making time for the gym

Signing up for classes is a great way to feel like you have to go. I always found it best to go in the morning because no random excuses would derail it. Next best was before going home.

Now I'm struggling. Between a long commute, kids and a husband with the same commute but longer hours I find the gym really tough to get to. I find home DVDs easier to commit to timewise. I also got a fit bit which did encourage me to walk to work from the train station instead of taking the subway. By adding 20 minutes to my daily commute I can get 50 minutes of fast walking in.

I currently get up at 5 for my commute so I don't appreciate losing more sleep time. I would happily go to sleep at 8 but kids have other plans.

Find a training program, set some goals, achieve them and repeat. Don't approach your time in the gym as simply as a "workout".

I think there is a huge difference between going to the gym to "workout" and to "train".

What I see a lot of people do at my gym is a "work out", which I think means jumping on a cardio machine or maybe wandering between a few strength machines/barbells and pumping out some reps. They work up a sweat ... maybe. They repeat this for a while and lose some weight/look a bit better after a while. It is good for you? Sure! But it really doesn't provide a lot of incentive to go back once you drop those lbs.

With training you know exactly what your going to do when you go into the gym, every rep, every weight, every stride, every second is accounted for. You know what your expected performance should be and you strive to achieve it every time you show up. You have both short-term and long-term goals, and make measurable progress towards achieving them.

I "train" 3x a week without fail, I show up at the gym at 4:45am on Tues, Thurs, and Sat mornings and lift. I have specific goals I push to achieve (strength wise) every month and my "longer-term" goals I want to hit by Christmas and next summer. Every time I beat a personal record or finish one more rep than the last time, I gain all the motivation I need to go back next time and do it again. Nothing inspires success like success. This is pretty true outside of the gym too.

The funny thing about training programs is once you start seeing results, you'll start doing doing things outside the gym to keep those successes coming. Once I started seeing results from lifting (for example), I started spending more time trying to eat cleaner, sleep more, and make sure I'd be able to repeat my successes on the next session in the gym.

I do "workout" at least once a week, sometimes as much as 3x on my non lifting days. Some days I'll go to the gym and whack a racketball around, play some hoops, tumble on the mats (looking like an idiot), walk into a yoga class, or maybe I'll just go for a long walk or jog around the park. I do it because it's fun, different, and I have spare time this summer to kill. If I didn't workout, I'd probably lose weight a little slower, but I'd still be happy with my training program. "Working out" for me is simply something physical to do that maybe burns some extra calories and makes me feel better.

So train!

Working with a trainer might help flip the switch for you. It did for me. If I lived as close to work as you do, I'd walk. Just saying.

In July, I started getting up at 5:00-5:15am and was at the gym by 5:45 M-F. Sure, that first week was difficult - I was sorely tempted to hit the snooze button and blow off my workout. But I made a commitment to myself and (probably more importantly) my awesome friends list to get up and do it. It would have been relatively easy to blow off the gym if it was just me I had to contend with, but how could I disappoint my FL??

By week 2, 5:00am is much easier. I LOVE knowing that the most disciplined part of my day is over by 7:00am. Knowing that I knocked out 3.5miles or completed my strength training while most people are still sleeping or just having their morning coffee is a great ego boost. I do today what most people won't so tomorrow I can do what most people can't.

Now, one month in to this, I look forward to my early morning workouts. Here it is, not even noon on Sunday, and I have my gym bag packed, my work clothes already laid out for tomorrow.

Sure, I had to make some concessions to my old schedule, like making sure I'm in bed by 10:00pm so I get adequate sleep. But what am I giving up?? Late nights of watching old TV re-runs?? And I have added multivitamins and B complex to my daily nutrition. But all in all, this has been a VERY positive step for me and I'm so glad I sucked it up that first week and just did it.

If this is REALLY what you want, you WILL find the way the get it done. Good luck!!

Today I so want to take a day off but I want my sexy back more than I want rest! My mindset right now: Let's get it, cause I want it bad. #30dayfitness #30DayAbChallenge

For me, it's just about making myself do it. I am lucky to have been able to turn one of my extra bedrooms into a home gym. I have a treadmill, elliptical, free weights and kettle bell. I bought a TV for that room so I watch it while I walk.

I know that I am not a morning person, so I make myself do it when I come home from work before I even sit down. I come in the door, put my purse and lunch bag down, use the bathroom and immediately put on my workout clothes and shoes.

Honestly, at first, there were alot of nights that I struggled to work all day and then come home and work out, but now I look forward to it. It's been a great stress reliever for me and I'm really starting to see results which is a huge motivation.

You will get in a groove and find what is right for you and your body. Good luck!

OH, and I am almost always in bed by 9:30 :laugh: #oldbeforemytime

And what's wrong with going to sleep at 8?
#oldpeopletactics

Nothing other than the fact I'm not ready to be old yet.

I'd rather be a 52yo old fart who goes to bed early, runs a 9:00mile, deadlifts 210 and weighs 20lbs more than I did when I graduated high school (116) than be a young, unfit couch potato. :drinker:

Haha definitely!