Life Balance

[SgtGorman]

How do you balance out times for fitness? I have a family with 2 young children, a full-time job, and Doctorate student. What is the best way to organize times to have at least 4 days for workout? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[AdamTrue85UK]

Simply put, routine/structure. You've gotta be organised.

I work out 3 weekdays, once on the weekend when I'm not working and there's more time to spare. Here's my weekday routine for example (which coincides with my better half's as well).

I work from 5am to 5pm, 5 days a week. My wife is up at 7am with the kids, taking my boy to pre-school 3 days a week. During the day she will keep everything domestic ticking over, washing etc. When I get home from work my tea is ready along with kids and I take over with the little ones (my boy aged 4 and daughter aged 2), which gives me quality time with them while she also has the time and space to get ready for her run at six. Me and the wife have worked hard to make sure the kids are in a solid bedtime routine. They have an hour for tea and pudding, have 30 mins to let off some steam (usually playing around with me), then up for a bath and in bed by 7pm. My wife is usually back at 7.30pm, by which point I've had 30mins to chill out and clear my mind. That's when my training begins straight away (I work out from home which saves having to make a trip to the gym) while my wife studies (currently studying for a degree from home). Training is usually done before 9pm and then more often than not an hour is spent sorting out any loose ends or prep for work the next day from home (I'm a supervisor). Then me and the missus can finally chill out together for an hour/hour and half, as by that point her studying is usually done and usually we're in bed by 11.30pm.

Like I say, it's routine/structure, that's the key. My missus is organised throughout the day while I'm at work and I pick straight up from that when I'm back from work. We both work together to work out make sure how we can both best economize our time so we can get everything that needs to get done with the minimum amount of stress. If you keep that tight, you can get a lot done minus stress which prevents you from wearing yourself thin and getting negged out.

Hope all that helps in some way.