DropThatGut.com

My typical day: Go to work (50hrs+) and support the IT infrastructure of 60,000+ users, attend meetings & try to make deadlines, MAYBE take a lunch if I have the time, get off work (sometimes after 6pm) & go home (maybe take 45 minutes to myself before I get there), have dinner, give the wife a small break and watch the kids while she runs errands, get them to bed, try to work on my side businesses until 1am or so, maybe get some decent sleep, then start the cycle all over again (summer’s almost over, so let’s not forget dropping off the kids to school as well as their other after-school activities). I’m sure many of you have a very similar routine. So exactly where can I fit the hour & a half in for my P90x workout?

That’s one of the many questions which have been on my mind lately. Sometimes it seems like a daunting task (actually, most of the time, lol), but if I don’t figure this out I’ll be right back where I started back in May of 2009. So what’s a family man to do? Well, I’ve come up with a few options. Let’s see:

1. Get up early before the kids and do my workout. - Not entirely impossible, but the kids have to be at school by 7:30am (actually around 7:00am if they eat breakfast there). This means we have to get them up by 5:45am so they can take showers, brush their teeth, etc. My 4 kids range from 2 – 8yrs old, so you already know it’s a madhouse in the morning. So I’d end up having to get up by 3:15am to get my workout in. NOT gonna happen, plus I need to get to work by 9am (something I’m really trying to get better at, lol), so option#1 isn’t looking very good at the moment.

2. Workout during my lunch hour or after immediately after work. - This could work assuming I’m not putting out fires at work or have meetings scheduled during that time. I could get a gym membership (although I find it ironic that a major healthcare provider in San Antonio doesn’t have a workout facility onsite for their employees), take my P90x workout sheets and do a shortened version of my workout. Plus, I might even make some friends at the gym. The problem is whether or not I can make it every single day during lunch. I think most of the time I probably could. As far as getting to the gym after work, well…again, that could also work assuming I leave my job on-time or if I leave early (assuming I get in early). Otherwise, getting home really late might cause some other issues like less time with the fam, wifey not getting a small break, etc. Overall though, this is not a bad option.

3. Figure out a way to incorporate my family into some of my workouts in the evening and on weekends. – We just purchased a Wii and I’m on the verge of getting a new Xbox 360 w/Kinect. There are plenty of family friendly games that would get us up off the couch and playing together, not to mention it would probably be fun for everybody. I know there are fitness games for both systems and maybe it could supplement my cardio workouts if I have to cut them short or miss them on certain days I don’t make it to the gym. We could also do things outside at a park once we get out of these record breaking 100 degree temperatures.

4. Workout after the kids go to bed at night. - Please re-read my first beginning of my first paragraph. But on the real, I guess this isn’t entirely off the table either. The only issue is that it cuts into my alone/wind-down time. I’m stressed as it is and honestly this option isn’t very appealing. I’m trying to keep an open mind though….

Sooooo….I think a combination of options #2 and #3 will probably be best. I get a discount at a gym through my job and it’s relatively cheap, plus it gives me an excuse to buy a new video game system (although I haven’t had time to play real games in AGES, lol). Let me ask those of you with very busy schedules and large families with small kids a question: How do you get your workouts in? What works best for you?

Thanks for reading and as always, “Do your best & forget the rest!!”.

-Khalil Guinn