Gym? Before or after dinner?

[Anonymous]

I'm still struggling with the context. This is only 2 days a week? Why does it have to be so rigid? Can you do one time before dinner and one time after dinner, and in a few weeks, decide which you prefer?

It's also a little strange that you insist on doing this as a pair. Why? What are your kids doing?

[Anonymous]

After

[Anonymous]

I would meet there. Neither of you should come home first. And I would do shorter, more frequent workouts. So 30 mins of cardio OR weights, then home for dinner, 4 days a week. You’d prob be home by 5pm.

Do workouts together on the weekends.

[Anonymous]

I got to the gym before dinner.

DH makes dinner, usually timed so that it is ready pretty much right away when I get home.

Then he goes to the gym right after dinner, and I do the clean up.

It works well for us because it splits dinner responsibilities, I don't have to work out right after eating which I don't like, and not having to cleanup gives him incentive to get out the door (one time he was waffling about going to the gym, and I said 'oh, so you can help with kitchen cleanup' and he said ok, I'll go).

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:We go before dinner. Once we get home we aren’t as likely to go back out. And we really don’t like to work out after a meal. We also don’t stay for 1.5 hours. That’s a huge commitment.

I used to be a morning person but job and life changes changed that too.

I factored in drive time. I’m curious, are you doing cardio and weightlifting? How does it not take you at least an hour?

DP. Split the time in half. Don’t make the perfect the enemy of the good. How many days a week are you going?

That would be 15 minutes of cardio and 15 minutes of weightlifting. That’s sort of pointless.

Gee, are you doing that now? No? So it's not pointless. The problem with newbs is that you come in all fast and furious, burn yourselves out, and then give up.

Yes, I do work out from home but I’d like more variety. I’m far from a “noob”.

It’s wild to me that you think an hour of exercise, twice a week is too much. For this reason alone, I don’t think I need or want your advice. But thank you!

An hour of exercise twice a week is not too much, but shitting on someone else's workout schedule as "pointless" when apparently you aren't in optimal fitness is risible.

You are imagining your own narrative. I have been working out consistently for years. I’m just trying to decide on a routine that will work best for family life. I in no way, shape, or form, suggested that I’ve never worked out on my own before. But I question someone who thinks you can get in a solid and effective cardio/weightlifting routine in just 15 minutes.

Dude, you are crowd sourcing how to fit in a workout. We don’t believe you that are experienced and fit.

+1.

[Anonymous]

Why do you need to go together? You each go when you get home for dinner. One person should be home in plenyt of time to make dinner.

also, enlist your teenagers to help with making dinner. They are old enough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s interesting everyone is saying not to work out after eating dinner. Are you all gorging yourselves at dinner? Because if not, how is it any different from working out after breakfast? Or are you all working out fasted?

If it were me, OP, I’d work out after dinner. I don’t feel particularly full to the point of uncomfortable after dinner, so it wouldn’t be any different than working out after breakfast for me.

I never work out close to a large meal and yes dinner is my largest meal. If I work out in the morning I eat a yoghurt before. I never work out on empty stomach but I can’t imagine working out after dinner. Plus I want the meal to nourish my muscles and help with recovery, so definitely want to have a proper meal after. Also, working out too close to bed time messes with my sleep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do you and DH need to go together? I’d drive to the gym straight from work.

It’s something we want to do together.

are you both fat?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do you and DH need to go together? I’d drive to the gym straight from work.

It’s something we want to do together.

I never understand why people want to work out as a couple. We each have our own preferred workouts and enjoy the solo time.

But if you must go together, then whoever gets home first should prep dinner. Since you’re only targeting two nights a week I would also plan for those nights to be simple meals. Then when the second spouse gets home I would head straight to the gym. When you get home, dinner should be ready quickly.

[Anonymous]

B and do meal prep on weekends and occasionally evenings after workout (for the next day’s meals).

[Anonymous]

I would go to the gym before dinner. I like dinner to be relaxing, and I don't like worrying about whether my stomach will be upset while I'm working out.

I would make those nights quick/easy dinners.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s interesting everyone is saying not to work out after eating dinner. Are you all gorging yourselves at dinner? Because if not, how is it any different from working out after breakfast? Or are you all working out fasted?

If it were me, OP, I’d work out after dinner. I don’t feel particularly full to the point of uncomfortable after dinner, so it wouldn’t be any different than working out after breakfast for me.

Min 2 hours after eating. But not 4-5.

[Anonymous]

I do both, depending on the day. If my workout is cardio heavy, I prefer working out before dinner simply because I need to wait at least an hour after I eat or else it upsets my stomach. I can do weights after dinner just fine. I have teens so we still try to eat as a family, so sometimes I’ll make dinner, sit down with everyone, go to the gym and eat afterwards. For me, planning my workout to fit each day helps me stick to it far better than trying to stick to the same routine every day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Depends on the gym and how crowded it is. For my gym I would go at 6:30 because 5pm is HS bro lifting hour and I don't want to deal with waiting for weights.

We also prefer to eat dinner earlier. I can't imagine starting to cook dinner at 6:30.

This was similar to my thoughts too.

It might depend on the gym you go to but at the gym I used to go to peak time was like the after work hours from like let's say 5ish to 7ish? Finding parking sucked, waiting for equipment sucked, etc. Once it got to closer to closing time, the gym would be more empty. I can't do certain workouts later in the day anymore. They either get me too wired to sleep well and/or my body just feels tired from the day and doesn't feel like working out. Cardio workouts are fine and I actually sleep really well right afterwards.

In my younger days I may have been able to eat and then go workout. But I wouldn't be able to do that anymore, unless you're not really working out. I think the general rule is to wait for an hour or two after you eat.

The working out as a couple and can kind of go both ways. On some days when we tried to work out together, we'd end up getting in big fights with people around us laughing. Due to wanting to workout a certain way, getting in each other's way, etc. So in some ways it works out if we just go together and do our own thing in the allotted time. You could argue that we might as well just go to the gym seperately then. But for a while that was our weekend morning routine and it was nice to head out and enjoy our day together after hitting the gym.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s interesting everyone is saying not to work out after eating dinner. Are you all gorging yourselves at dinner? Because if not, how is it any different from working out after breakfast? Or are you all working out fasted?

If it were me, OP, I’d work out after dinner. I don’t feel particularly full to the point of uncomfortable after dinner, so it wouldn’t be any different than working out after breakfast for me.

I work out fasted. Both cardio and strength. I know it is not ideal but it works for me. I have a medication that I take first thing and I can't eat for half an hour after that. I like to work out early so it has to be fasted. Working out in the middle of the day is very disruptive for me. You can't optimize everything.

I hate working out after dinner. I did core and weights last night after dinner because I missed my early morning workout. I felt sick afterwards and didn't sleep well. I doesn't work for me.