How does one find the time for daily exercise?

[timebomb]

This has been my number one problem ever since I got married and had a kid. I just have no time for exercise. So how do I stay fit without getting my daily dose of exercise? Does anyone have any tips for me?

[Acting Like Godot]

Just make time by:

(i) cutting out some other activity in your life which is somewhat useless (eg watching TV); and/or

(ii) finding quicker and more efficient ways to do what you usually do.

Where I work - it's the heart of the corporate downtown. I can still see how all these busy bankers, lawyers and accountants make time to exercise. Many of them exercise during lunchtime - they rush to the gym and work out for 45 minutes or an hour, then grab a sandwich and go back to work. Some of them take yoga classes, Pilates, or even martial arts course during lunch time.

A few of them cycle home after work, a few times a week.

I have one colleague who brings his sports gear to office about twice a week. After work, he jogs home.

Me, I exercise in the morning, before work. I get up around 7 am, get into the pool by 7:20 am, swim till 8:20 am, then change and go to work. Office time starts officially at 9:00 am, no one cares if I'm a little late.

[agsags]

Exercising in the morning is a very good way to ensure that you have time to exercise. It also charges you up for the day and almost guarantees very low sleep latency in the evening.

You can have an intense 30-minute workout with minimal equipment: jump-rope and dumbbell/kettlebell. Add push-ups, squats, lunge-variations, burpees, pull-ups if you have a bar and you have a lot to play with.

[Lifeisamazing]

Not having time to exercise is a pretty bad excuse in my opinion. A good one would be if you were severly injured throughout your whole body.

Why don't you exercise together with your wife and child, for instance? Besides, tell us what you do during your whole day that you don't have at least 30 minutes to exercise during your 24 hours.

[goldberg]

Originally Posted by Lifeisamazing

Not having time to exercise is a pretty bad excuse in my opinion. A good one would be if you were severly injured throughout your whole body.

Why don't you exercise together with your wife and child, for instance? Besides, tell us what you do during your whole day that you don't have at least 30 minutes to exercise during your 24 hours.

It is pretty obvious from this comment that you don't have kids. If you did I don't think you would say this. With young kids and a full time job you barely get enough time to sleep let alone do exercise.

I would say to the OP, do HIIT 3 times a week, you can get it done in a total of 2 hours per week, should be doable. If you are looking after your child, try and incorporate, depending on the temperament of your child it could be a good bonding experience, (does not work with mine but everyone is different).

[AGBourne]

If it is important to you, one will find the time to exercise. Anything else is simply an excuse.

[Elrond]

Originally Posted by goldberg

I would say to the OP, do HIIT 3 times a week, you can get it done in a total of 2 hours per week, should be doable.

It doesn't even have to take nearly that long. You could walk outside your house, do HIIT for 4 minutes (20 second sprints, 10 second rest, 8 times) and be done. Maybe warm up for a couple of minutes first.

[nxomsa]

I have a 2yr old and a 4 yr old. I also work full time and I know what you mean about not having time. Only recently did my husband and I start making personal time for ourselves, for exercise or whatever. It's so important to do that if you can, unless you're single? Can you afford a babysitter?

How old is your kid?

Try to incorporate your child into your exercise routine if you can. Babies can be pushed in jogging strollers, used as weights, put in special carriers that can be pulled or attached to your bike. They can be carried on your back in a carrier if you want to take a good walk after work
As your child gets older, he/she can do more things. Now my oldest is riding a bike, so he gets on his bike while I run next to him. When we go to the park, I use the structures to do pull-ups etc. I chase my kids around and play ball with them. My husband has my son climb on his back while he does push ups. Be creative!

[Ravenna]

Originally Posted by Lifeisamazing

Not having time to exercise is a pretty bad excuse in my opinion. .

I happen to agree here, and I do have a small child. I used to use lack of time as an excuse as well. When I stopped to examine how I was spending my time, I found that some of my activities I was doing to make others happy. It is tough to carve out time, but being honest with yourself about how you spend your time is neccessary. Free up time for yourself, even if it is only an hour a few days a week. You will feel so much lighter.

[Lifeisamazing]

Exactly. The real truth is that you can do whatever you want if you truly want it. If you truly want good health and body, you'll find ways for that. I'm sure you'll come up with something if you truly want it.

[Lifeisamazing]

Originally Posted by goldberg

It is pretty obvious from this comment that you don't have kids. If you did I don't think you would say this. With young kids and a full time job you barely get enough time to sleep let alone do exercise.

I would probably still say this because I preach what people who have kids and time to exercise talk about.

[ginkgo]

You do not have the extra time to find. So you make the time by giving up something else that you do. Do you watch TV? Well do not give it up. Just do exercises while watching it.

[Chameleon]

It is a challenge, but you can do it if you really want to. Exercise has to become a TOP priority, and a habit, for the rest of your life!

When my youngest was 2, I used to go over to the local Junior college track and walk/jog. She would play in the sand pile in the middle where I could watch her. But I wasn't working at the time, so I could do that.

Later, when I was working and the kids were older, I joined a gym and would go there directly after work while my husband watched the kids. They ate a lot of hamburger helper, lol.

Now, I get up at six every morning and do either yoga, zumba, or belly dance for 30 minutes at home before getting ready for work. After work, there is a mandatory 20 minute dog walk every day, weather permitting.

On the days I don't have to work, I go to a zumba class at a local gym.


You can do it...you just have to find something you enjoy and stick with it.

[Brutha]

It is pretty obvious from this comment that you don't have kids. If you did I don't think you would say this. With young kids and a full time job you barely get enough time to sleep let alone do exercise.

No. Time is almost never the limiting factor. Having young kids and a full time job might mean that you are stressed. That stress might make it hard to take up new activities. It however no time problem.

This is also one of those times where it's worth to rehearse Nassim Taleb. If someone tells you he's to busy to do something he's either trying to get rid of you or he's incompetent. Everyone has the same amount of time.

In general the research suggests that you should take pauses when one does intellectual work.
You can fill work pauses with 5 minutes worth of exercise.

There are people who smoke who spent 5 minutes per hour of work time with smoking.
You could spent those same 5 minutes with doing exercise.
The exercise makes you more alert at work and won't reduce your productivity at work.

Say you do 6 of those 5 minute pauses per day. That adds up to 30 minutes.

[Acting Like Godot]

Hey, I have kids, AND a full-time job, AND miscellaneous hobbies which I take quite seriously (I published my first book last year!) .... AND I exercise 3 to 4 times a week. Take heart, it can be done. Requires some ingenuity, but it can be done.

One year, a senior business executive in my organisation did this for charity. He ran a half-marathon (21 km) pushing a pram with his youngest baby inside. Apparently he exercises like that all the time (he has four kids, so he has been going the pram-jogging thing for many years).

This is the kind of pram he uses, it's designed for jogging/running:




Notice the guy on the left?

-----------

As the kids grow, you'll find different ways to fit an exercise routine around them.

I take my kids to swimming lessons every Sunday. While they are having their one-hour lesson in the pool, I'm doing my own swimming too. There you go.

[nxomsa]

Lucky kid, inspirational post!!

I had a similar stroller, Phil&Teds made in NZ. Paid a lot of money for it but it got us all out and about for sure. My kids would love it when I ran with them, and when I'd stop to catch my breath they'd say "faster mommy, faster!!!!"

[Indiana]

Time for exercise is a bit like a healthy dinner. One does not find it. One makes it.

[goldberg]

Originally Posted by Elrond

It doesn't even have to take nearly that long. You could walk outside your house, do HIIT for 4 minutes (20 second sprints, 10 second rest, 8 times) and be done. Maybe warm up for a couple of minutes first.

For me personally if I get sweaty I need to take a shower, which stretches out the time factor. With HIIT will pretty much always sweat if you are doing it right

You are assuming that you have space for this outside your house, for me at least I have to go to the park then come back. All in even if I do hiit for 4 minutes the whole routine easily takes up 1 hour.

[Acting Like Godot]

In your own home

without any special equipment

you could still do

sit-ups; push-ups; dips; jumping jacks; squats; calf raises; and a wide variety of yoga asanas ranging from the very simple:



to the very demanding:

[Mounds]

It helps how you spin it too. For me, I always find time to relax. ALWAYS. Even when I work very long days, I still unwind for an hour.
What I've done lately is used my exercise as relaxation. I put on whatever tv show I have handy (X-Files Season 1 atm) and go for it. I get entertained, I feel great and I relieve stress.

@Goldberg - I don't have kids myself. I hear from some people that it's not so bad and I hear from others that there is zero time for yourself. What that suggests to me is.... everyone is different (kids and adults)! On occasion, I get the "You're making excuses" response, which I believe borders on the most useless thing anyone could say. Does anyone actually say, "Wow! He/she is right! I am just making excuses! I see the light now and I'm going to change everything!" ??
My advice? Pick up a couple of time management books and see if you can gather any tips to apply to your own life. I like this one, "The Other 8 Hours".

-Tim

[pinacolada]

walk going to work/ use a bicycle
Use the stairs instead of the elevator (except if your going to a 20-up floor, it will kill you haha!!)
Tell your wife, you want to do the cleaning
play with your kids... (kids too energetic so it helps you work out on that extra fat run and chase them play catch etc. oh and you can do sit up with your kid while playing make her/him sit on your foot and make her/him count at the same time you can teach her/him how to count )
at the end of the day you might just wish you never thought of it

[Queen of Wands]

I also have a full schedule work FT and have young kids. I can't work out daily but I do fit it in. Lately it's been walking/jogging when I take the dogs out for their daily walks.
It is hard to fit in and easy not to make it a priority. But think of how good you always feel on the days that you do it.

[goldberg]

Originally Posted by Lifeisamazing

I would probably still say this because I preach what people who have kids and time to exercise talk about.

Well if you are going to be a personal trainer full time I think it is also important to be realistic and understanding with people otherwise you are going to find that people don't stick with you very long.

If someone comes to you for training, and for example they say they can't make a session because their kid was throwing up all night and they could not get enough sleep, I think it is not going to work well for you if you come back to them and start berating them for using their kids as an excuse not to do exercise.

You are right though using your kids as a reason to not exercise is an excuse, the thing is it is actually a pretty good excuse, as opposed to say watching tv.

[Elrond]

Originally Posted by goldberg

For me personally if I get sweaty I need to take a shower, which stretches out the time factor. With HIIT will pretty much always sweat if you are doing it right

I sweat more from a 10 km jog were I don't get very tired at all. I can feel like I am barely having a raised pulse and that I could run for 5 more kms, but I will probably be very sweaty. I might get sweaty from HIIT, but I get less sweaty from it than the 10 km jog. Sometimes I wonder if I get sweaty at all from it afterwards, even if I'm gasping for air. I simply have less time to get sweaty (and I would be surprised if you saw me and told me that I don't run fast enough/get sufficiently tired during those 4 minutes). I regularly use 25-30 minutes from getting out of my bed, getting dressed, doing HIIT and showering.

How often do you shower anyway? If you never shower, then it is fair to say that the time that you use to shower is only part of the workout routine. But if you are going to shower anyway, that was time that you were going to use (anyway).

Originally Posted by goldberg

You are assuming[...]

Oh my what a terrible assumption; to assume that you have some surface outside your home that it is possible to run on. Not many have those.

Originally Posted by goldberg

[...]that you have space for this outside your house, for me at least I have to go to the park then come back. All in even if I do hiit for 4 minutes the whole routine easily takes up 1 hour.

A park? In my feeble mind this suggests that you live in a somewhat populated area, which again suggests that there are roads. You can run on roads. But maybe the roads don't have sidewalks and the traffic is too bad. Still I would think that most people don't have to walk far to find some surface to run on. It's easy for me since I live in a suburb and there isn't a lot of traffic where I run in the mornings. What's it like where you live?

[marinik]

Get up half an hour earlier and do at least 20 - 25 minutes of some sort of exercise. I had 4 kids and I could handle everything much better when I was fit. 30 minutes of sleep will not make up for being out of shape!

[Acting Like Godot]

Originally Posted by goldberg

You are right though using your kids as a reason to not exercise is an excuse, the thing is it is actually a pretty good excuse, as opposed to say watching tv.

When my first kid was a baby, my wife would do the first two feeds after midnight, and I would do the last feed before daybreak, eg around 5 a.m. After getting up, carrying the baby, doing the bottle-feeding etc I wouldn't be able to sleep anymore.

So when Baby was contented and back to sleep, by around 5:30 a.m, I'd put on my running shoes, go out and run, come back by 6:30 am, have breakfast, and then go off to work.

It can be done .......

Here's a little of the LOA part for you.

When you think it can't be done, you just won't see any way. If you start thinking that it can be done, then you'll start to see more possibilities, ways to cleverly fit in time around your routine, for exercise.

If you really don't think you could find time for daily exercise, then think about whether you could exercise once a week.

Once you've got that figured out, then think about how you could exercise twice a week.

Once you've got that figured out, then think about how you could exercise thrice a week.

By that time, you're already ahead of the majority of people on this planet, but you could still proceed from there, to think about how to exercise 4 or 5 times a week.

[Brutha]

Does anyone actually say, "Wow! He/she is right! I am just making excuses! I see the light now and I'm going to change everything!" ??

Knowing that your excuses are simply excuse doesn't allow you to automatically change everything. It however still helps. It's a good first step. Afterwards you can dig deeper.

[Lakshyayidhi Lakshmihi]

I am a single mom and I have to incorporate my son into most of my activities. I try to incorporate exercise into my life throughout the day in 15-20 minutes sessions, and you know - park far away and walk when you run errands, do your own yard work and house work (that's exercise, too).

Jogging strollers are AWESOME. So are ERGOs - then you weightilft using your baby and babies love to be worn. My son turned 2 last July and I can still strap his 30 lbs butt on my back. I have a muscly back though.

[Alison Jenkins]

Not sure how old you child is. I walked miles with my kids in the pram as part of my daily exercise. Now I walk the dog.

I always do this at the beginning of the day or else it doesn't happen!!!

Alison

[goldberg]

Originally Posted by Elrond

I sweat more from a 10 km jog were I don't get very tired at all. I can feel like I am barely having a raised pulse and that I could run for 5 more kms, but I will probably be very sweaty. I might get sweaty from HIIT, but I get less sweaty from it than the 10 km jog. Sometimes I wonder if I get sweaty at all from it afterwards, even if I'm gasping for air. I simply have less time to get sweaty (and I would be surprised if you saw me and told me that I don't run fast enough/get sufficiently tired during those 4 minutes). I regularly use 25-30 minutes from getting out of my bed, getting dressed, doing HIIT and showering.

Well when working out every day I end up showering 1 or 2 times a day, so it definitely adds to the time.

How often do you shower anyway? If you never shower, then it is fair to say that the time that you use to shower is only part of the workout routine. But if you are going to shower anyway, that was time that you were going to use (anyway).



Oh my what a terrible assumption; to assume that you have some surface outside your home that it is possible to run on. Not many have those.



A park? In my feeble mind this suggests that you live in a somewhat populated area, which again suggests that there are roads. You can run on roads. But maybe the roads don't have sidewalks and the traffic is too bad. Still I would think that most people don't have to walk far to find some surface to run on. It's easy for me since I live in a suburb and there isn't a lot of traffic where I run in the mornings. What's it like where you live?

Live in a very built up area with narrow streets, doing hiit on the streets is just not practical. I jog to the park though, which cuts down the time it takes all in.