new job, now need a new workout schedule

[Cbelle]

Hi everyone. I need some advice! I recently got a new job (my FIRST real adult fulltime job EVER at age 35!!!!)and now I'm scrambling to figure out when and what to do for my workouts. I WAS going to the gym these last few months and taking the BodyPump, Step, Combat etc. classes and in fact am certified in the BodyCombat class and am teaching occasionally. But the only time I can take those classes is at 630pm now and I found out on Monday that I was just too wiped out after all day at work plus I ddint end up eating dinner until 8pm which I hated! So I decided at least for weeknights I should stick with the beloved CAthe videos. Last nite I did ME and discovered I've lost ALOT of strength since doing only BodyPump. It was really depressing. This news just encouraged me even more to stick with Cathe.

I'd really like to workout in the a.m. but twice now I've tried to wake up and do it and it just hasn't worked. So its looking like evenings (530ish) when I get home. I need to lose 20 lbs and was wondering if someone could recommend a good rotation? I was leaning towards the Intensity series but I like the idea of CTX because of its shortness.

Boy do I miss my 15 years of leisure staying at home with kids and being able to workout wherever and whenever I wanted! No wonder I always hear the excuse of "I'm too tired/busy etc!"

 

[Stacy]

Congrats on the job! I have the same scheduling issues as you and I'm sure that many others out there do too. I work 4 days a week and every 3rd weekend. My work days vary but are usually 7:30am-6:30pm so I rarely workout in the mornings and at night I'm tired when I get home and hate eating so late as well! My workout schedule varies to accomodate all of these things and I try to get in tougher workouts on the weekends I dont work to make up for some of my shorter workouts during the week. A few things that have worked for me...

1. Keep my workouts less than an hour during the week, shorter if I have to

2. Alternating cardio workouts with circuit workouts one week to get in more cardio and then the next week alternating cardio with pure strength training to get a little more weight training in

3. Dont beat myself up if I need to skip a workout, getting enough sleep is vital!

4. I take a snack to work like a protein shake or a Detour bar and eat it around 4 or 5 or sometimes on the way home from work b/c I'm often starving when I get home and would rather eat than workout. This way also I'm not as hungry for dinner so eating late I dont eat as much

5. Plan your meals so lunch is your biggest meal of the day

6. Keep in mind that for most, diet is more important than exercising when trying to lose weight so pay just as much if not more attention to your diet than to your workouts. I used to stress myself out thinking about getting my workouts in that I would stress eat...I got my workotus in as planned but gained weight anyways! Once I concentrated more on clean eating, I lost weight working out only 4 days a week.

Good Luck!! It's tough but it can be done! Once your body gets a little more used to your work schedule, you wont be quite as tired in the evenings and your workouts will be more of a stress reliever for you! But sometimes you just have to suck it up and get it done, b/c it's easy to fall into the "I'm tired" mode and before you know it a week has gone by and no workout!

 

[Maximus]

Hi Cbelle--it took me years to get on a regular schedule when I finished school & started working full time (ah the flexibility of being a student!). Anyway, here's my schedule now:

Sundays: cardio & weights @ the gym
Mondays: Cathe step tape early morning before work
Wednesday: weights at the gym after work
Thursdays: Cathe step tape early morning before work
Saturdays: cardio & weights @ the gym

Occasionally I sub the before work step tapes w/a good long run, but now that it's dark in the mornings those days are over til next summer.

Hope this helps..........