Unfortunately for me, I have to be at work around 3 am every day. Therefore, working out before work simply isn't an option for me so I have to workout after work. I have found that this is incredibly difficult for me. Anyway, I am desperately looking for some motivation anywhere that I can find it. Is there anyone who has successfully and consistently worked out after work for a long period of time as in 1 year or more? Please pass onto me some motivation. Thanks.

Yes, but it was before kids. I'm not a morning person, so I ran/swam/biked/lifted after work for 15 years or so.

As for helping you, need more info other than you go to work at 3a. What time do you get off? What time do you go to bed? Single? Kids? What do you typically do after work?

What time do you get off and what's your family situation?

When I was in the Navy, I started work at 7 am and was off at 3:30. I'd go straight to the Y, lift and run, then be home by 7pm with some time to decompress/read/watch a show.

Because I wanted to be home at a reasonable time, I cut my workouts into three days, two for upper body and one for lower. Six lifts per week. This made it so I was never in the gym for more than 45 minutes and could get in a 3.5 mile run 4x week. In bed by 9:30p, do it all over the next day. I did that for about three years.

Now, I'm often up at 4:30 am to get my morning workout in. Workouts are cut into upper/lower days 4x week, roughly 90 minutes in the gym. Two days a week dedicated to running 3 miles. One run is usually pretty balls to the wall upping the pace.

I've discovered morning workouts are easier than after-work workouts. The key for me working out in the evenings was making sure I'd gotten enough sleep the night before so that I wasn't dragging by the afternoon and that I'd eaten a solid, but not heavy, lunch.

I wake up at 4 and get home from work around 5 PM. I work out at 6. I drink a pre workout and it gets me through.

I have been working out after work since 2009 when I got my first job out of college. I'm in the gym at least 4 days but usually 5-6 a week. It's absolutely possible, even as I have kids and they have activities.

The hard part is sticking with it to make it a habit and how long that takes varies from person to person. Most days I am tired going to the gym but as soon as I set foot in there, I feel way better.

I very much enjoy the social aspect of working out as well. Especially since I work from home and don't always spend days with other people, unless I am visiting with clients.

I have been doing it for almost 2 years now. I have young kids.

If I'm lucky, I can get one of the kids to come in the garage with me and get it done around 6 or 7. But the majority of the time, it's me getting it done at 9 PM after all of their bedtimes. I walk with a weighted vest on my non lifting days, so if I can get them to come with me it's the same deal - but that is usually after bedtime too.

If I was in a situation where the nights just didn't work for me, I would try to put my hardest sessions on Saturday and Sunday and then try to squeeze one weekday in.

One thing I have realized though is that my body lies to me. A lot of the days where I feel super tired/sluggish/unmotivated have been some of my best workouts. It's a balance to not overdo it but also learn that you can't always trust how you "feel".

I have done it consistently for 25 years. I really would do well to switch to mornings but I just have always failed to get that going.

I certainly do best when I go straight to the gym after work. Have my gym bag packed every day and get it done before going home.

I quit the gym during the Covid BS and now have a home gym. It's great but it's also very easy to not come home and get straight to my workout and then get busy or distracted and not get my intended workout in.

Wife and I workout in the evening usually. I have patients starting at 7AM and my commute is 45 minutes so doing it before is usually not an option. We typically get home 4-5, walk the dogs for 30 minutes and then go to the gym to lift after that. I run on non lifting days.

We don't have kids yet, so I have no idea how we will do it when that time comes

bam02 said:

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I really would do well to switch to mornings but I just have always failed to get that going.

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Same. Big lesson for me was to stop trying to beat my head against the wall and do workouts that didn't work for me or work out at times I just could not consistently do.

I am a night owl and always have been, never been an early riser. Once I just accepted that and accepted that I'd be working out at 10 PM sometimes, it became a lot easier to be consistent.

I think like with all things, you can't let perfect be the enemy of good when it comes to stuff like this. If you aren't working out as a job, you need to find a workout program and schedule that works for where you are in life and not beat yourself up too much over it if you aren't doing "the best program ever of all time" that is a 6 day, hour and a half a day commitment.

I do agree, but sometimes your work and family schedule just doesn't jive with your ideal natural workout schedule. For almost 10 years I worked a job where I could either grab a Workout at lunch or I could hit the gym by 4 PM and still be home before dinner and that was awesome.

With my current schedule, that would just be impossible to do on any sort of regular basis so I have defaulted to working out in the evenings. I still believe that if I could just get myself more disciplined, and get my workout in first thing in the morning, I would do better overall. It is still a goal of mine.

Here's what works for me when I get into a slump.

Book a few lessons with a personal trainer at your gym after work. It'll make you show up, get started and build some momentum. Once you get in the routine you can continue the workout on your own. When you find yourself slacking off again book a few more lessons. Or book a lesson weekly or every two weeks.

AggieOO said:

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Yes, but it was before kids. I'm not a morning person, so I ran/swam/biked/lifted after work for 15 years or so.

As for helping you, need more info other than you go to work at 3a. What time do you get off? What time do you go to bed? Single? Kids? What do you typically do after work?

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I also did it before kids.

Also not a morning person, so not waking up earlier than I had to was the main driver.

But I found it to be a great way to destress from work when I got home. I really enjoyed that aspect of it.

Also, as much as the heat of Houston sucks, running at 5 am these days does have me missing the sun as well.

What others have said. I am not a morning person, not even remotely close. Trick is to do it as soon as you get, no matter if tired or not. If you won't you are more likely to skip. If tired when you get home, I actually find it wakes me up and then I enjoy my evening more. Again, you just have to fight through and do it first thing no matter what. Once it becomes a habit and you discover it makes you feel better relaxing in the evening, you're more apt to do it.

I've found what works for me is hitting the gym in the middle of my work day during lunch. I have an LA Fitness around the corner, go work out for an hour, get back to the office, start working while eating my packed lunch, and this keeps me from going out to eat also.

I know everyone can't accommodate the lunch work out but it's been a major life hack for me. Kids keep us too busy before and after work.

I am all over the place. Mornings on the weekend, during lunch when schedule permits. After work most days too. I try and get as many mini sessions (30-60min) as I can and leave longer session for Saturday and Sunday.

No one can **** with you at 5:30 AM..

It takes some effort but after a while it's truly muscle memory.

Middle of the work day for me. Working from home makes it easy but I take my "lunch" whenever I have a free hour and can block the time off. I end up eating at my desk during actual lunch.

I also did after work before kids. Loved the decompression time.

Has op even replied ?

My kids are grown and I have no commute and work 8-5 M-F. I got Tonal in November and it has been fantastic for me. Like having a gym with a personal trainer in the house.

Not cheap but very effective and easy to keep as a habit.

I'm one that does the lunch time work out. Normally about 40 minutes of lifting, getting in all I want but at a fairly quick pace. Worst part is when gym is packed and you have a bunch of jokers playing on their phones or taking 3 minutes between sets. Most the time I work from home so don't have to worry about cleaning up right away. That's actually the worst part about working out during lunch. I'm a sweater so often times the shower "doesn't take" but I'm mostly on my own at work so not a huge problem.

Before work has never worked for me. Few times I would try, I always forgot something like a belt, socks, collar stays, etc. and felt off the rest of the day.

After work was hit or miss, but if I say I will work out after dinner, never happens.

Bogey1996 said:

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I'm one that does the lunch time work out. Normally about 40 minutes of lifting, getting in all I want but at a fairly quick pace. Worst part is when gym is packed and you have a bunch of jokers playing on their phones or taking 3 minutes between sets. Most the time I work from home so don't have to worry about cleaning up right away. That's actually the worst part about working out during lunch. I'm a sweater so often times the shower "doesn't take" but I'm mostly on my own at work so not a huge problem.

Before work has never worked for me. Few times I would try, I always forgot something like a belt, socks, collar stays, etc. and felt off the rest of the day.

After work was hit or miss, but if I say I will work out after dinner, never happens.

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The sweating deal is why I stopped working out during lunch. Well, I'm hybrid, so days I'm home I will still do a peloton ride, etc during lunch. But days in the office I just couldn't stop sweating.

I don't have the same problem working out in the morning. I think it's a combo of my house being cooler and having better air movement than the work gym's locker room, so I don't start sweating immediately after showering, and being able to blast my car ac on the drive into work so I'm adequately cooled down by the time I get there.

I had to get a fan for u see my desk. I run then lift so my body temp lowers before getting in the shower. The fan at my desk further helps me stop.

I am a married man with 3 kids. My kids are all participating in select sports and it takes up a ton of time. Furthermore, I live on more than an acre of land which takes up a lot of my time as well. I'd really like to begin lifting but I just can't seem to find the energy.

Can you go workout while your kids are doing sports? Run or cardio someplace. Then do bodyweight stuff. Reason I ask is I see parents just sitting around for their kids 1 hour practice when it could be spent doing some sort of movement

About to hit session #2 for the day.

4.5 miles at lunch, plus about a 20 min upper body lift. Lunch at my desk.

Took my son to soccer practice. Helped tuck son and daughter into bed. Now about to hit a 10 mile bike ride before making dinner.

Time is available. You just have to commit to it and break the work down into smaller chunks if need be.

Not to feel like it's piling on, but this is why I got my butt in gear and started doing it when my kids are little - I know one day we will be shuttling them around and my time will be more limited. And at that point I can flip to maintenance mode and do what I can in 2 or 3 days a week.

Matsui is right - don't be overwhelmed with trying to get in shape overnight. Find 30 minutes to go on a daily walk, pick a different kid to go with every day and make it a bonding experience, etc. Just get creative and start somewhere, doing something.

Once that's a habit, you've now found 30 minutes a day. Now you can fill that 30 minutes with something else - weights, running. Then it isn't too hard to find 15 more minutes and you can get a great lifting session in in that amount of time.

I like that perspective. Simple but effective mind shift.

these last few replies are spot on. if you want to do it you will find time.

For a long while I was hung up on "being a morning person," and having to get a workout done in the morning. My daily schedule has had to adjust several times the past few years with young kids and what was most helpful is learning how flexible I can be with my time. If I want to prioritize working out, I can make it happen - also helpful here is having someone to workout with, especially while building the habit.

Last year my workout routine was meeting a friend at the high school stadium at 5am to run bleachers, and for the past few months now I'm going to the gym for an hour after all the kids are settled in bed.

Working out in the evenings, usually 8:15-9:15 or so works great for right now, but I know it will change again when my wife has baby number 4 later this year. So I'll find what works best again when that time comes!

I am a cyclist and put in an hour to hour and a half in the mornings before work. I am up at 04:30 and cycling by 5:00, leaving for work by 07:00. The kids are usually in bed by 20:00, after which I'm typically too tired to do any cycling. I make sure to be in bed before 22:00 though; targetting 7 hours of sleep per night but sometimes it's closer to 6. Note that my morning workouts are basically my only spare time during the week. It's family time from the second I get home to kids' bedtimes, after which it's taking care of other misc. things until my own bedtime.

I've been very consistent over the past 4 years of working out after work. I'm in the office at 7:00am and home by 5:30. The key for me is not to sit down and relax when I get home. I talk to the kids to see how the school day went and then get straight to changing and hitting the home gym. I do strength training 4 days a week (50 minutes per workout) with Wednesdays off due to me carpooling the boys to church. I coach my son's baseball team, so I have to sometimes be flexible with my workout days. Some baseball seasons, I will switch to morning workouts (tough to stick with for me) due to the time of practice and games. Weekends I usually do cardio (3-5 mile walks or a 2-3 mile jog). My main advice is to not immediately relax or eat anything when you get home, get straight to the gym/home gym as soon as you can. Also don't beat yourself up if a you miss a day or week of workouts, just keep with it.