I’ve tried a mix of a lot of things for years with three young kids but where I’ve recently found success is waking up at 6 (which is natural for me) and working out immediately for 30 minutes, every single day. This might be stretching or light yoga some days, some days lifting or cardio. But I’m moving every morning before doing anything else. Then I might try to fit in walks or other exercise later in the day. But this would not have been sustainable for my earlier years of breastfeeding and bad sleep.

We have a garage gym so there’s no commute but the best way is to wake up earlier and work out before the kids are up. Also work out every other day on an A/B split instead of a 6 day split to try and be more efficient with time in the gym.

I don't see how it's possible if you're trying to actually go to a gym to work out. We have a Peloton bike and BowFlex free weights in our basement. It's not a glamorous setup, but it gets the job done. Our kids are still young (2 and 4), so bedtime is around 7:30 and we work out after they go to bed.

Why does an adult man need an hour to "get ready"

Anonymous wrote:You can maximize your time much better by working out at home. Peloton app makes it very easy to program workouts.

+1 you don't need to have any equipment for a lot of the workouts, just a mat. The Crush Your Core program on Peloton is 5-15 minutes per day. Anyone can fit that in. After you start doing 5-15 minutes consistently you can start adding more on as your schedule, energy and baby allow. Give yourself grace when you aren't sleeping well. It is legitimately difficult to stick to a routine in those situations.

3x a week

I use to get up at 5am and work out once a week. Not see the kids after work 1 day a week. I went to the gym and ran errands and grocery shop (Wednesday for years), then I worked out Saturday am.

You can maximize your time much better by working out at home. Peloton app makes it very easy to program workouts.

Anonymous wrote:Work out at 5.

+1

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You spend 2.5 hours in the morning "getting ready" and can't spare the time to workout? There's a lot of downtime in this schedule.

This. Is this a first baby? You can get a lot more streamlined. I wake up at 6:45 and am out the door by 7:45, in which time I take the dog out, get two kids off on the school bus, and get db in the car to daycare. It may just take some practice. For me, working out went out the window with db, but DH managed to continue by waking up at 5. (He starts work at 6:30).

+2. This 2.5 hour window is a time suck. If you can streamline it, you may be able to fit a workout in here.

One baby sleeping well was the easiest it ever was for exercise! I work out during lunch 2x per week and DH works out after big kid bedtime (so much later than baby!) 2x per week. We each work out once on the weekend. Very occasionally I will go to an early evening exercise class that gets me home 30 minutes after DH and kids if we have a “microwave leftovers” level dinner ready to go.

Anonymous wrote:I never had anything like a 6pm-7am baby sleep schedule, but if I did I would have worked out at 7 or 730pm.

For REAL. My #2 16mo old sleeps 830-630 and maybe a 2-hour nap, usually 75-90min when home. Figure out that schedule OP LOL.

Its before they wake, while at work/daycare, or when they go to bed. The other option is to switch off with your partner for each of you to get 1:1 time for an hour with your baby and the other person works out and then each get individual time on the weekend OR do it together on the weekend.
This really only works if you can outsource everything you would normally do after work like cleaning and cooking and laundry and with one child.

I never had anything like a 6pm-7am baby sleep schedule, but if I did I would have worked out at 7 or 730pm.

Or just select 2 days per week when you stay late at work to exercise and don’t see the baby that evening. Then trade off with your wife if she also wants to work out.

You're spending too much time in the morning 'getting ready' and you're discounting 6 pm onwards. Forget the gym and by some dumbells or kettlebells for you house and work out at home. You can go to the gym on the weekend or take 10 mins from the gym to lift a few weights. You really don't need a 2 hour gym session to stay in shape. Figure it out now though. Infants are easy, toddlers much more difficult to schedule around.

How does baby get to daycare— are you biking there?

The real answer is you want to level up at work (you can start by working full time, earning more money ) and let your DW stay home with kids. Then you can go to gym at 6am and still be at work early. That is the way.

We were working parents so my gym time was 10-11pm