on Tuesdays and Thursday. That way I have the evenings to spend with my family and on the weekends we take walks together. It sticks and it is hard to find time but it is totally worth it.
I know when school starts back I will have to do my morning workouts at home so I can get the kids to school but it feels so much better to work out in the morning I don't think it will be a problem.

Good luck

On days when I am having a hard time squeezing in exercise I just do it with my kids. I challenge them to body weight exercise competitions or foot races. It helps wear them out and helps me burn some calories, too. Other than that I get up early to go to the gym and sometimes will walk or run on my lunch hour. There is always a way to find the time, it's finding the motivation that is the biggest struggle.

I exercise during my breaks and lunch while at work. If I get up to get coffee, I do some wall push ups, standing crunches, squats, lunges, whatever. I take whatever opportunity I can to fit something in. My difficulty is fitting in an actual set workout.

I'll be one who'll admit that sometimes my days get crazy and I *don't* get in formal exercise. I just make sure to keep moving on those days: do some light yoga, work in the garden, lift my dumb bells when I have ten minutes, take a walk, run up and down stairs more than usual. It's not the same as an hour of power yoga or a hike, and it certainly doesn't burn many calories, but it keeps the muscles working and the blood flowing. At least a couple of times a week, I will do that power yoga, and I'll hike for several hours on the weekend, and it all balances out.

Best thing you can do is get up earlier and chip at it before the day gets busy. Usually I'm at the gym by 6-6:30am, get in a good workout and I'm at work by 8am. Also, learn how to be flexible. There are days where I just don't/can't get up that early, so then I plan to work out during lunch or afternoon. For example, tomorrow I'm going to work from 7-5:30 (with overtime) and at 5:30 I will fly to the gym and get in a good hour of cardio.
Something else that has helped is looking for convenience. I have a gym right at work, so it's super convenient, but not everyone has that. If there is a park/jogging trail close to your house, get up at 5:45 and head over there. You can get a really good sweat, come back and shower and still make it to work at 8. Same thing, if the entire day goes by and you stop being busy at 8pm, head over there for a nice night walk, look at it as "relax" time and think about the endorphins you're gonna get.
I completely understand what you say with "me time". What I did was just turn exercise into 'me time'. If I'm working out in the afternoon, I do it between 5-7pm so I can watch one of my shows on the treadmill. If I'm doing Stairs, I bring my kindle with me and continue reading a book. If I'm running outside, I do a nice playlist so it just feels like I'm enjoying music. It's just a matter of turning it into a habit. I was used to getting here at 5:30 and becoming a couch potato. Now, I do exactly the same thing I would usually do, but while walking/doing stairs. If you want to work out but also wanna spend time with spouse/kids watching a show, buy a treadmill or bike and do it in front of the TV.
And if all of that still seems way too much, break it up. Do 15 minutes in the morning, 15 minutes in lunch, 30 minutes in the afternoon - that's an hour right there. Set your mind to it and just make it a habit

I'm fortunate to have a small gym and locker room in the downstairs of our building where I work, so I always use my lunch break to exercise (run outside or use the treadmills/stair steppers/elliptical). In my previous job (and before kids!) I got up at 4:30 am so that I could go to the gym before work. I have found it is much easier to get it done earlier in the day than to try to squeeze it in after work. It became an easy thing to do (getting up early and doing it before work) and I did that for several years.

Some really great advice on here. I also work full time (40+), wife, mother of 2, and grad student. Like others said walk on lunch breaks, park on the other side of the parking lot, HIIT, you always need down time. Get a set of dumbells and do weights, crunches, planks while watching shows and decompressing. Recently I paid for a gym membership and I stop at the gym on my way home. The bag is packed and in my car. It helps me split of work and family time and makes life much better. Even when I can only stay 40 mins it helps. Getting started is hard but worth it!
I would love to do 4am but haven't made that work for me.
Best of luck!

I do HIT in spurts. I do short but hard workouts in ten or fifteen minutes. I drop and do push-ups during the day. I do pull-ups when I can. I do 20 or 30 squats when I can. I do the wall sit many times throughout the day. No excuse for not getting in exercise.