How do you fit training into your life?

Other Discussions Training Discussion
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An open thread for how you make it happen.
Share solutions, tips, tricks for actually making it to train on a consistent basis.

Tell the community when you train (early, afternoon, evening, etc) , where you train, and most importantly, what you have to do in order to make training happen.

For example: I personally need to train in the early morning - it’s the time that my wife and I had to agree to that works for our family - so I have to make sure I set my coffee the night before, layout my clothes, and have my wireless headphones charged and in my gym bag so I can just get up and get moving.

I know some of you have no trouble fitting in a two hour workout, multiple times a week in to your lives. For some of us, we just have to get creative, and I think others can learn from that.

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I’m fortunate to work from home and have a home gym, so I get up about 6:30, see my kids/wife off to their day, work a little bit on the computer, and then lift about 10:30 AM. I set my computer up so that I can respond to emails and such in between sets, or work on whatever I need to work on. I’m fortunate to be able to do that, but it’s still tough a lot of days to really give lifting the focus it needs, or to give my job the attention it needs due to whatever is happening that day. I’ve been thinking for a while that I need to make it a habit of lifting at a time that nothing else competes with it. For me, that would absolutely mean I’d have to work out early’ish in the morning, starting around 6 am so I could have a full 2 hours. That’s really not that early yet I still haven’t made myself do it more than a few times.

I work with a guy who is an “equipped” competitive bodybuilder. He sets his alarm at 3:50 AM so he can get up and train 6 days a week. I don’t see how he does it, except that he goes to bed at 8:30 every night, which would never fly in my house. He’s in his 50’s though and doesn’t have kids in the house like I do.

Back when I was more of a general fitness guy, I woke up at 5:30 and ran 3-5 miles 3x a week, and then did a little resistance training 2x a week. Biggest “trick” for me, which is really no trick at all, was to just have discipline. Initially that meant waking up when the alarm went off even when I didn’t want to. Getting up early when I was trying to form that habit eventually meant I wanted to go to bed early too. I had to be disciplined not to stay up late unnecessarily as well. If you don’t go to sleep on time then it gets much harder to wake up early. The other thing for me back then was to wake up early even on non-training days so that I would stay in a rhythm. Sleeping in on Saturday and/or Sunday really made it harder during the week, so I left my alarm set for 5 AM and just got up regardless of what was going on. I learned to enjoy waking up early and having the world to myself, even on non-training/exercising days.

There’s lots of info if you google it about the benefits and philosophy of becoming a morning person. I think buying into those ideals will help you stick to it. In general I found it really does make you feel like you are in control of your life, versus sleeping in to the last minute and seeing how many times you can hit snooze.

In short, the sense of accomplishment is very powerful when you have been up for a few hours by 7 or 8 AM and have gotten your physical objectives completed, or some prayer/meditation, personal reading or reflection, etc. The day feels like a success already, and it builds an attitude which tends to compound over time and spill over into other areas of your life. You just have to continue to nurture that over time and guard it b/c it still can be difficult.

Even though I don’t have to get up early any longer to get my lifting in, all the things above still feel true to me, and the allure of making it happen again is there in the back of my brain all the time.

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For me I needed to schedule with my wife so that family life was in order. I workout 4-5:30 PM right after work because my morning workouts were just sluggish and not good. In stark contrast to working out after 2 meals, a couple cups of coffee, and a work day. This also suits me because I get stir crazy working at a desk all day so it is a good physical outlet right after work. As far as scheduling conflicts there are many, so being flexible is key. If I can’t lift a day or two that week my wife and I sit down and plan out how I get 3 days in. Sometimes the GPP in the templates needs to go by the wayside for a week, but by in large I fit that in after the kiddo goes to sleep.

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The biggest thing, by far, that I didn’t specifically say was INVEST IN A HOME GYM! It’s an investment, and I understand for many just not attainable due to space or budget. But working out is so much easier when you can do it at home, especially if you have a wife and kids. It cuts the drive time down to zero, so you can save that time. It also let’s you get workouts in even if you have to do other things. I’ve worked out at home while cooking dinner many times. It’s easier to move at your own pace without waiting for a power rack to be open at the gym. On and on. I finally bit the bullet in bought equipment in January of 2017, after having the itch for 20+ years. It was stupid for me to have waited that long. If buying equipment is a stretch due to budget (and I was there for a LONG time), I still think there could be a way to fit it in if you get resourceful with it. I KNOW I could have made it happen many years ago when I was young if I had really tried, talked it out with the wife, and put together a plan for making it happen. There is NO way I could work out today like I do without a home gym. Not only does it enable me to get it done, it actually saves me and my wife money over gym fees at this point. The ROI has been huge in every way.

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This is basically me word for word.

Getting the workout done first thing in the morning in my opinion is the best way to cope with a busy schedule. It is the time slot least likely to be interrupted and pushed off unless you sleep in. Sleeping in is solely decided and controlled by yourself, so the only adversity to overcome is yourself. I get up at 4:30 am to make breakfast and take care of personal business and arrive at the gym a couple miles away from home at about 6. Shower and change in the gym after the workout and go straight to work. Once the workout is out of the way, I can focus on work, study/reading, and social activities (if any ha!) for the rest of the day. It definitely means no crazy drinking at night regularly and I never sleep in on Saturday or Sunday. Only a nap in the noon to get some extra shut-eyes.

On the other hand, if I do it after work, one overtime or crazy bad day can easily derail the plan. And I personally don’t sleep well if the workout is too late and close to bedtime.

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I have plenty of time to workout without a home gym, but the home gym takes away any excuse I could make to skip training (i.e. don’t want to drive to the gym, gym not open, adverse weather conditions, etc…).

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Well said!!! I especially liked this:

“Sleeping in is solely decided and controlled by yourself, so the only adversity to overcome is yourself.”

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Agreed. I’ve stretched 1.5 hour workouts into 3 hours before, simply because I was at home, with a busy family. I remember one night my 10 year old had a project due the next day. I worked out while helping him get things done with his project. Probably took 10 minutes between most sets. Not ideal, but I still got my training in. Definitely would have missed it that day otherwise. I’ve worked out through web conferences on many occasions where all I had to do was mostly listen and watch someone else’s presentation. My home gym equipment ranks up there very high on my most prized possession’s list.

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Adding to the home gym advice. If you have the space and budget, it’s worth every penny to invest in one. You lose all commuting time, and as others said, you can do chores and family ordeals and such between sets if you need to.

I have no kids though, so I have no excuse not to train even without the home gym:roll_eyes:

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I work out first thing in the morning before work, fasted. I tried training with a small breakfast or whey, but I always get an upset stomach. Probably not optimal, but I like the consistency.

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Years ago, when I first started lifting, I trained late at night. Usually, 10 PM to 11:30 PM. Wife and kid went to bed, I went to the gym. I am not a morning person and knew from experience that any delusions I have about getting up and training will not happen and are not sustainable. Additionally, the gym was empty at these times. I did this for many years as a member of a 24 hour gym with a key card. The last couple of years, I train around 4:30 in the afternoon. I am a high school teacher and have a key to the weight room. Finish and am home by 6:30, make dinner and see the wife and kid.

Ideally, training happens around 1:30 PM for me. When summer rolls around, this is usually when I train.

I will say, I don’t understand for the life of me how any of you “do chores” or “answer emails” while training. I couldn’t do it. Training just requires way too much of my focus and mental energy to have it interrupted.

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Great Topic. I tried getting up at 4am a few weeks ago. It worked ‘ok’ but the workouts were a little sluggish. I’m thinking about going back to that and starting the GPP Hypertrophy template next week. It’s about the only way i can get it all in due to our children’s sport schedules. For those that have done or are doing the same template. How much time do I need to set aside while doing this? Also, what are some quick breakfast ideas that you guys/ladies use when you lift early? I’m not opposed to doing them fasted but I’m sure I would feel a little better if I had at least a little something on my stomach.

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I’d plan on 90 minutes for the GPP Hypertrohpy template. You’ll need to focus on keeping the intraset rest periods as tight as possible though. I use the Strong app on my iPhone to record me lifting, and it starts a time automatically for me when I mark each set as complete, so that helps keep me on point when time is of the essence.

I’m seldom hungry in the morning, even after an hour or so of being up. I don’t drink coffee, but will drink 10oz of water and 100-200mg of caffeine in pill form. I can usually get liquid food down, but if I’m training very soon after that I’ll keep it small. 1 scoop of protein powder in water, and a small banana. Maybe half of a large banana some days. I tried the overnight oats stuff, but it’s just not sustainable for me and gives me bubble guts too close to training.

After training I’ll slam another scoop or protein and the other half of banana. That’ll hold me until I can eat an early lunch around 11.

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You can try overnight oats with whey protein. If that upsets your stomach, you can try just whey protein. If that upsets your stomach, you can try a pre-workout. I don’t use any pre-workouts because I don’t like the taste of any I’ve tried.
Personally, for me, I am currently training fasted because I am on a cut and don’t need the extra calories. It took me about two weeks to not feel sluggish.
However, if I wasn’t on a cut, my go-to pre-workout is a cup of chocolate milk mixed with creatine. I don’t drink coffee, mainly because I don’t like the taste.

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The pre-training breakfast thing is super odd to me.

OTOH I get it, on the other, I have been doing alright w/ just a cup of coffee (and sometimes bringing a thermos with me to the gym and sipping between sets). My experience (n=1) has been that a normal dinner the night before is sufficient, but it could be a case of I don’t know what I’m missing.

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I’m lucky enough to have a job where I can go in early (a little before 6am) and get home by late afternoon. Right now, I train Tue-Th-Sat before dinner. I’m on an HLM program now, and it takes about 90-100 minutes to complete my sessions. I also do a HIIT session Wednesday before dinner on an Airdyne, and LISS session early Sunday mornings.

Until last March, I trained at a local community center gym that unfortunately had only one power rack and two flat benches - lots of machines though!!! (There was a Bally’s with a decent black iron gym in the back that I had belonged to for years, but unfortunately that suddenly closed about 8 years ago - otherwise, there isn’t a decent barbell gym reasonably near my home). Travel to the community center and the typical late afternoon/early evening crowds forced me to workout well after dinner, which really broke up my evenings. I got really sick of not finishing workouts until 9:30-10:00pm, and even sicker of waiting in line for the precious single power rack.

So, I finally splurged and built my own little basement gym in early March. Bought a new B&R bar, new Rogue-R3 shorty power rack, and Rogue flat bench. I built my own platform, and found some Oly plates on Craigslist for a decent price. And I recently acquired the Airdyne from a nearby PlayItAgain Sports for only $90!

Let me echo what others have said above - I only wish I had done this a helluvalot sooner. No waiting, I can workout whenever it’s most convenient for me, no travel time, and I know the load on the bar is always consistent from workout to workout because, hey, they’re my plates and those are the only ones I have to use. But truthfully, more than anything it really helps with self-discipline. I’ve had an on-again-off-again relationship with weights for much of my life, but having that gym in my house has really changed things for me - knowing it’s right there has obliterated the “ah, not tonight” voice that used to haunt me.

It also helps that I’m single and that my kids are now grown and out of the house - my schedule is highly regular and predictable, and my selfish pursuit of weight training doesn’t crimp anybody’s style.

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Just came across this old thread. Agree on all points re the home gym. The garage gets cold in the winter and there are some equipment limitations (good but cost-effective dumbbells, eg), but those are the only cons in my book.

I too did the 5 am drill for years. I will say, however, that this has gotten harder as I’ve gotten older. I’m in my mid-40s, and a year or two ago i just noticed that I was getting much stiffer/creaky that early and it was harder to warm up and get under the bar. Especially squats. I’ve tried to rearrange it so I can work at home for an hour or so some days and workout close to 7 am. The difference between 5 and 7 am is like night and day.

I think the other hack that has worked for me is not to let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Whether that means hustling through doing supersets w some lower weight, dealing with the crappy hotel gym, paying a daily fee to go to a commercial gym when it’s freezing cold, or whatever. If I have an hour, use it and don’t fret about not having two. Whatever little bit is lost is far outweighed by the benefit of not missing.

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Hey everyone. I usually train in the evening after work. There are definitely days that I don’t wanna. It’s gotten to the point now where it’s part of my day and I train no matter what (barring unexpected shit). I have to do it, so I do.

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Much as I dislike it, it’s got to happen in the evenings for me. Put the kids to bed, change and head into the home gym, get it done. I take any opportunity to work out first thing in the day (which I 100% prefer), but it just isn’t practical most weeks (would wake the family, plus I start work early).

Two other mind hacks: investing in a home gym (cuts out most of the friction to working out), plus writing my day’s program out in the morning (calculating working weights, etc.). Something about doing that cements it in my head as a job that I’m going to do, so it isn’t a chore. Except when 303 tempo squats are scheduled, though - nothing can make a session involving these anything but an ordeal.