How to fit exercise in a busy day
LLCin2019
Posts: 7 Member
I’m 39, a divorced mom with my daughter with me most of the time right now. I also work a full time job. How does one effectively fit exercise in? Let me add that my MD suggested exercise 1 hour a day for 6 days a week.... thought of breaking an hour into small little workouts but is that effective?
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Replies
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Its really a lifestyle decision. I used to work out in the mornings (which is my preference) but with the poor weather and being at work so early I find that right now heading to the gym after work is best for me. I have to go right after work or in the mornings I have to work out before anything else. Its too easy to get caught up with family stuff.
I am not a doctor, and I don't play one on TV but I would start slow, walk before you run.
You got this, prioritize the time. YOU ARE WORTH IT
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That makes sense, thanks!1
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I'm in the same boat. 2 boys, full time job. This is only my second week, but I thought I'd share anyway. The first week I didn't add in any exercise. This week, my only goal is to get to 10,000 steps (counted by my cell phone) every day. Walking during breaks, lunch, to meetings, etc. So far so good! Next week, I'm going to try and add 15 minutes of yoga at night just before the kids go to bed so they can join in if they want to.3
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You plan the entire week a week ahead. If something comes up totally unexpected you get up earlier.
John3 -
I relate to parents with a fully loaded schedule. I suggest you sneak the time in. Individual sessions can be as short as 20 minutes and as long as you get in to a sweat you have worked hard enough to get in a cardio workout. You can work up to three twenty minute sessions a day and there you go; you've done it.
Stairs are nearly everywhere and it only takes a few flights to work up a sweat. You could do twenty minutes of stairs at lunch.
A walk to the park and back with your girl can get you the exercise and give you family time as well.
I made the mistake of vegging out on the sofa, trying to relax, when a good walk does more for my mental health and in less time. It just takes a mental shift that exercise is not time AWAY but time to HELP you manage many demands.5 -
I understand, I prefer to work out in the afternoon but between my hectic work schedule and activities with my son, it wasn't convenient. I now workout at home in the morning before my son is up.
It means waking up a bit earlier but I am trying to make this a routine since I was skipping workouts in the evening. This way I can be consistent and make this a lifestyle change.2 -
If daughter is old enough, take her with you to gym or park. Some gyms have free child care for 2 hrs. Perhaps a neighbor with similar situation would swap nights so you could do 3 double workouts per week3
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Hi There! I am also work full time and have two kids. I realized that I needed to make some changes, so I bought myself a fit bit which helped me to see how little I was moving throughout the day. (1300K in an entire day
). Then I made little changes to get me moving around the office more. I have a standing desk so I will walk in place, or do squats (when no one is looking 
). I also make sure I get at least 250 steps per hour. I go up and down the 6 stories of my office building, one-two times a day and once it gets a little warmer, I will start walking around the building on my lunch break. By the time I leave work I am usually at 6k-8k steps. When I get home, I don't sit down, until dinner time, and then I get the kids in bed. . At that point, I throw on a work out video and get moving. After that I wind down and enjoy the quite. Did I mention I work 10.5 hour days??? If you want it bad enough, you will find ways. You've got this lady. Feel free to add me if you need support. 6 -
Walking during your lunch hour is one way to get in some steps. When you take the kids to the park, run/jog and work in things like lunges and squats and calisthenics. I have 2 kids, work full time, but having my spouse around to watch the kids makes a difference. If she is old enough, you could go to the gym at the crack of done before she wakes up too.1
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It depends on your objectives - for example, if like me you were a diabetic trying to control blood sugar, three walks of ten minutes each right after eating is better for that purpose than one thirty minute walk. If you are trying to build endurance for a marathon, you would need to do some long runs. But regardless of objectives, some exercise is better than none.
If you can work your daughter's activities into your routine that might help - for example you could walk while waiting on her during an activity, or do something together. And even five or ten minutes can be long enough to fit in a routine - I start every morning with about ten minutes of bodyweight and stretching, and many fitness blender videos are less than ten minutes long. HIIT is also good for when you only have a little time. Maybe you have a couple of days a week when you can schedule yourself to do something for an hour or more, and break the rest up.1 -
I edited because I sounded rude but don't mean to be.
Maybe try a half hour first.1 -
Eight hours sleep, eight hours work (nine for people who get a lunch hour at work), plus eating, showering, commuting, shopping, preparing meals, and other necessary activities leaves about four free hours. Even those who do no work at all have to sleep. No one has twenty four free hours per day to pick from.There's 24 hours in a day and you're asking how to fit in 1 hour of exercise? Do. Not. Comprehend.
Maybe try a half hour first.
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splitting workout up in 15 minutes intervals is about the same as 1 hour full on. Some is better than nothing if you can only do 15 minutes 1 day that is fine take a walking lunch break if you can walk and eat a sandwich or other portable food.1
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rheddmobile wrote: »
Eight hours sleep, eight hours work (nine for people who get a lunch hour at work), plus eating, showering, commuting, shopping, preparing meals, and other necessary activities leaves about four free hours. Even those who do no work at all have to sleep. No one has twenty four free hours per day to pick from.There's 24 hours in a day and you're asking how to fit in 1 hour of exercise? Do. Not. Comprehend.
Maybe try a half hour first.
I know. I didn't say there are 24 free hours. But...you should said there's 4. I have about 3 free hours. I go to the gym. If you want to exercise you just have to use some of that time. If you want to create more time, you might have to make some sacrifices or change things up.
I think having the little one on your own makes it harder. I can't really imagine. My good friend works out with me a few times per week and leaves her child at the childcare in the gym. I don't really think 5 days per week is necessary. If so, some of it and all of it can be done at home.2 -
I try to involve my kids in my exercise as much as I can so I can get the exercise in with the added benefit of spending more time with them. I started teaching my then 5-year old daughter how to play tennis last year. Granted, I don't burn as many calories playing tennis with her as I would with someone more competitive, but she enjoys it and I enjoy being with her. We also ride bikes together. I bought her a set of golf clubs last month and have gotten her out on the driving range with me a few times. Like others have suggested, I try to take advantage of my lunch break to walk and burn some calories there too.4
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I try to involve my kids in my exercise as much as I can so I can get the exercise in with the added benefit of spending more time with them. I started teaching my then 5-year old daughter how to play tennis last year. Granted, I don't burn as many calories playing tennis with her as I would with someone more competitive, but she enjoys it and I enjoy being with her. We also ride bikes together. I bought her a set of golf clubs last month and have gotten her out on the driving range with me a few times. Like others have suggested, I try to take advantage of my lunch break to walk and burn some calories there too.
This is awesome....I hope I can share experiences like that with my own kids someday.2 -
I try to involve my kids in my exercise as much as I can so I can get the exercise in with the added benefit of spending more time with them. I started teaching my then 5-year old daughter how to play tennis last year. Granted, I don't burn as many calories playing tennis with her as I would with someone more competitive, but she enjoys it and I enjoy being with her. We also ride bikes together. I bought her a set of golf clubs last month and have gotten her out on the driving range with me a few times. Like others have suggested, I try to take advantage of my lunch break to walk and burn some calories there too.
this is so cute your such a good parent4 -
I work full time and have 2 kids. I am fortunate to work 3.5 miles from home and I leave work at 4:30 every day, so I go directly to the gym after work. I keep my workouts short and I’m out of there by 5:30.2
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I also try to do more active things with my kids on the weekends, like last weekend I took my toddler on a “hike” lol. We were out exploring for an hour or so.2
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As others have said, try to find ways to fit in exercise with your child, or when she’s otherwise occupied - not sure how old she is, is she in any activities of her own that you can get some exercise in while she’s engaged in that? Don’t underestimate just basic movement for calorie burn - you don’t have to do all out sweaty cardio for it to be beneficial for your goals. Just getting up and moving while at work - taking walks at lunch, or on breaks, parking at the back of the lot, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, dancing around being silly with your daughter - all of these things burn calories and contribute to a higher NEAT.
Good luck!2 -
Baking in an extra 10-15 minutes each direction to your travel to and from work and taking the long way from the parking lot to your work area is the easiest change to make. and that gives you 20-30 of the 60 minutes. The rest is about finding 30 minutes before you shower in the morning or evening for a more protracted session.WinoGelato wrote: »As others have said, try to find ways to fit in exercise with your child, or when she’s otherwise occupied - not sure how old she is, is she in any activities of her own that you can get some exercise in while she’s engaged in that? Don’t underestimate just basic movement for calorie burn - you don’t have to do all out sweaty cardio for it to be beneficial for your goals. Just getting up and moving while at work - taking walks at lunch, or on breaks, parking at the back of the lot, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, dancing around being silly with your daughter - all of these things burn calories and contribute to a higher NEAT.
Good luck!
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I get to gym before kids wake up and spin or swim. Then do weights at lunch. I prepare breakfasts and lunch on Sundays so I don't have to waste time during week. Then run before dinner. It's exhausting but working.1
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rheddmobile wrote: »
Eight hours sleep, eight hours work (nine for people who get a lunch hour at work), plus eating, showering, commuting, shopping, preparing meals, and other necessary activities leaves about four free hours. Even those who do no work at all have to sleep. No one has twenty four free hours per day to pick from.There's 24 hours in a day and you're asking how to fit in 1 hour of exercise? Do. Not. Comprehend.
Maybe try a half hour first.
I know. I didn't say there are 24 free hours. But...you should said there's 4. I have about 3 free hours. I go to the gym. If you want to exercise you just have to use some of that time. If you want to create more time, you might have to make some sacrifices or change things up.
I think having the little one on your own makes it harder. I can't really imagine. My good friend works out with me a few times per week and leaves her child at the childcare in the gym. I don't really think 5 days per week is necessary. If so, some of it and all of it can be done at home.
Kids make all the difference. Newborn or young kids with no real help to take care of them every day usually literally translates to zero free time (unless you are OK with not sleeping ever).
Heck, most single parents taking care of young children can barely find time to shower, much less free up an hour for exercise.3 -
I'm a big fan of starting small and working your way up. Don't compare yourself to what others are doing, but try and do more than or roughly the same as you were doing last week. If you find that you're avoiding doing something, then don't beat yourself up or give up - look for something else to fit in that time.
As for the question about splitting up exercise, the current science seems to say that three 10 minute workouts have similar benefits to one 30 minute workout, so rock on!1 -
RenewMe2018 wrote: »I’m 39, a divorced mom with my daughter with me most of the time right now. I also work a full time job. How does one effectively fit exercise in? Let me add that my MD suggested exercise 1 hour a day for 6 days a week.... thought of breaking an hour into small little workouts but is that effective?
What does your job entail?
You might want to first and foremost focus on more general movement throughout the day, particularly if you have a desk job. Something I do is get up every hour to go to the bathroom or water cooler, and I take the scenic route. Between that and a 15-20 minute walk of my dog in the morning I typically get around 10,000 steps and at least 8,000...time wise, this is pretty much in line with the AHA's 150 minutes of light activity per week.
I do deliberate exercise beyond that as well...but most of my rides these days are 30-45 minutes tops. My lifting session takes me about 30 minutes as well. I try, but I don't always get in every session that I'd like...but I'm doing more than nothing so that's cool with me.
How old are your kids? Mine are 8 and 5 (going on 6). They like walking with me in the morning and it's a great way for them to start their day. When they were younger I used to throw them on the bike trainer and my wife had a jogging stroller. When I just can't manage to get out on the road due to needing to watch the kids or something, I hop on my indoor bike trainer or my rowing machine for 20-30 minutes.2 -
How old is your daughter? The reason I ask is b/c if she's old enough to be at home alone for 30min-1 hour you could wake up early before work and get your workout done then...running in the neighborhood or going to the gym, whichever suits you.
If she's not old enough to be left then you could work out at home before she wakes. I wake up at 4:50 a.m. in order to get my work outs each morning before the two kids under two and my husband wake up. I don't have any other real time in the day to do it. I don't like working out after I eat at night as it upsets my stomach and I'd rather spend the time with my husband after the kids go to bed, plus there are usually about 100 things to do before the next morning. I also work 40 hours a week outside the home.1 -
p.s. I also make sure I take at least one walk a day at work for 15 minutes...so if I do it twice a day that's another 30 minutes of exercise.0
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On super-busy days I try to fit in exercise whenever I can. I take the subway to work and it's a 15 minute walk (each way) from my house or a 10 minute bus ride. I do the walk. I try, on weekends, to walk places instead of driving if I don't need the car. I take the stairs instead of the escalator in all the train stations and try to use the stairs at work as often as possible. The dogs have to be walked after work, but I try turning the walk into a hike and deliberately pick streets with lots of hills (easy to do here in San Francisco). If I haven't gotten out for a bike ride or run, I do this weird thing when I get home of bringing the mail up from the garage one piece at a time--running up the stairs, then going back down for the next piece.0
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My kids are grown and gone now, but I feel your pain!
Early morning workouts would have been what should have kept me on track; however, I have a 45 minute commute and must be at my desk at 6AM. I already get up at 4AM. I just COULD NOT do it any earlier.
When my kids were young and in daycare or school, I felt to guilty keeping there another 45 minutes longer so I could go do something. So, to be honest, I just didn't do much. But I would try to work in an at-home DVD or something and then really try to do something on the weekends.
If your daughter isn't too young, take her out on a walk with you. Does she have a bike? She can ride while you walk/jog behind her.
Your doctor is advocating 1 hour a day for 6 days a week. That's certainly "ideal" but you may not get that in. Don't try to be perfect, just try to do what you can.1 -
I totally agree with incorporating exercise with your child. When my kids were younger, if they played at the park, I was up there with them on the slide and using the swings. Now, that they are older, we take walks and "catch up." Okay, I'm lying, they're totally ignoring me and walking behind me...But hey, we're all getting in some exercise. Also, remember just like a job, you need to work at staying healthy for you and your family. Think of it as, you are staying healthy so you can be there for her. So, don't feel guilty if you need to carve out some time for just you. Whether it's yoga at the gym or just dancing in your kitchen.0
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