Married...with children

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jaga13
jaga13 Posts: 1,149 Member
edited January 2016 in Health and Weight Loss
Just curious, if you have young children, how do you AND your partner balance both your workout needs?
I always hear advice to wake up before the kids, but my husband and I can't both do that (someone needs to be around if the kids wake up early, and they do!). We used to alternate who got to workout early on week days. Now I'm a stay at home mom so I workout the 3 mornings my kid is in preschool. Otherwise it's weekends and just trying to stay on my feet and moving.

My husband is now able to get up early any week day he wants (though it ends up only 2-3 times a week).
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Replies

  • Queenmunchy
    Queenmunchy Posts: 3,380 Member
    edited January 2016
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    Five out of seven days you can work out in the morning - not too shabby. If you're trying to work out the additional two days as well, maybe make those at night, and your husband can alternate with you or work out earlier than preschool those three days.
  • nordlead2005
    nordlead2005 Posts: 1,303 Member
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    I have a 2, 3, and 6 year old. I let them either watch tv, play with toys, or they come play in the room I'm exercising in (at home). If we go to the gym they have daycare as part of the membership fees.
  • janjunie
    janjunie Posts: 1,200 Member
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    I have 3 kids; 15 months, 6 and 7 years. The little one is hard to workout around because he gets in the way and anything with weights around him is dangerous. I do any weight/strength training when the little one has a nap, works out well because that also happens to be when my other 2 are in school. My two older kids like doing YouTube workouts and they are old enough where if they aren't in the mood to exercise with me, then they will go play or read or hang out with dad. My husband works out only ocassionally and does it at night after work.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    I have 7yo twins... I'm a SAHM though so I really have no excuse not to work out (and I do 6 days a week).

    We have a stationary bike too (and heavy dumbbells, although the kids broke one of them. Sigh). My husband could spend an hour on it at night if he wanted, he just doesn't. And he could go to the gym on week ends too (I do), but he doesn't either. Or go to the gym before work, but that would require getting up before 7.30am, so he doesn't either (and would rather watch TV until midnight).

    So, there's time, if you think it's important enough.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    My daughter is 8 so I'm not sure if she is still considered young, as she doesn't need as much supervision as younger kids.

    When my husband works out, he usually does it right after work, which is right when our daughter gets home from school. Or he does it on a day off, which is generally when I'm at work and she's at school. If he wanted to work out in the evening I would be fine with it. He leaves for work at 6 am so I don't think he'd ever get up early enough to work out before that but if he did, that would be fine too.

    I work out in the morning, in the evening, or on the weekend (sometimes afternoons on those days.) Whenever it's best that day.

    We have home gym equipment, btw. We also belong to a gym (rec center) but I get there once a week max (6am on one of his days off) and he goes less than that.
  • Dreysander
    Dreysander Posts: 294 Member
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    I work out at home. My kids and I get up at 5:30 most days. I bring them all downstairs, get them set up with a movie then they know that's my time to work out in my room. Sometimes they will come in and lay on my bed or play underneath it or whatever.
  • harrybananas
    harrybananas Posts: 292 Member
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    Lol, ok Peg.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,868 Member
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    I have a 3 and 5 y.o. We alternate...I go to the gym to lift Monday and Wednesday night and Saturday morning...she goes to lift Tuesday and Thursday evenings and either Saturday afternoon or Sunday morning. She works 3/4 time and usually runs during her lunch break...I usually cycle during mine.

    We split the household duties...when I'm out, she's taking care of the boys and the cooking, bathing, homework, etc...I do so on the nights she's gone.
  • jmgj27
    jmgj27 Posts: 531 Member
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    I have 19 month old twins and am a SAHM full time (they don't go to nursery yet). I basically have to get the majority of my exercise through walking. I usually aim for around 10kms a day and that's been working so far. I do also go swimming on a Friday when I have a babysitter watch them for a couple of hours but it's too expensive to do any more regularly. None of the gyms in my area have a crèche and although I do have a treadmill at home I don't get to use it too much as when the kids nap I need to have lunch, do the housework and get the dinner on. By that time they're usually awake again!
  • smcrimmon84
    smcrimmon84 Posts: 135 Member
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    My kids are 3.5 and 6.

    Monday - I go at 5am, his rest day
    Tuesday - He goes at 5am, I go at night
    Wednesday - We got at night together (gym has childcare but its a rush to get dinner done and then to the gym)
    Thursday - He goes at 5am, I go at night
    Friday - I go at 5am, his rest day

    Weekends - just depend on our plans. The gym childcare is usually utilizied on one of those days or I might just go early Sun AM or something.
  • nordlead2005
    nordlead2005 Posts: 1,303 Member
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    janjunie wrote: »
    I have 3 kids; 15 months, 6 and 7 years. The little one is hard to workout around because he gets in the way and anything with weights around him is dangerous. I do any weight/strength training when the little one has a nap, works out well because that also happens to be when my other 2 are in school. My two older kids like doing YouTube workouts and they are old enough where if they aren't in the mood to exercise with me, then they will go play or read or hang out with dad. My husband works out only ocassionally and does it at night after work.

    Since I work all day I solved that problem with my youngest (she was ~16 months when I started lifting) by placing a long stick on the ground and my kids were instructed they were not allowed to cross it. If they did cross, then the lifting stopped, they were told to get on the other side, and then I'd continue. Since I upgraded my home gym I now just tell them they are not allowed on the platform.

    While I could have waited to lift until after 8pm (when they typically go to bed), I prefer to lift ~6pm Monday/Thursday, and then ~9AM Saturday.

    My 2 year old now typically comes out in the garage and sits on the weight bench while I use the rack, and my 3 year old often counts the plates for me and tells me I'm lifting 10.
  • Asher_Ethan
    Asher_Ethan Posts: 2,430 Member
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    I have an 8-year-old and a 2-year-old. My gym has child care so that helps. Ill try and workout during the day since I only work part time, and my husband will workout in his way home from work.
  • mkakids
    mkakids Posts: 1,913 Member
    edited January 2016
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    My kids are 8,6,4,1.5. I work out in the morning ans he works out at night. We both go on the weekends.

    This works for us because i do 90% of the childcare and housework since i am a stay at home mom. Im usually home as everyone is waking up. Evenings are filled with dinner, homework and chores.....i need that time to get everything done and if i was at the gym it would be hard to stay caught up.
  • amillenium
    amillenium Posts: 281 Member
    edited January 2016
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    My kids are 8 and 11. I get up at 4:45 and work out at the gym on the first floor in our building from 5-6am. My kids get up at 6ish. If there was ever any type of emergency in that one hour before they wake up...the 11 year old knows where I am and can either call my cell phone from our unit or get in the elevator to the first floor to get me. I do this 5-6 days a week. Other days, I run in the evening around the neighborhood while they are at swim practice. In an ideal world I would have time for more than an hour a day...I need about 1.5 hours to be happy but I will take what I can get.

    ETA: I am not married (but I do have kids).
  • tnm7760
    tnm7760 Posts: 109 Member
    edited January 2016
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    My husband is back in grad school. He is gone from 5am until about midnight, five days per week, so if I don't workout at home then it doesn't happen.

    I'd like to get up early, but I'm never great at making that happen. So I usually do it immediately after the kids are off to school. My young niece (who I watch daily) just plays while I get it done. Or she does it with me.

    My friends that workout at the gym rotate days, others rotate morning/night, and a few make use of the gym daycare while the other one is at work.
  • Jennloella
    Jennloella Posts: 2,286 Member
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    I workout before kids wake up, I get up at 5 t accomplish this. I workout at home.... weights, treadmill, heavy bag, or spin bike... Sometimes swim some laps during summer. My hubby works out in evenings when he gets home while I'm making dinner. We have four kids... 13, 10, 2, 1. We both work so we stick to a strict schedule and meal prep dinners on sundays.
  • samchez0
    samchez0 Posts: 364 Member
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    One of us works out while the kids are awake and the other after they are in bed. I usually like to do it after they're in bed cause I need time to disgest my dinner but I occassionaly do it with them awake and my husband keeps the kids out of my hair.
  • JackieMarie1989jgw
    JackieMarie1989jgw Posts: 230 Member
    edited January 2016
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    Married with one 9 month old. We work shift work so sometimes we have random days when we are both off. One will go to the gym while the other stays home. But most of the time we really have to utlize the daycare at the gym. If we both want to work out or if one of us wants to work out but the other is working, gym daycare is our main go-to.
    I also try to do some exercises at home while he naps, such as yoga, wall sits, wall push ups, etc. They have to be very quiet work outs haha
  • jaga13
    jaga13 Posts: 1,149 Member
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    Great perspectives, thank you for answering. Today was my husband's morning to sleep in (we alternate on weekends). Normally when he wakes up I can workout as long as I want, but today we had to be somewhere early in the day.
    So I brought the kids into the basement and let them play while I used the treadmill. I walked since my usual run takes too much focus for me to keep an eye on them, but we made it work.
  • zdyb23456
    zdyb23456 Posts: 1,706 Member
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    When my husband is home he leaves for work early and workouts at work.

    I try to get up at 5am three mornings a week to run on the treadmill before work/school. The other two mornings I take my preschoolers to the gym with me after dropping my 1st grader off. The mornings I can't get up at 5am, I hit the gym after dropping the kids off and before work. I don't like doing that because I feel so rushed to get to work on time.

    Saturday I go to the gym myself if the husband is around. Or we all go and he'll swim with the kids while I workout. Or if the weather is nice we'll run/bike outside as a family.

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