When do you find time to exercise?

I'm just wondering when in the day you all exercise? Does it mean foregoing sleep? I wanna get back into exercise but I'm struggling with where in the day to fit it in.

Unfortunately for me, yes it does mean foregoing sleep. I would get up at 5.30-6am and go for a half hour walk or bike ride. But I haven't done that for a while - have been hammered with work and uni assignments so not getting to bed before midnight and having to get up at 6.30 anyway so all sleep is precious atm.

I go to a Jazzercise (cardio/dance) class at 5pm (after work) twice a week. They have child care, which is why I'm able to go. There is no way it would happen if it meant less sleep!

It's hard to find time to scratch your bum when your children are that age.
I used to go to a gym with a creche but it got expensive at $2 per child per visit.
Once they got a bit older I used to take them to the park - they can play on the playground while you use it for pull-up, dips, step ups etc. Our local park had a hill so my boys would roll down it while I did hill sprints.
When they were a bit older I had a bike in the lounge room so I rode that while I watched TV in the evening after they had gone to bed.
Maybe you can find 10 minutes 3 times a day to do some kind of high intensity exercise instead of trying to fit it all into one block.

TBH in the years between getting pregnant with DS1 and DS2 starting school I got pretty out of shape. The good news is that it comes back ;)

I don't have much time when I am not with my kids, so have to do things they can join me in. I was walking 2-3 times a week with a mate and her 2 littlies, which was awesome, but kinder etc made it difficult to coordinate times.

Even if I was able to, i am not so much a gym person, and prefer doing functional exercise or exercise in the fresh air. I dig in the garden while the kids run around etc

I have just bought a kids bike trailer, and am hoping that works for us. I used to love bike riding. Where I live there are dirt roads and lots of hills, so not sure how that will go with the trailer, but gonna give it a go. Also got to hope the kids enjoy it and don't beat up on each other.

WHen my kids were little I used to walk to the shops every day. It was about an hour walk with a massive hill on the way back so that was how I got my exercise in. Another thing I did was put a Wiggles DVD on and do all the moves they did (those guys are fit!). The kids loved it and I got a workout. I lost 15kg doing those simple things. These days I'm way too lazy to bother:rolleyes:

I go (when I go ...) Saturday morning early (so while the kids are still breakfasting, pottering around and asking to watch Mike the Knight) or straight after work - as in, gym bag in the car, do not pass go, do not collect $200, directly after work. Then home. Meaning I don't eat with the family and I miss bath time, but am home in time for stories and bed, and then I eat.

Because those are the only times I can really go (as the gym opens at 6am, but I'm on a train by 6.30am) unless I join a 24/7 club and get in to the city even earlier and do it before work, I don't actually get there a bunch.

It's a work in progress. :)

Any time I'm at the gym is time I'd rather be with the kids, but I figure the healthier I get, the more time I'll be here in general, and the better quality my time here will be.

I used to put the kids in the gym creche when they were little. I also used to walk everywhere with them in the pram to do errands. These days I ride to work to get my exercise in during my commute and then like PN I go Saturday or Sunday mornings while the rest of the family are pottering about in their pj's. Also I run around the oval while they ride their bikes or are playing in teh middle of the oval with a ball.

When DD1 was that sort of young, I used to just do laps of the block and beyond with her in either the pram or carrier as her mood decided. It wasn't really even for exercise, I used to go around 4pm which was her kind of witching hour I guess, we were both getting a bit listless and the fresh air, change of scenery did us a lot of good. Then making use of all the usual sort of stay active tips - taking the steps, parking further away.

Now I have two and they are a bit older we walk to the shops or the park. Our local park has those bikes that spin around up and down type thing so I give those a good pelting with a kid on my lap as they love them but are too little for them alone. I give the monkey bars some red hot goes and there is a little rock climbing wall too. We spend a lot of time in the backyard, I pull the kids on their trike up and down the hills which is weight training I guess? Squats during the dishes, dancing with the kids, more piggy back rides etc. I think just finding lots of little bits and pieces you can do while they are young to stay active in general. I sometimes even just do hallway laps while watching TV/listening to podcasts/reading at night because it helps me wind down, some people can't stand that walking in the same spot over and over business though so depends on what you are like.

I've been running three times a week with DS in the pram. I love walking, but I can't get a sweat up or get breathless walking, except on hills, so I run. I hate running, but I hate it less, the more I do. I do it in the morning as soon as DS and I have both had breakfast. Sometimes he cries the whole way round, sometimes he falls asleep, and other times, he seems to enjoy the whole route.

Unfortunately, though I feel much fitter, I haven't lost a kilo of the 10 kg I put on during pg. :(

I squeeze a workout in when dd has her sleep, but it does mean that i need to run round most the day doing what i would in the time she sleeps. So somedats i dont get to sit down at all

Week days I get up an hour earlier to get a workout in with a DVD in the lounge room. When it was lighter of a morning, I would go for a walk/run. I live out of town so going to the gym is not a practical option. I am finding naturally now that I am going to bed earlier to compensate for the reduced sleep.

I am finding weekends hard to fit in exercise, as there is family house stuff to do. I have found if we take the kids to the park for them to practise with their bikes/scooters, then I can get some running in.

I do a yoga class at 7:30 or 8 pm so I normally feed the girls and get them organised for bed then DH puts them to bed after I go so I'm not mising out on sleep there. Other than that I do stuff with them, walking with them in the pram, riding with them in the bike trailer etc. We do our normal stuff e.g. go to a playground, the library, the shops, feeding the ducks, but just walk or ride there.

i walk the kids to school 5 days a week.
20 mins there and 20 mins home and then the same to pick them up.

I'm going to gradually set up a home gym. For me, it's the only way to do it. Winter weather here is horrid. I love the idea of incidental exercise but in winter it's rainy and freezing a lot of the time. I figure by the time I've paid gym membership, I might as well gradually just buy my own equipment.

My plan is to get up earlier. I'm already in practice mode and getting up around 6am. Don't need to leave the house until 8.45am for school drop off. Just want to get cracking really.

In the meantime, I'm going to join a gym on a month by month basis. XDP has DD2 either first thing in the morning or after school so I should get time every day.

I'm going to gradually set up a home gym. For me, it's the only way to do it. Winter weather here is horrid. I love the idea of incidental exercise but in winter it's rainy and freezing a lot of the time. I figure by the time I've paid gym membership, I might as well gradually just buy my own equipment.

My plan is to get up earlier. I'm already in practice mode and getting up around 6am. Don't need to leave the house until 8.45am for school drop off. Just want to get cracking really.

In the meantime, I'm going to join a gym on a month by month basis. XDP has DD2 either first thing in the morning or after school so I should get time every day.

I usually get up and do it first thing in the morning, has been really hard lately because I'm at uni & working full time, plus living between two households.

I am getting back into the habit of every morning, a girlfriend is selling a treadmill which I am seriously considering buying. This will be the start of a home gym, since DP is happy for me to take over part of the shed as my own.

When my DS was little it used to be right before bed. I worked hard for the 45 mins then hit the shower and went straight to bed. You find time if you make the time and make it a priority. I don't exercise formally so much anymore but developing that initial habit actually didn't take that long. And everyone else in the house knew I'd disappear at 10pm onwards so they just got on with their own stuff.

I'm struggling with this concept too hun! With DS still an average (ok poor) sleeper, early morning or late night doesn't really work as he's usually up anyway. I think I will have to try going for a power walk (and build up to jogging) on weekends when DH can watch the kids - if I feed DS and leave straight away that would work.
I've contemplated doing a gym class when DD is at daycare but that means putting DS in a crèche (and he's still so little!) plus having to be ready at a set time. We do have yoga class but its not much of a workout so I should at least take DS for a power walk in the pram on the two daycare days...

My routine is my girls go to bed at 7pm. 7 to 7:30, I get all my gear organised, then I workout from 7:30 to 8:30-9pm. Shower and than me time before dh gets home. It works well for me because I dont have time to go to a gym, my girls wake before me, and Im not getting up an hour before them in hope I can get something in before they wake up. I use DVD's, treddy, exercise bike and weights.

Thanks for the tips everyone. I used some of them today. I got us all ready in the morning and when DD2 was ready for her nap, strapped them both in the pram and walked to the local duck pond and park (we live in a very hilly area so that was good too). DD1 fed the ducks and then played on the playground. In between playing with her I ran up and down a hill a few times and did various aerobic moves whilst waiting for 'my' turn to go down the slide. I would have looked like a right idiot to anyone looking out their window! DD1 tried to copy me for a bit and then asked me to stop and have a rest lol.
I'll need to try and do it more often.

I kept saying that I don't have the time. I recently bit the bullet and now go to pilates on Thursday night at 6.30 and Yoga on Saturday morning at 8am. It's a bit of a mad rush but I make it work. Now I'm hooked and I'm certainly not giving it up. The benefits?

I come home feeling refreshed and energised.

I get some much needed "me" time.

I'm exercising.

I can get rid of that negative energy and refocus.

DH has to do the rush around and get DS2 ready for Aikido on Saturday mornings because I'm out!! ;)

Good job!!

When I was losing fat I needed to exercise daily - my rest day was a walk.

I managed to do the exercise when the kids were napping during the day - and if the planets didn't align then in the evening once they were all in bed.

On a night after the kids go to be I workout I am going to try getting up at 4.30-5 and do an hour on the treadmill before the twins wake up

My gym has gone 24/7 but I haven't managed to get there for ages.

My general plan is to go in the mornings, but we'll have to see how that goes ...