I can find time for cardio, but I have read you need 3 prongs of activity to really be physically healthy. Stretching (tai chi, yoga, etc), cardio and strength training.
Add into the time needed for mental conditioning like various forms of meditation.
Do people double up when they go to the gym (do strength training, then yoga right afterwards so they don’t need to make 2 trips)? It seems you’d have to put in 1-2 hours a day every day to really get mentally and physically fit.
Seems like a lot of work. I need to plan my schedule better.
I’m not really into strength or stretching, and I’ve never really felt all that different afterward. When I do cardio (running), I definitely feel it, and I figure a bit of that every other day or so is enough for me. I already apparently do way more than most people (almost everyone who knows my routine comments on how dedicated a gym goer I am), so I guess I’m good. If I had to schedule in prongs, I’d probably be lost, though.
Plan to exercise most days. Do cardio 3-4 times a week. Strength training 2/week. 5-10 minutes stretching after every work-out. I don’t any more, but that is how I used to do it.
I do an hour of cardio - running, swimming or cycling (in summer, before work, in winter at lunchtime).
Then I go to the gym in the evening, usually straight after work - weights, circuits, boxercise, spin.
Weekends I get up early so I don’t cut into the things I have/want to do, or I skip working out entirely.
I start my days early, 5:30 ish. I do things round the house as I can (precooking dinners, putting the washing on at night, doing chores on my off evenings). And I am out 2-3 evenings a week. It just gets built in. I do put off going to the gym if it is not convenient - last night I skipped my regular Pump class to help cook because my wife was ill and my son was a bit too slow making dinner. I went to the gym later when everyone else was out at meetings.
As for results, I have lost nearly 30kg over 3 years, I have completed a half marathon distance and an olympic triathlon, and want to do a marathon and a half-ironman next year. My wife does get a bit fed up, but likes the results. Our kids are almost out of their teens and are not round much anyhow. And I expect to be fit and active for any grandkids we may have in the future.
I take classes at the gym or run around 3 miles before work. Then in the afternoon/evenings, after work, I participate in various activities. They range from doing more aerobics/weight lifting classes, to doing belly dancing and capoeira. Yea, so I don’t get to see a lot of TV, but then, I don’t have cable. And yea, that means some days I’m at the gym more than 2 hours. But I like the results.
I also go to take classes or run during the weekends.
I get up at 5:30 three times a week (M-W-F) and hit the gym for an hour before work. Last year I spent two months with a personal trainer and he showed me how to incorporate short bursts of cardio into my strength training and still be out of the gym (not counting showering and dressing, etc) in an hour. I might do a circuit of 3 minutes on the elliptical, a round of pushups, a round of pullups, and some squats, and do that circuit 3 times. At the end of it, I’m sweating and breathing heavy. Then I move onto another circuit of 3-4 exercises, some of which are cardio, some of which are strength training- all in all, maybe 3-4 circuits of 3-4 exercises each. When I’m done I’m a dripping, panting mess. Shower & dress and I’m off to work.
I’ve never really stretched much. I used to run marathons and even then, maybe 5 minutes of stretching before a distance run and I was fine. There are two schools of thought on stretching, and I guess I’m of the belief that for me, it doesn’t add much, if anything, to my overall health or readiness to exercise.
I bring my gym bag with me to work and then go immediately after to do cardio every other day. I am lucky in that I work near my gym though, and also there is a track right outside my building. If it is nice outside, I’ll spend my lunch break walking around. I always go running on Sunday, too.
I’m taking time off right now due to injury, but usually I go to trapeze class two times a week (Thursday night/Saturday morning). We do extensive yoga before and after class to warm up/down and also a lot of conditioning, so I get most of my stretching and strength training in then.
I was actually talking to a coworker about this the other day; I have no idea how people with families or small children manage to get in all their exercise. I see a lot of parents running outside with their children in jogging strollers, which I think is a pretty great idea, but it still seems it would be tough to make time.
I’m running in the pre-dawn hours that way I can’t get lazy during the day and cop out of my workout. I have to work on getting to bed earlier so I get enough sleep, but that’s easier than convincing myself to workout at 7:00 PM after a long day in the office.
I get up at 6am and go running/walking with a friend for an hour. (We took today off because of the tummy bug that’s going around; she has it, so do my kids.)
Bootcamp class 5 days/wk from 5:30 to 6:60, go immediately from there to ride (horse, not bike) for 45 min or so, then back in the house to be chained to the computer (I work from home).
I do it in the morning. After work, there are too many excuses and distractions. I only do cardio for an hour though, usually 6 days per week.
I use the gym at my apartment complex so there is no drive to worry about.
I live in Phoenix, so weather usually isn’t an issue.
If I get there early enough, I can usually control the tv. I mute the tv and put on ESPN or CNBC and catch up on scores or see what the futures are doing.
I try to keep some podcasts on my Ipod that are for the gym only. No fair listening to them unless I’m working out.
My choice of sports is helpful. I rock climb and during the week I climb in indoor facilities. Climbing takes care of a lot of the stretching and strength training and t uses a crazy amount of different muscle groups. Plus, now that I’m older, I need to do more warm up cool down stretching and strength-based stuff, so once I come off the wall, I have to go over to the mats and do a little regimen that my PT gave me to do.
Since climbing is fun and social, I don’t actually see it as a tough thing to work into a schedule, because it’s leisure time!
So that leaves my major cardio, and I run a couple times a week and or cycle. If I’m training for something, I just get up early and hop on my bike trainer for an hour before I get ready for work. Or I go for a run.
Except for my commute to work, I walk just about everywhere. I average at least 15-20 miles a week. That doesn’t really get my heartrate up, but I try to get in a couple of long bike rides on the weekend.
With difficulty. Buying a house a block away from a gym, which my employer will pay for membership at, seems to be what it took.
3-4 days a week I set my alarm for 4:30 AM. I quickly dress and walk to the gym, where I do about 30 minutes (post warm-up) of cardio work. My goal is to be home by 5:25, which usually works out. (I can then have a relatively normal shower/breakfast/paper morning before leaving home between 6:15 and 6:30 for my hour-long drive to work.)
On weekends I try to do longer runs - and for me five miles is a “long run” - so between 30 minutes and an hour each weekend day.
Compared to some here, 30-45 minutes a day really isn’t that much time. However, it’s a hell of a lot better than nothing (which is what I’d been getting before), and it really has made a difference in my cardiovascular fitness. Combining that with smarter (and smaller!) eating, I’ve lost 30 pounds since May.
I get home from work between 6 and 6:30 in the evenings, and the only time I get to spend with my two-year-old daughter during the work week is between then and her bedtime (7:30 - 8:00), so I don’t wish to exercise right after work. When I first began toying with the idea, trying to be done with my workout before 5:30 AM sounded preposterous, but I’ve gotten into the groove and it works out. The other option would have been working out after 8:00 PM, but I prefer this - I’m a morning person, if I’ve gotten enough sleep. The main hitch - as you might guess - is having the discipline to go to bed early enough to make rising at that hour practical.
(I was up until 11:00 last night, and skipped the workout this morning, for example.)
When I’m focused on my routine and not too busy travelling, I usually get up early to either swim or bike. I do yoga two nights a week and run two times a week (one week day shorter run and a long run on a weekend). I usually only have Sunday off.
My husband and I do short crossfit routines two or three times a week at home. They usually range from 20 to 40 minutes and are fantastic for building strength. We have a good set of weights, a bench, bands, mats, etc. in the basement though, so that’s a big plus.
Buying a house a block away from a gym, which my employer will pay for membership at, seems to be what it took.