If you workout before going to work (in the morning)...

Amy_B
Amy_B Posts: 2,317 Member
edited September 19 in Fitness and Exercise
can you please tell me your schedule for the day with times? For instance, how early do you have to get up, and when do you go to bed the night before? Do you have kids to tend to?

I'm trying to figure out my schedule for the fall when I return to teaching after my maternity leave. I prefer exercising in the morning, but I'd have to get up pretty early.

Thanks!

Replies

  • kpnuts23
    kpnuts23 Posts: 960 Member
    This is mine... ( I hope it helps) Btw i dont have kids...

    6.45am- Wake up - Cup of tea - skimmed milk
    8.15am- At work - Breakfast consists of Mini Whograin wheats, Bran Flakes (no milk) and a Banana - Herbal Tea
    10.30-11am- Morning Snack usually Apple or Almonds
    12.30-1pm- Lunch - Sea Food salad with Pasta- or chicken!?
    4pm- Large Banana (if i havent had one with breakfast) or Almonds.. depending on what i had mid morning
    5pm- Finish work, head straight to the gym
    5.30pm- Gym Session for an hour 1/2
    7pm- Dinner - Low carb High Protein
    No more food after 7.30pm
    Bed around 10.30ish

    I repeat this Monday to friday... At least i try to!!! :laugh:

    Katherine
  • mt130022
    mt130022 Posts: 48 Member
    I'm up at 4:30 and at the gym when it opens at 5:00 a.m.
    I work out from 5:00 - 5:50, home by 6:00.
    I have three kids, so I usually have to get myself and them ready and out the door by 7:00. (THIS will be the tricky part for you, but my girls are 14 and 11 so they're pretty self sufficient. My son is 3, so it cuts into MY getting ready time).
    The baby is at daycare by 7:10, girls at school by 7:30 and I'm at work by 7:45 (8:00 start time).
    I'm like you and was concerned about having time to work out in the morning (although this is the BEST time for me because I'm usually exhausted in the evening), but you CAN make it work. :wink: Sometimes, I'm a little rushed, but it's worth it. I have more energy during the day and don't have to feel guilty because I'm too tired to go to the gym after work.

    Best of luck!
  • manda1111
    manda1111 Posts: 113
    Get up 5am
    work out yoga 30 min three days a week, hand weights ab work 30 min (total 60)
    work out yoga 60 in two days a week

    5pm get home
    630-ish stationary bike 30 min three times a week
  • Chenoachem
    Chenoachem Posts: 1,758 Member
    Up at 4: 30 eat a snack and have a glass of water.
    Start stretching at 4:45-5.
    Start run at 5
    In shower by 5:45
    Get lunch ready, daughters breakfast (2 years old) and set daughters close aside
    Get 2 year old up 6am.
    Cuddle time to 6:15
    Get her dressed and ready
    Go for walk with her 6:30
    To daycare by 7:00 am
    To work by 7:30 (start of my work day).


    Good Luck. After I went back to work, I practiced the routine for a week or so. That way my daughter wasn't taken by surprise the first stressful day of going back to work. We would leave the house the time I was planning on leaving and we would find places like the grocery store that were open to go to.
  • fitzfour
    fitzfour Posts: 1,306 Member
    I get up at 5am each morning and workout for an hour ( I do videos at home). I am out the door by 7am, 2 kids to daycare by 7:15 and to work by 7:30. Most mornings I just plan to be to work by 8, and not make myself crazy trying to get the kids ready quickly. I work until 4:30, home by 5 at the latest. I always am in bed by 9. I couldn't get up and workout at 5 if I didn't. I've been doing this since February, and my body MAKES me get out of bed at 5. As hard as I try, I can't sleep past my 5am alarm. I think this is because I have my body in a routine of x number of hours of sleep and then it's ready to get up and start. Hope this helps...I definitely couldn't do this if I had to go to the gym, so I choose to workout at home.

    Erika
  • havingitall
    havingitall Posts: 3,728 Member
    The alarm goes at 5 but we are out of bed by 5:15 or so. Have a cup of hot water with lemon juice and then head to the gym. Work out for about 45 minutes, come home, shower, have breakfast and on the road by 7:30. We just have a 16 year old at home and on the most part she gets herslef going.

    I go for walks at lunch when the weather is good and sometimes in the evening I go swimming, use the wii and we take the dogs for a walk.
  • annaliza
    annaliza Posts: 809
    I have little ones but my husband is a stay at home dad so it's a little different for me. On a normal work week:

    Get up at 5 to 5:30 am and workout on the Wii if its not a running day (on running days I get up at 6:30 and run in the evenings after work)
    In the shower by 6:30 am
    Out the door and off to work by 7:30 am
    8:30 ish - eat breakfast at work
    Lunch around noonish
    4 to 4:30 go home (unless it's Tues or Thurs, I teach class those days so I work until 8pm) where I spend time with the kids, take them for walks or go running (we play outside a lot, too)
    Dinner around 7ish
    7:30ish bath the kids
    8:30 ish bed time for the littlest one (he's 1-1/2)
    9:00 ish bed time for the 3 yr old
    After the kids bed time, I usually log onto here, exercise, clean, get some extra work done or talk to my husband
    11:00 pm - 12:00 am bed for me somewhere in there after chores

    Yep, I get very little sleep - be prepared for that :tongue:

    I watch almost no tv. I gave up tv so that I had time to work out.

    Good luck to you!!!
  • monteig
    monteig Posts: 65 Member
    Wow...I cannot believe people get up that early every day!

    I can barely get myself out of bed at 8 to be at the gym by about 8:15/8:30!!

    Workout for about 45 minutes or so, then back home and shower and leave for work at 10.

    My hours are 11AM - 8PM, so going to the gym after work is hard. I end up getting home too late and feeling all ramped up and then I can't sleep well.
  • Amy_B
    Amy_B Posts: 2,317 Member
    Thanks for the replies! What really sucks for me is my 45 min commute to work. I am contracted to be there at 7:30am, so I might have to get up at 4 or a bit later to exercise, get ready for work, and get the kids around. I didn't have this problem before I got pregnant because I lived on Eastern time and taught/worked on Central time. I didn't have to get up until 5:45, and I only lived 20 minutes away from work. I also had babysitting at my house (my grandma).
  • Phoenix_Rising
    Phoenix_Rising Posts: 11,417 Member
    All this talk of getting up before the sun makes me tired :yawn:
  • MaryinBflo
    MaryinBflo Posts: 437 Member
    I have 2 small children (ages 1&3) so the morning is the only time I can workout (or when they go to bed but I HATE doing that) I now workout at home where I used to go to the gym (before kids when I lose 100lbs)

    5:15-Get up
    5:30 start workout
    6:30ish - shower and get dressed
    7:00-make my breakfast and lunch
    7:25-leave for work
    4:30-come home
    5:00 - feed kids
    5-7 play with kids/run errands or whatever
    7:00-Have my dinner
    8:00-Put kids to bed
    10:00 - Go to bed.

    I eat my protein shake at 7:00, snack at 10am lunch 1:00 afternoon snace at 4:00 and dinner at 7:00
  • kimss
    kimss Posts: 1,146
    I have to agree with lauryn, you early birds get all my sympathy and respect. It makes me feel guilty when I complain about my ear;ly days and schedual. I can't even admit it out loud how easy I have it, and I to have a 14yr old and a 3yr old too
    :love: I promise to be more grateful for my life from this day forward. :heart:
  • Chiny
    Chiny Posts: 321
    Awesome thread!! I NEED to start working out in the morning vs after work. I have 2 kids (7 and 14) but I also have an AWESOME husband who helps a lot with the kids and there's minimal I need to do to get them through their daily routine. I do work 8-5pm. A couple days a week I meet up with a boxing trainer for an hour or so but we can't meet until 7:00pm so that makes for a very late night. My goal is to workout every morning before work then the days I box would be a bonus for me :bigsmile:

    The past week and half we've had a LOT of stinky rain which puts me in a blah mood, not to mention I pulled a muscle in my shoulder/neck. It drives me crazy and I'm ready to get back into the swing of things. Whew! I feel tired just thinking about it :huh:
  • staclo
    staclo Posts: 511 Member
    My question is how do you get up so stinking early? Anyone NOT a morning person and has forced themselves to be one? I don't know how you do it!!
  • fitzfour
    fitzfour Posts: 1,306 Member
    I would consider myself a morning person, but never in the past did I get out of bed at 5am! The only way it works for me is if I keep to the routine. I never go to bed later than 9:30 (almost every night it's 9), so I make sure I'm getting the sleep I need. I work in the healthcare industry, so have seen lots of reports about 7-8 hours being the best amount of sleep for anyone's body. My body has gotten used to that and now just always wants to "wake up" around 5 anyway. I have my alarm just in case I don't get up on my own. I think the thought of getting the workout done and out of the way for the day helps me get motivated too!
  • Cindysunshine
    Cindysunshine Posts: 1,188 Member
    Hi- I'm up at 7am. The 22 month old I babysit gets here at 7.30 am. I homeschool my 10 year old daughter during the day while watching the 22 month old. We go for walks,swim ,play at the park most days. I'm in bed between 10-11 pm. I usualy watch tv in bed until 1 am. Cindy :heart:
  • Tiddle
    Tiddle Posts: 762 Member
    0430 wakeup & COFFEE
    0500 leave the house
    0530-0730 workout
    0730-0900 shower/change/breakfast
    0900-1730 work
    1700-1730 go home
    1730-2000 cook/eat dinner and hang out with the hubbs
    2000-2030 go to bed

    and repeat...



    ETA- I'm a morning person, so getting up is never an issue for me, but it's hard for me to stay up past 8pm.
  • prayerfulmom
    prayerfulmom Posts: 409
    4am workout
    5:00 shower & breakfast
    6am leave for work
    6:30-5:00 work
    6:00 dinner, family time
    9pm bedtime
    I have a teenager.
    If I wait till the evening something will come up and bump my workout. I use to get up at 3:30 so now I feel like I'm sleeping in=)
  • 00Angela00
    00Angela00 Posts: 1,077 Member
    I've been walking to work as my morning exercise. It takes me an hour and is around 3 hours (lots of hills), but bussing takes 40 minutes, so it's not bad! Another option is if you drive to park a mile or so away from work and walk so you get the exercise, and then do some weight training on breaks or at lunch. Same if you bus, get off several stops early :-)

    I have the Jillian Michaels 30 day shred and it is only 20 minutes, so I only really have to get up 30-40 minutes earlier to do the video :-D
  • Chiny
    Chiny Posts: 321
    Wow!! Ok tomorrow morning I'm going to try getting up early. IF I do make it up this would be my routine, IF I don't then my routine is what's stated minus the workout part :smile:

    6:00-6:45am workout
    6:45-7:00am stretch/cool down
    7:00-7:30am- shower/out the door for work
    8:00-5:00pm- work
    5:00-5:30pm- drive home
    5:30-6:30pm- clean, check kids HW, tidy up, possibly start dinner
    6:30- drop son to soccer
    7-8:15pm- boxing (approx 2 days a week)
    8:30pm- pick up son from soccer
    9:30pm- study for my online class (if I'm not too burned out by then)
  • jlhcrh3
    jlhcrh3 Posts: 314
    My question is how do you get up so stinking early? Anyone NOT a morning person and has forced themselves to be one? I don't know how you do it!!

    I am! I don't have kids, but I am the furthest thing from a morning person! but I feel better the rest of the day if I exercise in the morning rather than be blah all day and exercise at night. of course there are still days that I do need to sleep in a little and do the exercise in the afternoon or something.
  • MaryinBflo
    MaryinBflo Posts: 437 Member
    I am so NOT a morning person! I go to bed at 10 and get up btwn 5 & 5:30. Now on my rest days I am still waking up at 5am and on the weekends! You will be surprised how fast your body gets used to it!
  • ndiamond
    ndiamond Posts: 37 Member
    I am up at 5:30 - and out of the house by 6:20. I'm at the gym by around 6:50 - 7. I'm out of there by 8:30 by the time I finish showering. I have an 8 year old so he can do most things himself. I try to do as much prep the night before. I usually go to bed between 9 and 10.
  • Chiny
    Chiny Posts: 321
    I said I would try to get up in the mornings in my previous post and that has not happened yet. :grumble:
  • SillySkittles
    SillySkittles Posts: 202 Member
    I have no kids (yet!) so it's just my husband and I and a puppy...I'm very lucky to live so close to work so my routine is a bit easier to deal with because I don't have a long drive time or anything like that.

    I wake up at 6:00 am, it takes me a while to drag my bum out of bed (I've actually moved my alarm clock to a small table at the other side of the room so I have to actually get out of bed to turn it off. Once my feet hit the cold floor, I'm usually a little bit more alert) I get my workout clothes on and my shoes on and really wake up, but I don't actually start my workout until 6:30.

    6:30 - 7:30 is my morning workout time (this is the time that I do my Wii Active or my workout DVDs - I like to change it up some mornings just so I don't get bored and just quit) and it's straight into the shower from there until about 7:45.

    7:45 - 8:15 or even 8:20 is my time to get ready and dressed for work, feed the pooch and grab my lunch and snacks if I need to.

    I get to work at 8:30 am and I have breakfast there. I have eggs for breakfast and I usually just cook it in my microwave egg cooker and also microwave two pieces of ready crisp bacon or a cheese string if it's not a bacon day. We have a full-size fridge at work so I usually leave a lot of my snack things at work (carton of 6 large eggs, package of cheese strings, yogurt, cottage cheese, sliced vegetables as well as some frozen fish that I can have at lunch with some bagged salad that I either have in the fridge or bring from home.) and that makes my morning less hectic because I know I have things waiting for me at work.

    I have evening cardio classes at my gym in between 5:30 - 6:30 for an hour depending on what class it is that day so I usually get home on some days by 7:30 at the latest. My husband and I usually have something really easy to cook, broiled fish, baked chicken breast (right now one of our favourites is High Liner's frozen tilapia) which only takes about 15 - 20 minutes to cook and we have that with salad.

    I'm usually in bed or falling asleep by 10:30.

    Hope you find a plan/schedule that works for you!!! I'm finding that waking up earlier just makes me feel like I have more time in the day to do things without being rushed or forgetting things. Plus it gives me a little time to myself which is nice!
  • jlefton1212
    jlefton1212 Posts: 171 Member
    I am NOT a morning person at all, but I recently made a commitment to change my lifestyle and start working out each morning. I found it was the only time that I would consistently be able to go to the gym without interruption. (I used to go after work, but I found that things would always pop up and disrupt the schedule).

    What worked for me was to start off by getting up at a certain time and going to the gym for 30 minutes to start with, until my body was used to rising early and wouldn't fight back. After a couple weeks, I started waking up 15 minutes earlier and increased my workout to 45 minutes each day. Later, I pushed it back again 15 more minutes so that I could get in an hour workout.

    I found that if I made myself get up consistently at the same time every day, it got easier and easier. Resetting your natural alarm clock might be tricky to begin with, but it will get easier with time. Good luck!!
  • paulamma1
    paulamma1 Posts: 544 Member
    I swear, I'm not trying to cause trouble here, BUT.....

    There's hardly any mention of husbands/boyfriends/girlfriends/partners. And when there was, he was referred to as "AWESOME". Shouldn't it be normal that the other part of the relationsip (if there is one) helps out too?

    Am I just naive? :frown:
  • skwhatley
    skwhatley Posts: 156 Member
    You guys have really got me thinking. I have to be at work at 6 am every morning so for me to get in some exercising I would have to be up no later than 4:30...(i also do the 30 Day Shred so it's fairly quick)but i'm thinking if I did that I WOULD have more energy during the day and could possibly squeeze in some extra exercise in the evening. Well Monday starts a new work week so I will try to do that.

    Thanks for the inspiration!

    -Sarah
  • Chiny
    Chiny Posts: 321
    I swear, I'm not trying to cause trouble here, BUT.....

    There's hardly any mention of husbands/boyfriends/girlfriends/partners. And when there was, he was referred to as "AWESOME". Shouldn't it be normal that the other part of the relationsip (if there is one) helps out too?

    Am I just naive? :frown:

    I was the one who mentioned I have an awesome husband but I'm not sure I understand your question
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