how do you make time for exercise?

GeorgeC

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GeorgeC
Between work, sleep, commuting, and kid obligations, I find it hard to make time for exercise during the week. Weekends seem just as bad; yardwork and housework often eat Saturday, and then when the weather is VFR, a quick flight for currency can burn a good part of Sunday.

How do yall make time for exercise?
 
Make it a priority. 4 weeks and it becomes a habit. Even if you only go for 20-30 minutes, it makes it a habit.
 
Always went to the gym on my way to work. You have to schedule time for your well being
 
Not that my arse has been in a gym for a few years but when I was going regularly the ONLY way I was consistent was to do it FIRST thing in the AM when I woke before work or any other life started.

The best is when I had a Golds Gym literally across the street from my office. Would hit that every AM, shower then right to work.

Now I have a similar pattern...it has just changed from the gym to the coffee shop!
 
Hyperactive golden retriever. If I don't walk her I pay for it all day.
 
Mornings. I throw in a workout DVD before work. I find if I wait to after work, I'm not motivated enough to workout.

Still, I've put on 15 lbs since retiring from the military. Not too pleased with that but with no more mandatory PT or incentive to stay in shape, a few pounds was inevitable.
 
Before work...you'll probably be more productive throughout the day for having done so. Mine is done at home so it may be a bit more time efficient.
 
Make it a priority.

That's the only way you will do it. Usually do it right when I get home from work. For your weekend, do it right before the yard work, then you only take one shower.
 
Fly one of these.

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I go every workday at lunch.

Ditto. I struggled with the same question as the OP, and then realize that I often waste an hour for lunch, so why not take 90 minutes and get a good workout and eat a little bit of lunch on the fly. I've been at it for 6 weeks and it's going well.
 
I have to make time to exercise or I get antsy. Same way with flying. Usually run after school and weekends in the morning.
 
Recreational sports. Adult baseball, Co-ed soccer, water skiing on weekends. Walking the golden retriever on off days. Used to run 3mi/day but I don't have the time for it currently.
 
I have an hour in the mornings at daybreak set aside for my exercise.
Currently do a 10 mile bike ride. Will continue until it gets too cool.
 
Depending what you do for work you could workout at work. Do you have a desk job? Stand for 10 minutes while on the phone or walk to a co worker instead of emailing. Buy a pedometer and set goals and the obtain that number of steps. Still pretty light out after work...walk around the block. Park a little farther from the door.

Google Richard Simmons exercise stuff...be had fat people losing weight sitting down just by moving their arms.

It helps to not munch when bored at work...

I work two part time jobs and according to the fitbit device I do 12000 steps easily everyday but I unload trucks at one so stocking shelves is alot of steps.
 
Ditto. I struggled with the same question as the OP, and then realize that I often waste an hour for lunch, so why not take 90 minutes and get a good workout and eat a little bit of lunch on the fly. I've been at it for 6 weeks and it's going well.

+2, I take a 90min lunch and just work later to make up for it. For me, it's the most convenient time, and I nibble a brown bag lunch after the workout. Bigger bonus, the local gym is not crowded at all that time of the day.
 
Identify what time is best for your work out, mentally, in other words when you most feel like doing it. Mine is late morning-early afternoon. Early morning doesn't work for me, need to clear my head, have coffee exc., after work is too much of a risk I will be tired and not do it. Remember the biggest challenge is getting to the gym, not the workout.
 
In the warm months, I walk the shore of the local lake as I fish at sunset. I average about 2 miles per visit. In the winter, it's my elliptical in front of an episode of "Fast & Loud" or whatever else is on the Velocity channel. Because of my commute, my mornings start at about 4:15a, so it's gotta be evenings for me.
 
I gave up my parking pass and walk 3 miles to and from work each day. It works because I HAVE to walk, can't drive (not entirely true, I took the motorcycle today). Still, its good exercise on a nearly daily basis and simply built into my day.
 
I get up at zero dark thirty, make my 40 mile commute to the gym near the office, and put in about two hours (an hour of cardio, weights, then a shower afterwards) and I'm usually at the office by 6:30 or 7:00.

On the weekends I'll sleep in until six, then I'll hit the local gym by the house. Same thing, hour of cardio followed by weights. If I'm going on a long bike ride (greater than 60 miles) I will skip the cardio but I'll still do the weights.

I try not to skip a day. If I miss one day of exercise, I feel irritable and cranky.
 
I try to head to the park and walk around the mile track at least a few times a week...depends on how often work slows down enough for me to sneak off.
 
I reorganized my values. I now try to take better care of my body than possessions like home or lawn or cars.


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When my son was in sports, I would get home and change and run to the park where he was practicing. When the coaches had the team run laps, I would run with him and ask him about his day. It was OK because the two of us were probably 20 yards infront of the rest of the team. Two laps around the field and I was up to speed on his school and got in a workout.
Now I get home and run with the dog but she won't talk about her day.
 
I struggled with this for years-gym memberships I hardly used, etc. I was good about running during the summer/fall but couldn't bring myself to run in the rainy cruddy weather we get from oct-apr here. Thus I lost all my fitness every winter that I spent all summer getting. I finally bought a treadmill and found a barely used bowflex in the classifieds (2k machine for 400). Not as good as a gym, but at home staring me in the face. My thought was that having something decent at home that I'll use is better than something great at the gym that I won't.

I would suggest buying the best treadmill you can afford. There is a huge difference between good ones and the cheap ones in terms of durability. I bought a Sole and it came with a great warranty. A year after I bought it, a crack developed in the frame and they sent a truck to the house with a brand new replacement, hauled away the old and no charge to me.

I find that getting up, grabbing a quick cup of coffee then hitting the treadmill works well. That way (a) I'm not dreading exercising all day and (b) I feel better all day.
 
I have to make time every Wednesday... I walk the trash to the curb on Wednesday.
 
Sneak in a run on the way home. I change at work, I just get home 40 minutes later than I would otherwise.
 
Run 3-4 mi during my lunch hour every week day. Thankfully there are showers downstairs at the office. Afterwards I just eat lunch at my desk while I work.
 
You gotta find some form of exercise you like. I'll exert myself to the breaking point if it's in the course of accomplishing something I'm excited about. However just running on a treadmill or something is just too boring, I won't keep it up. I'll hit it really hard for a week then be busy/distracted/etc and just stop

My dog's exercise needs keep me going with the daily walking. Another good thing I found when I was living in a town with a lot of biking trails was biking.... but with the intent purpose of exploring the town and seeing just how far I could go each day. Gotta make it fun or at least mentally stimulating in some way, at least for me.
 
I reorganized my values. I now try to take better care of my body than possessions like home or lawn or cars.

Best post of 2015.
 
Back when I was working AND training for marathons I'd get up early put my 3-6 miles in and then come back shower and head off to work. I did that three or four days a week. On Sunday, I'd run somewhere between 13 and 20 miles.

I could never exercise after I got home. Once I got wound down, I stayed put.
 
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