Full time work and working out?

K

katia7

Cathlete
I might be starting an internship soon and trying to figure out when is the best time for me to workout.
For those of you who work full time, when do you workout (morning? before dinner? after dinner? or do you break it up somehow?) and for how long?
I usually workout at 9AM (1st thing in the morning) for 1 hr of cardio and 15 min of weights. I'm trying to decide wheather I want to to workout at 4:30AM (so that nothing would get in the way) or wait till I get back from work (so that I can get some more sleep).
 
Good luck finding the best time to work out. I work 45-50 hours/week, including a late night, with church priorities every Wednesday night and Sunday morning and early afternoon, and of course, a husband to have a relationship with! It's hard when we do stuff with friends on Friday night, because there's never time to sneak a workout in. Luckily, a very supportive friend of mine who introduced my to Cathe's videos said it doesn't matter when you workout during the day - do your best to get it in there. If you're a morning person - great for you! Not me, I need some sleep! Good luck!

Dennielle :D
 
I found that working out first thing in the morning works best for me, then nothing can get in the way later. I never miss workouts on this schedule.
 
>I found that working out first thing in the morning works
>best for me, then nothing can get in the way later. I never
>miss workouts on this schedule.
>
>
I totally agree with Honeybunch. If I work out at the end of the day, I can always find an excuse not to do it (I work late so am starved, need to get groceries on the way home and then its too late, ec.). If I work out first thing in the morning, then there's nothing between that workout and me except getting my butt out of bed! I have to get up an hour earlier to do that (I can get myself up if I know I have an hour to myself first to drink coffee and read up on my favorite newsgroups on the internet). Once up, I have no excuses and off I go to do my workout.

I guess time of day is a pretty personal thing. My husband, on the other hand, workouts out after I go to bed at night (around 10pm) and then sleeps in to the last possible minute in the a.m.

Do you know if you are a morning or night person? If you can flow with that, you often have at least enough energy to do a workout. I am definitely a morning person, and the thought of working out at 10pm makes me squeamish! hehe
 
I like to sleep in as much as possible (plus, my shift starts at 4am), so I exercise within an hour of getting home... around 1pm. On my old shift, I worked out at about 10pm. I'm fiercely protective of my workout time (whenever it ends up being... yesterday, I worked out at 5pm) yet I'm also flexible about when I do my workout. I don't find that a lot of things interfere with at least getting in a short treadmill run or a segment of a step tape.
 
IMHO, given the options you've listed, I truly think you'd be better off planning an after-work workout schedule than an 0-Dark-Thirty workout. Most exercise physiologists I've ever read state that late afternoon workouts are best for you because your body has had a chance to move around somewhat, rather than hop out of bed and jump right into a Cathe workout with cold muscles and semi-sleepy brain.

I work full time, and during the work week I start my workouts anywhere between 5:30 and 6:00 p.m. Trust me, as others will attest, it is NOT easy to battle the end-of-day fatigue and Blowoff Syndrome; however, a late-afternoon workout is a great energizer.

Just my $.02 -

A-jock
 
Depending how tight your schedule is in the AM, you could try splitting up your workout as an option. Do your cardio in the morning, so you can shower afterward. Then do your strength training at night, since its only 15 minutes.

Fifteen minutes at night might not seem like alot, but in the morning (if you aren't a morning person) its an opportunity for a little more snoozing!

Good luck!
Lynn
 
Katia:

play with it, try both early morning w/o for a week, then try the evening ones, especially with Spring and Summer right around the corner, the change in seasons may make an impact. A Spring evening is great for w/o, but so is a Summer morning to beat the heat.

It's gonna be whatever suits you as an individual best.

If you are lucky, there may be a gym near where you work, then an hour's (or 45 mins) weight training in the lunch hour would be perfect! When I worked at a desk job in London, this was by far the best workout time and use of my lunch hour.

CLare
 
I work out 6 days a week (including Sat & Sun). During the week, I tried getting up early, but losing that extra sleep was really taking its toll on me.

So, I work out in the evenings around 7 or 8 pm. I have a 7 year old and get him all settled in after school first, (i.e. dinner, homework etc.) then he goes and watches his favorite show on cartoon network and I workout.

Danielle
:+
 
It's definately going to depend on whatever works best for you.

I work full-time plus overtime right now and I found that doing my workouts in the morning worked best for me. That way I only have to take one shower for the day and I have no interruptions. I occasionally will do an afternoon workout on the weekends and my kids or husband always seem to come into the room with a million questions.

I had to adjust my bedtime to about an hour earlier but it's worth it.

HTH.
 
I work fulltime for a large Fed Gov agency in an office. Since I got into SR Management 6 years ago and got to pick my hours I work 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. I am clearly not a morning person.

I get home by 7:20 of the day and am working out by 7:35 most of the time. I eat dinner afterwards. Course I'm single with 3 cats and have the luxary of a big workout room in my house. If you have children, husband or SO and downstairs neighbors to consider my ideas may not work well for you at all.

Edith
 
I also work full-time and work out 6 days a week. I usually try during the week to break it up - 45 mins to an hour in the mornings (I get up at 5:45) and then 45 mins to an hour after dinner (8 to 9pm). Sometimes I work out on Saturday night after my DH has gone to bed. I have been known to start working out at midnight. So it's all in where you can make the time. What works for me alot is I tell myself I'll just do 10 minutes - then I'm not ready to quit.
 
The best time to work out is any time you can find time. I am away from my house about 12 hours every day and work out at least 6 days a week. I just do it when I can. MWF I get to the gym at 5 am. T/Th-When I "feel" like it and Saturday/Sunday any time. I often find that doing it this way, I sometimes work out twice a day.

Good Luck,
mikkame77
 
I think you might just have to play it by ear and figure out what works.

For the most part I try to work out in the morning and agree with the others that it is the only way I guarantee I am going to workout! HOwever, when I am working a ton of hours and have to be to work really early (plus I have a 45 minute drive to work and a 2 year old to get out the door) sometimes the mornings don't work. Lately I have had to be more flexible and have actually started doing some strength training in the evenings. I find I have the right amount of energy and concentration for strength at night. Sometimes I don't have the energy for cardio at 8:00 p.m. at night.

Lately I have created my rotation with strength days on the days I know I might miss my morning workout. Then at least I know I can do it at night. It has been working great. It also helps that my hubby is supportive and doesn't mind me taking over our family room during prime time TV watching!

I also like to do abs at night because it only takes a few minutes and with a nice stretch it feels so good before laying around on the couch all night!

Good luck! Hope you enjoy your new internship! I have worked with a lot of interns in the past and have seen them move on to great things!
 
If I had to work out first thing in the morning, I would never keep it up. I don't even like getting up as early as I do to go to work. I work out as soon as I get home from work. If I get sidetracked, I usually will not do a workout. As soon as I get home, I go to my room, change and head down to the basement where all of my equipment is. I find that this works best for me. I miss having a workplace that has a workout facility, because when I did, I worked out 2x a day, once during lunch and once when I got home from work...sigh...those were the good old days.

Alexis
 
Welcome to the real world...

Life really changes when you have to put in at least 8 hours a day. When I think back to life in college...never knew how much time I had. Of course, I always felt guilty because I wasn't studying so I don't miss that. I worked out after work for many, many years - I would drive to the gym from work every day. I did this for 10 years, then I got pregnant and that was another big shift. Now working full time with 2 kids, I find that mornings at home is really my only option to get in a full 1.5 hour workout, which is what I like. Yes, I get up at 4:10 but I go to bed at 9:00. This just works for me, it may not work for you. For a few years as I struggled to fit in evening exercise with 2 kids, I always thought "I just can't get up that early." But then someone said to me, you might be surprised how much you like it once you get started. Why don't you try it. And I did, and it's made all the difference. You'll have to figure out the best time after carefully considering all your committments and priorities I guess is my advice. Plus don't dismiss early mornings out of hand if that time actually could be good for you.

Meredith
 
RE: Welcome to the real world...

katia, I am GLAD you asked this question!
I am a full time student, and I work alot during the week, but I also might get a more high ranking job soon, so I will have to work full time as well, and I don't know when I would be exercising!

I think this is gonna be a big change to switch to morning workouts, but maybe it would be a good thing to switch to mornings like everyone has said. I think at least you would know that it is over and done with! I actually worked out this morning (which I NEVER) do and I loved it, because I could go about my day with extra confidence! A few days ago, I didn't exercise until like 1am b/c I was all slobby feeling and the whole day I didn' t feel right, so it could probably also help to be more focused at work and stuff!
We could be morning gals together! :) Jaime
 
RE: Welcome to the real world...

I normally exercise when I get home from work; that means I'm working out by 5 p.m. Although I only do this 3 or 4 days a week for an hour and a half each session(M,W,F, & alternate Sundays) it is sometimes so hard to fit these workouts in. I have a 13 yr. old daughter, so it seems there is always somewhere to go after work (dance class, orthodontic appts., the supermarket, Girl Scout meetings etc.!!) On occasion I've had to get up early to work out (5 a.m., before work) and I find this to be awful!! My muscles just don't want to function this early! I am so much more loose and have so much more energy working out in the evening!! I would even rather work out at 10 p.m. than get up extra early!

I think we are all to be commended for fitting working out into our busy schedules every week. It would be easy to be like most other people out there and just use 'no time' as an excuse not to do it at all.
 
RE: Welcome to the real world...

I've been working out after work, as soon as I get home on weekdays. And on weekends I workout 1st thing in the morning.
The workouts feel easier when I do them after work (probably because my muscles had time to warm up). But I try to workout in the morning on the weenends so that I could be free to do whatever comes up.

katia
 
Hi. I suggest doing it in the morning. You said you are used to doing it at 9am, so getting up and getting to it shouldn't be a problem for you. Then you will become used to getting up at 4a.m. or so, and it won't be a task after a week or two getting up that much earlier. Plus, you get the bonus energizing affect that will last your whole day. If you can't get in both cardio and strength training then choose to do your strength training on the days you don't work, perhaps the weekend. DOn't skimp on meals though or it will take the toll on your workout schedule. Do what feels good to you.
 
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