Working 12+ hours a day and no energy to exercise!

Can you do it in the early morning? I get up at 5:30, have my coffee and work out, prior to getting the kiddoes off to school and my butt off to work. I work half-days, but when I get home, I usually have to work on our home-based biz. and then it's pick up, dinner, etc. If I don't do it early, it doesn't get done.

I wake up at 5 am to attend a 5:30 am cardio class offered 2 times a week. Nobody needs me at that time. It took me 2 years to admit that working out after work does not fit my schedule.

Hi, I'm a single mum and can work up to 90 hours a week plus keep the house in order with a nearly 3 year old at my heels, I try to work out at the start of the day before work or in my lunch break - these are the best times for me but if short on time i will work out 2 or 3 times with 30 mins each, I've marathon trained this year and have a bigger goal for next year thats going to demand 16 hours training a week I find energy comes from doing the exercise especially at the start of the day. I run with my toddler in the pushchair and I bike with her so it isn't completely selfish time and includes her and hopefully encourages a healthy lifestyle as she grows.

Its hard but it would be harder to do everything if you didn't stay fit and healthy

good luck x

You could do the Jillian Michaels' DVDs from home in the AM...They are literally 27 minutes...if you can't find 27 minutes for yourself 3 to 4 times a week. You definitely need to re-evaluate things.

I work shift work as a nurse, and 12 hour shifts plus about 40min commute each way. I also find i'm exhaused at the end of the day. I get up at 430am when i work a day shift and go for a run then. I find it actually quite quiet and peacefull to be out running at that time. A little cold lately, but nice. Otherwise i get home and do nothing cause i'm to exhausted to do anything but unpack my lunch dishes and repack for the next day of work. Then eat dinner and off to bed. I think if you tried early mornings you might find it works out ok. After a couple days getting up that early isn't so hard anymore, and i find my workout energizes me for the day ahead. Good luck and keep at it, you'll find something that works for you!

That's called life. LOL. When I first started I was the same way. So my focus was just on changing my eating habits. Learning to eat clean. WIth my exercise goal only being workout once a week. That's how I lost most of my weight. As I got closer to goal I my workouts increased and now there apart my daily routine.

Exercise doesn't have to be something sturctured. Like so long on a treadmill, a Jillian Micheals dvd or whatever you do. These are great and sometimes you do need the structure. But if you are up and active that takes into account for moving and exercise too. Try getting a pedometer and measuring how active you are durning the day. 10,000 steps is considered what you need to be considred active for the day. Than if you don't have your 10,000 you can do what you need to do to make up the difference. Keep in mind sometimes your body will need that extra boost that a structured exercise will give, but if you don't have time and your not doing it simply counting the steps that you are taking everyday is better than nothing.

I have been running into a challenge with getting my workouts in lately too. I only work 40 hrs a week, but I go to school full time, my husband also works full time and goes to school, and we have a 3 1/2 yr old and a 19 month old. Just trying to keep up with the kids, the house, and school work is a challenge. During the summer when we didn't have school and I could go to bed by 9, so getting up at 3:30 am to get my workout in wasn't to bad. But now that I am in school and up till 11 or 12 everynight, just getting up at 4:15/4:30 to get me ready and the kids to leave by 6:15 is a challenge. I take the kids for an after dinner walk each night, but now it is getting darker earlier and colder, so those days are numbered. This week I have been trying to take 5 minutes first thing in the morning before I eat my breakfast to do some jumping jacks, pushups, squats, chair dips, calf raises..etc. Just something to get my body woke up and my metabolism going for the day. Still trying to figure out how to balance everything going on in my life, but give me a couple more weeks and I hope to have a better handle on things :noway:

I know how you feel, i get up at 5 am to go to work! I really don't want to get up earlier for a work out...what I found I had to do, was just go straight home, and put on the work out gear...I do my Insanity and then the rest of the night is devoted to kids, dinner, etc etc....but I had to make myself do it! It took me about 30 days to make it a good routine. find what works best for you and then just commit...it gets easier. Good luck!

I have a heart issue. I physically cannot workout after my 12 hour shifts because it makes my heart act up. I try to explain this to people they JUST DON'T GET IT (I have one lady who is constantly trying to convince me to walk to and from work. Riiight. So I should give an extra hour of my day to walking? Clearly she's never tried walking home after 6 - 12 hour shifts in a row).

I work 12 hour days, 6 days a week. This is way too much stress for my body. Mind you my work is a mixture of desk work and physical work so my exhaustion is physical and mental by the end of a day. I have tried waking up in the morning to get exercise in but I find I lose too much sleep doing this and, again, when I don't get enough sleep my heart acts up.

The most exercise I've managed to fit into my schedule is some walking during my lunch break but even that wears me out so much I have to lay down for a quick nap after (no joke). It's a bit difficult to work around that. Short walk - nap - quick food and then right back to work? Ugh. Not fun.

IF you can fit exercise into your morning or lunch hour then go for it but I urge you not to push your body too hard. You need to let your mind and body rest and when you're working twelve hours exercise can either help to energize you or make you crash even harder (which is what it does to me).

I would not suggest exercising after work. I think you'll find that it's demotivating. It's best to tackle physical activity in the morning when you feel your most energetic or at lunch before the stress of the day has worn you down.

Pick a time - pick how many days a week you'll work out and just go for it. Give it a good shot but if you're feeling exhausted after a month or two and the exercise is just making you more tired instead of helping you feel more energetic then I'd suggest you cut back.

Just my two cents. Of course, my advice should be taken with a grain of salt. I do have underlying health issues so my advice will be tailored towards that.