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Finding time to Exercise

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  • MsHarryWinston
    MsHarryWinston Posts: 1,027 Member
    edited May 2017
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    ^ I average 4-6 hours of sleep, but that's just how my life is. *shrug*
  • Chef_Barbell
    Chef_Barbell Posts: 6,644 Member
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    rheddmobile wrote: »
    This thread has become a little extreme. I do think everyone can find enough time to work out, but somehow this thread has become some sort of contest where if you're not working out several hours of every day you're doing it wrong. Okay, granted health is a priority, but other things are priorities too. I'm a creative person professionally, and watching TV and playing video games and reading books are all things I need to do in order to stay abreast of what other people are doing. Not to mention, life is too short to spend literally every waking moment either at work or at the gym! If you enjoy working out, that's great that you have a hobby you enjoy. I don't enjoy working out. I do it because I need to. But my actual life is elsewhere. The thought of spending 3 and 4 hours every day working out doesn't make me inspired, it makes me sad. Fitness is something I want so that I can enjoy the other things I want to do, not something I want to do for its own sake. Quilting is something I do while sitting on my rear end. I don't want to stop quilting and replace it with training for a marathon. They are not the same activities, and I like quilting. I believe that I get to enjoy quilting and be healthy at the same time. I don't have to throw my TV out the window and be unable to participate in conversations about television to get healthy.

    I fail to see a contest where of you're not working out several hours a day you're doing it wrong.

    Different strokes for different folks. No need to call people who enjoy working out sad.
  • Packerjohn
    Packerjohn Posts: 4,855 Member
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    Need2Exerc1se wrote: »
    armchairherpetologist wrote: »
    NorthCascades wrote: »
    tomteboda wrote: »
    Packerjohn wrote: »
    CSARdiver wrote: »
    As the successful have stated - it's not about finding time, it's about making time.

    I apply the Pareto Principle to this - devoting my energy to the 20% that truly matters and has impact. I intentionally neglect the 80% of lower priority issues that previously clogged up my time.

    My wife and I are both working professionals with three active kids. She gets up at 4 am every day to hit the gym for an hour before work, then spend most of her day in a laboratory. I get up at 5 am and do calisthenics or take a quick run/bike, wake up the kids for 20 mins of calisthenics and get them ready for school. 45 min commute to an office setting, but I started up walking meetings for my team. We eat at our desks and use the lunch time for an afternoon workout. For teleconferences I go mobile and walk with an ear bud. My wife picks up the kids after school and starts the evening routine. I hit the gym on the way home and get my lifting in, then we all go for a walk/bike/whatever. Weekends involve hikes, climbing, swimming or something that gets us out of the house and moving.

    It's all about prioritization.

    The average American spends 50 non-work hours a week on screen time:
    http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/30/health/americans-screen-time-nielsen/

    Someone has to be a pretty special snowflake to not be able to find an hour a day to exercise.

    How on earth does the "average American" manage that anyway? That's 7.5 hours a DAY of "screen time". Does the "average American" neither work or have any other hobbies or interests or obligations whatsoever? I expect imminent collapse of society if this study is accurate or as broad as portrayed.

    Game of Thrones, Kim Kardashian's *kitten*, Honey Boo Boo, and, well, that's as much as I'm capable of naming off the top of my head, but you get the idea. These are the average American's hobbies and interests.

    People ask me about television shows all the time and they think that I'm lying when I say I have no idea what they're talking about. My television "watching" is limited to the fact that I use it for background noise before I fall asleep. I can't imagine just sitting there staring at the the glowy box.

    I get this too. All the time. Did you see the latest Game of Thrones? Um, no I'm less than 1/2 through season one. <blank stare> It's as if I said I'd never seen a tree.

    And worst is that people keep giving us seasons of shows to watch as gifts (we actually had to buy a bigger DVD case just for all the DVDs we'll probably never watch) and then they constantly ask if I've watched it yet and seem irritated when we say no.

    LOL, I haven't see the first 30 seconds of the first episode.

    My life isn't sad.
  • Penthesilea514
    Penthesilea514 Posts: 1,189 Member
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    I never thought I would be the type to wake up at 5:15am to go to the gym before work- but somehow, when I realized that I needed to make changes to make fitness a priority that is wasn't going to fall into my lap, I made it work. I do the mornings for the same reason @Chef_Barbell does- I won't do it after work, I don't like the gym in the afternoon (I hate crowds).

    I try to be in bed by 9:30pm to fall asleep around 10- usually gets me enough sleep. I love sleep.

    All of this depends on your goals and priorities- 3-4 hours of working out may be fun and important to someone, just as important to others as playing video games or reading books. I don't see competition here, just people being honest that if you want something badly enough, you need to make it a priority, be it in the fitness world or career or family or gaming or whatever.

    @JetJaguar I am obsessed with MST3k and I am enjoying the new season!
  • MsHarryWinston
    MsHarryWinston Posts: 1,027 Member
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    Packerjohn wrote: »
    Need2Exerc1se wrote: »
    armchairherpetologist wrote: »
    NorthCascades wrote: »
    tomteboda wrote: »
    Packerjohn wrote: »
    CSARdiver wrote: »
    As the successful have stated - it's not about finding time, it's about making time.

    I apply the Pareto Principle to this - devoting my energy to the 20% that truly matters and has impact. I intentionally neglect the 80% of lower priority issues that previously clogged up my time.

    My wife and I are both working professionals with three active kids. She gets up at 4 am every day to hit the gym for an hour before work, then spend most of her day in a laboratory. I get up at 5 am and do calisthenics or take a quick run/bike, wake up the kids for 20 mins of calisthenics and get them ready for school. 45 min commute to an office setting, but I started up walking meetings for my team. We eat at our desks and use the lunch time for an afternoon workout. For teleconferences I go mobile and walk with an ear bud. My wife picks up the kids after school and starts the evening routine. I hit the gym on the way home and get my lifting in, then we all go for a walk/bike/whatever. Weekends involve hikes, climbing, swimming or something that gets us out of the house and moving.

    It's all about prioritization.

    The average American spends 50 non-work hours a week on screen time:
    http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/30/health/americans-screen-time-nielsen/

    Someone has to be a pretty special snowflake to not be able to find an hour a day to exercise.

    How on earth does the "average American" manage that anyway? That's 7.5 hours a DAY of "screen time". Does the "average American" neither work or have any other hobbies or interests or obligations whatsoever? I expect imminent collapse of society if this study is accurate or as broad as portrayed.

    Game of Thrones, Kim Kardashian's *kitten*, Honey Boo Boo, and, well, that's as much as I'm capable of naming off the top of my head, but you get the idea. These are the average American's hobbies and interests.

    People ask me about television shows all the time and they think that I'm lying when I say I have no idea what they're talking about. My television "watching" is limited to the fact that I use it for background noise before I fall asleep. I can't imagine just sitting there staring at the the glowy box.

    I get this too. All the time. Did you see the latest Game of Thrones? Um, no I'm less than 1/2 through season one. <blank stare> It's as if I said I'd never seen a tree.

    And worst is that people keep giving us seasons of shows to watch as gifts (we actually had to buy a bigger DVD case just for all the DVDs we'll probably never watch) and then they constantly ask if I've watched it yet and seem irritated when we say no.

    LOL, I haven't see the first 30 seconds of the first episode.

    My life isn't sad.

    *blink blink. Stares at you both like you've never seen a tree*
    Yeah but... it's Game of friggin THRONES!
    Lol, jk, but it really is an awesome show/book series. I mean come on... dragons! Lol
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,576 Member
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    When I have to exercise for the sake of exercising I usually do it in front of the TV because I hate exercising for no other reason than I need exercise.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,910 Member
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    Packerjohn wrote: »
    CSARdiver wrote: »
    As the successful have stated - it's not about finding time, it's about making time.

    I apply the Pareto Principle to this - devoting my energy to the 20% that truly matters and has impact. I intentionally neglect the 80% of lower priority issues that previously clogged up my time.

    My wife and I are both working professionals with three active kids. She gets up at 4 am every day to hit the gym for an hour before work, then spend most of her day in a laboratory. I get up at 5 am and do calisthenics or take a quick run/bike, wake up the kids for 20 mins of calisthenics and get them ready for school. 45 min commute to an office setting, but I started up walking meetings for my team. We eat at our desks and use the lunch time for an afternoon workout. For teleconferences I go mobile and walk with an ear bud. My wife picks up the kids after school and starts the evening routine. I hit the gym on the way home and get my lifting in, then we all go for a walk/bike/whatever. Weekends involve hikes, climbing, swimming or something that gets us out of the house and moving.

    It's all about prioritization.

    The average American spends 50 non-work hours a week on screen time:
    http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/30/health/americans-screen-time-nielsen/

    Someone has to be a pretty special snowflake to not be able to find an hour a day to exercise.

    Holy smokes that's over 7 hours of (non work) screen time per day!

    So @Maxematics, you were perfectly justified with your three hours of TV per day example. While some people may not have three hours to spare, clearly the majority do.
  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
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    ForecasterJason wrote: »
    CSARdiver wrote: »
    As the successful have stated - it's not about finding time, it's about making time.

    I apply the Pareto Principle to this - devoting my energy to the 20% that truly matters and has impact. I intentionally neglect the 80% of lower priority issues that previously clogged up my time.

    My wife and I are both working professionals with three active kids. She gets up at 4 am every day to hit the gym for an hour before work, then spend most of her day in a laboratory. I get up at 5 am and do calisthenics or take a quick run/bike, wake up the kids for 20 mins of calisthenics and get them ready for school. 45 min commute to an office setting, but I started up walking meetings for my team. We eat at our desks and use the lunch time for an afternoon workout. For teleconferences I go mobile and walk with an ear bud. My wife picks up the kids after school and starts the evening routine. I hit the gym on the way home and get my lifting in, then we all go for a walk/bike/whatever. Weekends involve hikes, climbing, swimming or something that gets us out of the house and moving.

    It's all about prioritization.
    While I tend to agree with you, I have to wonder how much sleep you get, unless you're getting in bed fairly early.

    Sleep is for the weak. I bucket that in the 80%.

    Seriously though I go to sleep around 11 pm and wake up at 5 am. Fitbit tells me I average ~6 hrs 20 min/night.
  • armchairherpetologist
    armchairherpetologist Posts: 69 Member
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    Penthesilea514 wrote: »
    I never thought I would be the type to wake up at 5:15am to go to the gym before work- but somehow, when I realized that I needed to make changes to make fitness a priority that is wasn't going to fall into my lap, I made it work. I do the mornings for the same reason @Chef_Barbell does- I won't do it after work, I don't like the gym in the afternoon (I hate crowds).

    I try to be in bed by 9:30pm to fall asleep around 10- usually gets me enough sleep. I love sleep.

    All of this depends on your goals and priorities- 3-4 hours of working out may be fun and important to someone, just as important to others as playing video games or reading books. I don't see competition here, just people being honest that if you want something badly enough, you need to make it a priority, be it in the fitness world or career or family or gaming or whatever.

    @JetJaguar I am obsessed with MST3k and I am enjoying the new season!

    I would love to have the 3-4 hours a day to devote to the fun stuff like the running and the cycling and the lifting. It's just not there once all of the responsibilities are met, at least not on week days. Most days I can squeeze two hours. Some days, one. Today is going to be one of those wastes where I'd prefer to be cycling but the lawn has to be mowed.

    I could prioritize cycling over lawn mowing, but that results in being fined by the township for not obeying the ordinances regarding maintaining one's property. I'd be outside right now on my lunch break were it not for this whole thing where lunch breaks don't exist if there's a production issue with the software system. I could prioritize being outside exercising right into being fired.
  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
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    armchairherpetologist wrote: »
    Chef_Barbell wrote: »
    armchairherpetologist wrote: »
    ForecasterJason wrote: »
    CSARdiver wrote: »
    As the successful have stated - it's not about finding time, it's about making time.

    I apply the Pareto Principle to this - devoting my energy to the 20% that truly matters and has impact. I intentionally neglect the 80% of lower priority issues that previously clogged up my time.

    My wife and I are both working professionals with three active kids. She gets up at 4 am every day to hit the gym for an hour before work, then spend most of her day in a laboratory. I get up at 5 am and do calisthenics or take a quick run/bike, wake up the kids for 20 mins of calisthenics and get them ready for school. 45 min commute to an office setting, but I started up walking meetings for my team. We eat at our desks and use the lunch time for an afternoon workout. For teleconferences I go mobile and walk with an ear bud. My wife picks up the kids after school and starts the evening routine. I hit the gym on the way home and get my lifting in, then we all go for a walk/bike/whatever. Weekends involve hikes, climbing, swimming or something that gets us out of the house and moving.

    It's all about prioritization.
    While I tend to agree with you, I have to wonder how much sleep you get, unless you're getting in bed fairly early.

    That's another interesting question. I know from experience that if I do not get a minimum of 7 hours of sleep a night, there will be negative effects - my mind isn't as sharp, I start dozing off in meetings, my athletic performance suffers.

    Some people need less, some need more. To get up at 4 in the morning daily I would have to be asleep by 9 pm daily.

    Yeah I'm in bed by 10pm to get up at 3:45 For the gym.

    You seem to do well on less sleep than I do. If I want to be asleep by 10, I have to be in bed about 20 minutes before that which means usually I'm brushing my teeth at 9:30. I get up at 5, no alarm, that's just when I wake up.

    I tried to adjust to less sleep for a while. It was an unmitigated disaster.

    To the things @CSARdiver said about meetings, I would love to do that. Do you have any suggestion for dealing with the visual component of meetings? In most of them we're presenting process diagrams, whiteboarding things, going through the bug dashboards and release planning boards for the software.

    With meetings I'm referring to are more the 1 to 1s, team development, and alignment meetings. Cross functional issues are still traditional sit downs, but you do what you can. It is something you need leadership to be engaged in and support. I do what I can to help - purchasing Varidesks, encouraging flexibility, and focusing on the business critical issues.

    Keep in mind the goal is to find ~30 mins/day. There are some days where this is impossible. You just don't want not exercising to be the norm.
  • armchairherpetologist
    armchairherpetologist Posts: 69 Member
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    CSARdiver wrote: »
    armchairherpetologist wrote: »
    Chef_Barbell wrote: »
    armchairherpetologist wrote: »
    ForecasterJason wrote: »
    CSARdiver wrote: »
    As the successful have stated - it's not about finding time, it's about making time.

    I apply the Pareto Principle to this - devoting my energy to the 20% that truly matters and has impact. I intentionally neglect the 80% of lower priority issues that previously clogged up my time.

    My wife and I are both working professionals with three active kids. She gets up at 4 am every day to hit the gym for an hour before work, then spend most of her day in a laboratory. I get up at 5 am and do calisthenics or take a quick run/bike, wake up the kids for 20 mins of calisthenics and get them ready for school. 45 min commute to an office setting, but I started up walking meetings for my team. We eat at our desks and use the lunch time for an afternoon workout. For teleconferences I go mobile and walk with an ear bud. My wife picks up the kids after school and starts the evening routine. I hit the gym on the way home and get my lifting in, then we all go for a walk/bike/whatever. Weekends involve hikes, climbing, swimming or something that gets us out of the house and moving.

    It's all about prioritization.
    While I tend to agree with you, I have to wonder how much sleep you get, unless you're getting in bed fairly early.

    That's another interesting question. I know from experience that if I do not get a minimum of 7 hours of sleep a night, there will be negative effects - my mind isn't as sharp, I start dozing off in meetings, my athletic performance suffers.

    Some people need less, some need more. To get up at 4 in the morning daily I would have to be asleep by 9 pm daily.

    Yeah I'm in bed by 10pm to get up at 3:45 For the gym.

    You seem to do well on less sleep than I do. If I want to be asleep by 10, I have to be in bed about 20 minutes before that which means usually I'm brushing my teeth at 9:30. I get up at 5, no alarm, that's just when I wake up.

    I tried to adjust to less sleep for a while. It was an unmitigated disaster.

    To the things @CSARdiver said about meetings, I would love to do that. Do you have any suggestion for dealing with the visual component of meetings? In most of them we're presenting process diagrams, whiteboarding things, going through the bug dashboards and release planning boards for the software.

    With meetings I'm referring to are more the 1 to 1s, team development, and alignment meetings. Cross functional issues are still traditional sit downs, but you do what you can. It is something you need leadership to be engaged in and support. I do what I can to help - purchasing Varidesks, encouraging flexibility, and focusing on the business critical issues.

    Keep in mind the goal is to find ~30 mins/day. There are some days where this is impossible. You just don't want not exercising to be the norm.

    I do at least an hour a day. This thread however makes it seem as if that is not enough by far.
  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
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    Penthesilea514 wrote: »
    I never thought I would be the type to wake up at 5:15am to go to the gym before work- but somehow, when I realized that I needed to make changes to make fitness a priority that is wasn't going to fall into my lap, I made it work. I do the mornings for the same reason @Chef_Barbell does- I won't do it after work, I don't like the gym in the afternoon (I hate crowds).

    I try to be in bed by 9:30pm to fall asleep around 10- usually gets me enough sleep. I love sleep.

    All of this depends on your goals and priorities- 3-4 hours of working out may be fun and important to someone, just as important to others as playing video games or reading books. I don't see competition here, just people being honest that if you want something badly enough, you need to make it a priority, be it in the fitness world or career or family or gaming or whatever.

    @JetJaguar I am obsessed with MST3k and I am enjoying the new season!

    I knew you was good people.
  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
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    rheddmobile wrote: »
    This thread has become a little extreme. I do think everyone can find enough time to work out, but somehow this thread has become some sort of contest where if you're not working out several hours of every day you're doing it wrong. Okay, granted health is a priority, but other things are priorities too. I'm a creative person professionally, and watching TV and playing video games and reading books are all things I need to do in order to stay abreast of what other people are doing. Not to mention, life is too short to spend literally every waking moment either at work or at the gym! If you enjoy working out, that's great that you have a hobby you enjoy. I don't enjoy working out. I do it because I need to. But my actual life is elsewhere. The thought of spending 3 and 4 hours every day working out doesn't make me inspired, it makes me sad. Fitness is something I want so that I can enjoy the other things I want to do, not something I want to do for its own sake. Quilting is something I do while sitting on my rear end. I don't want to stop quilting and replace it with training for a marathon. They are not the same activities, and I like quilting. I believe that I get to enjoy quilting and be healthy at the same time. I don't have to throw my TV out the window and be unable to participate in conversations about television to get healthy.

    This is fine example of strawman construction and hyperbole.

    30 mins/day - all anyone is saying.
  • CipherZero
    CipherZero Posts: 1,418 Member
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    I have exercise built into my getting to work. The train schedules are such that I arrive in the city about 50 minutes before I'm supposed to be at my desk, and head home about 50 minutes before the train arrived to take me there. Makes for a very nice pair of walks, every work day.

    At home, I have my barbells and a program that has me, at most, in the gym for an hour. It means less TV time, which given the spate of godawful acting out there for television shows currently on basic cable, is just fine with me.

    What I wish I had more time for was cooking, not sitting on my backside watching the glowing box.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    rheddmobile wrote: »
    This thread has become a little extreme. I do think everyone can find enough time to work out, but somehow this thread has become some sort of contest where if you're not working out several hours of every day you're doing it wrong. Okay, granted health is a priority, but other things are priorities too. I'm a creative person professionally, and watching TV and playing video games and reading books are all things I need to do in order to stay abreast of what other people are doing. Not to mention, life is too short to spend literally every waking moment either at work or at the gym! If you enjoy working out, that's great that you have a hobby you enjoy. I don't enjoy working out. I do it because I need to. But my actual life is elsewhere. The thought of spending 3 and 4 hours every day working out doesn't make me inspired, it makes me sad. Fitness is something I want so that I can enjoy the other things I want to do, not something I want to do for its own sake. Quilting is something I do while sitting on my rear end. I don't want to stop quilting and replace it with training for a marathon. They are not the same activities, and I like quilting. I believe that I get to enjoy quilting and be healthy at the same time. I don't have to throw my TV out the window and be unable to participate in conversations about television to get healthy.

    I'm not seeing this contest you speak of...in my initial post on this thread I mentioned how people underestimate the value of a mere 30-60 minutes per day of purposeful exercise. I'd wager that most people don't have the time to workout several hours per day. The only people I know who actual workout several hours per day are athletes and it's their livelihood.

    There were a couple of posters who mentioned walking to and from work as they live in the city and don't drive...or retired and having free time on their hands. Most people in this thread are talking about getting in 30-60 minutes of purposeful exercise daily, not hours. I think for most people, hours of exercise would actually be unhealthy because they wouldn't know how to fuel the activity.

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