I get up at 430am for work to leave by 5-515 to be at work by 7, and I get home at 5 pm. When I get home it’s family responsibilities and dad time with my kids, and I’m not looking to go to the gym at 9-10 at night after kids are asleep, when I have to get back up at 430am. Is it worth it to try and squeeze in a half hour gym workout in at 4am? House is limited with space for a home gym setup
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Here’s an original copy of /u/Dependent-Group7226’s post (if available):
I get up at 430am for work to leave by 5-515 to be at work by 7, and I get home at 5 pm. When I get home it’s family responsibilities and dad time with my kids, and I’m not looking to go to the gym at 9-10 at night after kids are asleep, when I have to get back up at 430am. Is it worth it to try and squeeze in a half hour gym workout in at 4am? House is limited with space for a home gym setup
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It takes you around 2 hours to get to work? That seems like a huge problem.
Any option to do a lunch workout?
You sound like a good candidate to do some bodyweight calisthenics. Lots of good videos out there. Maybe just work in a set with pushups, sit-ups, squats, and some pull-ups (or a TRX at home). you can get pretty fit that way.
Prep your shit better so you can leave the house quicker.
45 minutes 5 days a week is plenty.
Get some cardio in the afternoon, go ride bikes with your kids or walk your dog
Treadmill and TV? One of those little cycling things that would usually sit under a desk, but maybe you could use on the sofa? Family walk time? Do reps with the milk (~8lbs). If you have a docile pet, or a small child who likes to play airplane, use their weight as workout weights. Race the kids up and down the stairs. Move things in small batches so that you have to move more.
Your commute is the problem
i would go before work, yes. that’s what i do.
Can you buy some home equipment? Do your workouts at home either in the morning or night.
You have a long enough day with that early morning get up, other than moving closer to work you realistically need to sacrifice your early evening five til six (or at least the first 30 minutes of it). It’s hard to forego any valuable family time but it’s probably going to help extend your life so just look at it this way. If it’s simple cardio you’re doing maybe get the kids involved. A 5k run alongside them on a bike/scooter could be fun and will tick all the boxes.
For me having a small set of free weights and a short routine I do with them 2-3 times a week has made a big difference for me.
I feel much better (mentally) when I stick to it and if I avoid activity entirely that gets worse for my mood the longer I put it off.
It sounds like you need to move your house or move to a new job because that commute is criminal
If that was my schedule Id have the all in one dumbells and do a bodypart a day at home. Wont take up much space since all you need at most is a simple adjustable bench. Mine lays under my bed along with the dumbells.
Squat variation, Incline DB press, Barbell rows 2x per week and go heavy getting 6-8 reps on top set
Calisthenics
Adjustable dumbbells that go up to at least 100 lbs for your space issue. Get a bench to go with it that can fold up out of the way. Youll be able to hit upper body pretty well with bench, rows, tricep extension, curls, etc. Lower body will be a bit harder. Focus on stuff like goblet squats, single leg rdls, any calisthenic based move that you can add weight onto.
See if its something you can do while also taking care of family responsibilities. When my kids were very young, id sneak sets in while in the living room with them. Quality of workouts definitely takes a hit but it’s better than nothing.
I have the exact same schedule. Weird. Share your pain brother. I found a gym on the way home that I’d hit, just involved some good prep the night before. For me, due to my busy schedule I got absolutely tired of waiting for machines and my gym was close to a high school and those kids would work out in groups of 5 or 6 and crowd machines. I got tired of it. Bought a bench and dumbbells and a pull up bar. Making decent progress at home now. Don’t really miss the gym at all.
Appreciate the replies thus far fellas. I’m looking to get a better career, so I’m sacrificing for the time being. I think home workouts may be my answer. I do have some stuff I can use, not a “home gym” but I do have adjustable dbs/kb, bench and some bands
The best solution is work out equipment at home!
If you got a barbell setup at home, you could possibly get in enough squats and deadlifts in the time you have on a 5×5 kind of program. Those give you the most bang for your buck. With so little time, I would find it hard to see any value in other kinds of training.
Go to the gym before you go home. Will the world stop if you’re not home at 5?
If not, work out for an hour, then go home and do home things.
You can absolutely slay your body with a set of kettlebell’s. In like 30 minutes, do it with your kids
Work out with the kids. Push ups and sit ups while helping with homework or tossing the ball in the yard or whatever it is. Throw a kid on your back and do a ruck or some squats. Calisthenics was huge. I was there for a while, I get it. My commute wasn’t as bad (1 hour each way) but still leaves you exhausted and with little time and a stressed spouse. Did the best I could with home gym and 15 minutes here and there.
It won’t last forever. Soon the kids will be off with friends and doing other things and you will have more time. Enjoy the time together with them, but you can use that time for both.
Look up a free app like Hiitology. Lots of good body weight 20 min workouts. If you grind you will make progress.
Burpees
Body weight at home? You can get a lot of out just squats, situps, push ups and pull ups
How long is your lunch? My best time is during lunch, but I get two hours. When I had one hour lunches, I would waffle between early morning and after work.
I switched to a 5 day split and my workouts are anywhere between 30 and 50 minutes depending on the muscle group I’m working. So it would definitely be doable and worthwhile.
I feel the pain and for me what I’ve done for now is just slip in push ups as I can like when waiting on the shower to warm up, and having a barbell in the basement that I use when I can. Not a lot but is it something.
Get some kettlebells and put some anchors somewhere in your ceiling to hang some rings. You can hit everything and get a great workout with minimal equipment.
Make it easily accessible for you. Find 30 minutes in the morning.
How old are your kids? If they’re old enough you could work out with them when you get home. Depending on their age they can do different things. My daughter is 18 months so she’ll pick up a small weight and walk around.
I’d say your best bet is to squeeze it in during your work shift for the time being. Set a timer on your phone. Every hour go find a spot to do some push ups, pull ups, crunches, and lunges for about 5 minutes. Maybe do a 20 minute jog at lunch. It ain’t perfect but it’s exercise and 5 minutes 7 times a day is 35 minutes. 20 mins at lunch makes 55.
Have you got the space for a peloton bike or something similar?
I dropped for 220 lbs to 160 in just over a year using only this and aggressively cutting out all junk from my diet. (Zero takeaways zero sweets super low sugar)
Get a kettle bell by your desk
I’d suggest getting a kettlebell or two, a pull up bar, and a few sets of dumbbells to starts can always resell the old ones when you are ready to upgrade to minimize the cost.
Don’t need much space at all for those and you can get a sufficient workout in.
Luckily, I don’t have to get up that early every day, but I always do my exercises every day right after I get up. That sometimes means I have to get up as early as 4 a.m. so I still have time for my 25-minute workout and a cup of coffee.
I think it’s better to do it in the morning than in the evening right before bed.
What’s your wife’s schedule like? Can she ease some of that burden for you so you can have some time to look after your own health?
Hmm…if I were leaving my house at 5AM I’d consider cycling. Less traffic on roads. But I guess that depends on whether the 2hrs to work is via public transport or car.
I workout in front of the TV at night 4-5 times a week. Currently watching Spartacus and workout for about 45 min at a time. You don’t need to do anything I fancy. I only have a pair of 25 pound dumbbells.
YouTube 10-20 min full body HIIT workouts. Don’t over complicate it.
Your schedule is awful. But, if you think you can squeeze something in, check out r/kettlebell. Lots of versatile stuff you can do with a single bell that doesn’t take up a lot of room – or a single adjustable bell even. You can get your cardio and strength in simultaneously. I run – a lot – and Kbs are my supplement. But if I was really just trying to get the most bang for my buck on say, three workouts a week, I’d come up with like 3 half hour KB circuits. Or maybe a 1 hour program on the weekend, and two shorter workouts during the week.
Get your basics in in a circuit – push, pull, hinge, squat, carry. Make sure you’re getting some family walk time in on the weekends too. Your future self will thank you.
Kettlebells, do the abc and you can get a solid workout in 30 minutes or even less if you want
Sorry man but if you dont change your commute it aint gonna happen. My total commute round trip is 1 hr… i cant imagine another 2 hrs. That would definitely kill my time to workout.
Bodyweight workouts.
Dip bars.
Squat presses.
Burpees.
The answers already very clearly exist. You’re asking for advice when you already know the answers.
I would do basic workouts with your kids. Use it as a family health time. Use body weight workouts to start. I workout with both my kids at 10 and 12.