Working out, work, and life balance

[solomonkane]

@ilovemyfather I work from home too, but have no official shift. Plus, here in MX we removed the daylight saving time this year, and most of my meetings are with people in NYC/London, so sometimes I have meetings at 7-7.30 AM.

My preferred time for training is 6AM, so what I do is:

Signed up to the closest gym. It's 8 blocks away, so I can always start my warm-up by brisk walking or jogging there from home.

Schedule ahead. I know I'll have 8AM meetings the whole week, meaning I have time to hit the gym, but must make it home by 7.30AM, so I can take a shower and a protein shake.

If it all becomes impossible, I can always find a spot in the PM. I just make sure there's no pending items on my agenda by then. I carry my work mobile, headset, and PC, and there's a coffee shop right outside the gym. Yeah, I've been interrupted twice in the middle of my routine.

Finally, I don't work on weekends, so I schedule two rest days during the week, and use Saturday and Sunday as my wildcard. If it's a wild week, I need only 3 days and catch up over the weekend.

Hope this gives you some insight.

 

[ilovemyfather]

@solomonkane This is good! Sounds productive

 

[kim5398]

@ilovemyfather Up at 330, gym by 415, train til 545, eat breakfast, prep food for the day, off to work at 7. I’m usually asleep by 9pm.

 

[mexican30]

@ilovemyfather There’s no getting around the fact that yes, your schedule will be tighter. You’ve added in another full thing to your day.

That being said, there are measures you can take that will make things easier.

Things like meal prepping, setting your clothes out in advance, some of the compound exercise information listed above, etc. help with the time crunch.

Just remember this is a lifestyle for a reason. The more you step into this version of yourself instead of straddling who you were AND who you’re becoming, the easier it gets.

 

[ilovemyfather]

@mexican30 I hope in time I find the right routine for me. Not sure if this is something you have to aggressively inflict in the day (so I learn that I workout then I work) or find the best time that works. I found great insights in this thread and everyone’s really killing it with scheds that works so well with them! Hope to one day be in the same mindset. 4 months of doing this is not long enough but hopefully it gets easier!

 

[mexican30]

@ilovemyfather It does get easier!! And you eventually have more energy, so it doesn’t (always) feel so tight. Just keep at it!

 

[aedaz]

@ilovemyfather im thinking the same thing. im looking at a new job that will have me working from 730am to 430pm but the issue is, from the place the closest gym is 35 minutes drive away which is my local then the next one is like 45 minutes in town which is my secondary due to it having better equipment.

this would mean most days if done at the end i wont start working out till like 505pm or 510pm than done by 7pm, maybe 730-740 if i use the infrared sauna god forbid if i go to the one in town.

 

[ilovemyfather]

@aedaz With that commute I’d probably consider investing in a home gym 35mins (over an hour return) to the gym sounds really much. You can already have a great home workout in that much time on hand.

 

[aedaz]

@ilovemyfather 35 mins to the job site from my house than 10 minutes to the local gym from my house or 30min to the one in town.

I have thought about doing a home gym but not enough space.

I actually looked into paying for a second gym membership at the town that is closest to the job site but they aren't 24hour and seem to be even more limited than the ones i currently go to.

 

[guaguar]

@ilovemyfather I work from 8-16 and just go after work. It's e days per week for 45 minutes each time.

 

[paradis]

@guaguar All the numbers in your comment added up to 69. Congrats!

  8
+ 16
+ 45
= 69

[sup][Click here](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=LuckyNumber-Bot&subject=Stalk Me Pls&message=/stalkme[/sup] to have me scan all your future comments.) \
[sup]Summon me on specific comments with @nicl-Bot.[/sup]

 

[elishiva]

@ilovemyfather Start work at 7. Work out at 2-3:30 then work late. Everyone has a different time that works best for them, mine is apparently when most people crash in the middle of the afternoon. You just need to play around with the timing.

Meal prep, this reduces responsibilities leaving more time for gym or other activities.

Break up your chores, for ex I clean bathrooms t, th, & saturdays, laundry on Wednesday, Sunday. Vacuum almost daily because of my dog.

 

[learnandbloom]

@ilovemyfather I’m in the Geoff Neupert / early morning quick routine camp.

Kettlebells have been a life saver since having a kid.

If I can, I squeeze in a barbell session at the gym.

You can get a decent workout done in 30 minutes. If you can repeat that five days a week for years…. Not bad. When my schedule allows me more time, I train more.

 

[jlyatt]

@ilovemyfather I'm in the camp of night workouts post work because I enjoy exercising at that time. I work out, then I feel hungry and have dinner, after which I relax and go to bed. This routine makes me feel sleepier instead of waking me up.

 

[marinda]

@ilovemyfather This gets asked like every other day on this forum.

Home gym

Keep workouts to 1 hour. You can get a lot done in 1 hr or less 4 days a week.

 

[ilovemyfather]

@marinda Well, that would have been the easiest response to any question like this. Unfortunately, I don’t have the space for a home gym and even if I do, my gym is only 10 minutes walk away. The reason I ask is to get insight how people manage their time around work and working out.

 

[thedalo]

@ilovemyfather I wake up at 330am hit the gym work from 630am to 4pm sit in an hour of traffic, then come home and play with my kiddo. Partner makes dinner. (I cook on weekends and clean dishes every day) then I’m asleep by 730. Its rough but in order to lift I had to make a sacrifice somewhere.

 

[theodorus700]

@ilovemyfather There was a point in time where I attempted to do morning workouts, but I just couldn't manage it. I also felt totally zonked out afterwards. As a result I made a habit of doing my workouts at lunch, after work, or combination of both.

Now that I'm more dialed into my routine and nutrition, I have a few ideas about why I struggled so much (It might also be why you are too! )

1.) I didn't get enough sleep. (At the time I usually only got around 4 - 6 hours.)

2.) I didn't eat anything BEFORE the workout. ( I know a lot of people like to workout fasted, I did too. But I realized that not eating something before my workouts really effected my energy levels afterwards.) You don't need to have a massive meal either. Even just something like an energy/protein bar will help.

3.) I'd do a High intensity workout. When I say high intensity, I mean pushing my heart rate to over 175bpm for a consistent amount of time. Usually through an aerobic activity like sprinting or cycling. This would totally blow my gasket without fail. Perhaps others might disagree with me, but if you've got an intense workout planned where you're going to be huffing and puffing, I'd really recommend scheduling that in for later in the day. It doesn't matter if I sleep and eat well beforehand, these types of workouts are just straight up exhausting. Which is while I love to do them in the early evening, because they really prep my body for bed. ❤

These are pretty simple things, but I'm about 99% positive these either 1 or a combination of these reasons is why I struggled so much with working out in the morning. I'm not sure if this helps at all, but best of luck to you!

 

[oakofrighteousness]

@ilovemyfather Wake up at 4:50 am for a 5 am workout Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun
Work from 7 am - 5 pm.
After work, it’s me time. I play video games or youtube.
Typically sleep by 8:30pm (funny how i type this and it’s 9:30pm right now haha)

Tuesdays and Thursday are my rest days and i sleep in until at 6 am.

On the days i plan to wake up to workout, i have to jump out of bed and go straight to drinking my pre-workout in ice water. Wakes me right up. I have my gym clothes laid out and ready in the bathroom to put on after i brush my teeth.

I recommend reading Atomic Habits and sticking with habit stacking.

 

[ilovemyfather]

@oakofrighteousness This honestly sounds like a reasonable routine. Exactly what I’m looking for because I’d also like to have some time in the evenings for things like winding down.

Also funny you mentioned, I am reading Atomic Habits right now. Quite a wealth of infos there!