I need my ass kicked. I think this is the right place to get it too.
I?m a new father (Mad Dog is almost 1 ? she?s so cool). I have been thinking about my training habits for the last year and reevaluating what I need to do to juice up my program. The bottom line is, my training has sucked, but I?ve got my diet working pretty well. I had been trying to gain weight for so many years that I lost site of when I needed to stop (I?m now up to nearly 12% bf!). Anyway, I got that under control and need to focus in on my training.
Fact is, I need some energy tips. I get up at 5:30 AM to get ready for work, work until 4 PM, come home, spend time with my daughter, the wife leaves for work, I feed myself and Mad Dog a nutritious P&C, get her bath, and get her to bed by 8 PM. Ok, now, I?m wiped out. My energy reserves are sucked down by this little Testosterone sucking loved one.
I?m not a behemoth and I don?t aspire to become one, but I want to continue to look good naked. I?ve got to find the energy to even afford the simplest of programs.
What are your suggestions, and be honest in your feedback (even if it?s cruel and very forthright). I started this post saying, ?I need my ass kicked.? And, I meant it.
Buying a barbell set and 300 lbs of plates. youcan do tons of stuff with that at home. you could even do it while you take care of your kid. just put the munchin in the same room, but restrain him/her in a high chair or something.
Congrats on the kid. What about late night workouts? I’d have to agree with Chris L if the wife returns home from work too late. My wife and I just had our second child 2 months ago. I usually can workout in the morning if the little T sucker wakes early enough for her bottle. If so, I can sneak off to the gym. If not, then I have to post pone it.
Buy the book Dinosaur Training. You can find out more about it on the internet but it is very inspiring… you sound as if you could use that. If you have some space, you can get some “implements” for a home based workout that WILL kick your ass. Just try heavy sandbag cleans and presses with a couple of keg shouldering sets afterward! Having a baby is the BEST huh? Mine is 15 months and I can’t imagine life without him!
I have two kids, and work 7 to 4 usually. Get the kids home and try to get something cooked before tae kwon do/dance/gymnastics/football/soccer/whatever. Most nights we get back home about 7:30 and still have homework, etc. to do.
I get up at 5 and work out in the garage, it’s the only way I can possibly get it in. If I waited there’s just no way I’d ever make time. If you want to bad enough, you’ll make time.
Glad to see there are people on the forum that can identify.
I have about 400 lbs. of free weights with an elliptical, squat rack w/high and low cables, leg extension machine, and multiple goodies right in my basement. I know, I know, that just makes my case even more pitiful.
I work too far from home to slip home for lunch to workout, so it?s pretty much left up to me trying to fit it in between 8:00 PM and my bedtime. Plenty of time, I know, but I just feel wiped out after most of these days. That?s my excuse, and I hate excuses. I?m curious about how you guys find the energy. Am I just a low energy person? Or, will I just have to push myself until I get used to working at this pace?
Any supplements that I could take in the early evening that might give me the kick that I need? Something that won?t break my wallet? Powerdrive?
If I could buy ?energy?, I think I?d pay a mint for it.
Randman said it: just get your ass out of bed earlier and get it done. You don’t have to go anywhere, and when you’re done you shower and go to work. Pretty simple.
Your next excuse is that you can’t get to bed any earlier, so getting up earlier means too little sleep. Don’t worry, start getting up an hour earlier to work out and in a few days that 8 or 9 o’clock bedtime will look pretty damn good. I forget what Jay Leno and David Letterman look like. My kids go to bed at 8:30, I’m usually in bed pretty shortly after 9.
I am a new dad, and I can only say that fatherhood has been great, but it is the equivalent to a trainwreck for my workout intensity. Hard to lift when you sleep 4 hours a night.
Anyway, I am buying up a home gym now. Up till now I have always lifted after work. My brother, who already has kids, lifts at 5 AM -it’s the only time he can.
I can only think I am headed there.
Since you already have a home gym, Decide to use it. For energy, spend 23 bucks and get some Powerdrive-it’s worth its weight in gold.
My son is 18 months old. I train now when I’ve put him to bed which is about 7pm ish.
I don’t have a problem with energy levels, for starters he doesn’t let me just sit around. Once he’s in bed I can’t wait to get to the gym.
If I had my own equipment at home there’s no way I’d have a problem with training.
Since he’s been born I’ve missed five weeks of training. 1 week when he was born and two weeks at each Christmas where my work clashes with the opening times for the gym.
When he was needing a feed every four hours shortly after he was born I was pretty wiped out, but going to the gym helped me and I felt that I had more energy.
Agree with the guys…get up earlier if you have to. Or invest in a portable play yard put her and her toys in it. tend to her between sets.
Arnold had an interesting story during his training Q&A session at The Arnold Classic.
When he was head of The President’s Council on Fitness he visited the Pope. The Pope worked out EVERY day. He awoke at 5, worked out, read newspapers in 6 different languages, ate breakfast then started his work day. If The Pope can find time to exercise, so can everyone else.
Arnold did suggest earlier bed times and earlier rising to eliminate excuses of life getting in the way.
Powerdrive wouldn’t be a bad idea either.
Good luck to finding a solution that makes everyone happy.
I train in a gym with a fantastic childcare dept. My kids beg to go! They have cried and made me feel guilty for wanting a day off from training. Having your daughter watch you exercise will also be teaching her by example how important fitness is. You could always get her some of those styrofoam “dumbells” they use in aqua aerobics classes. Kids love to imitate their heros…which you now are to her.
Good new is I have an answer for you. Bad news is…just do it!
It is hard, really hard but there is no magic bullet. I have three children and a wife studying law full time at University. Believe me, if there was a quick fix I’d of found it by now.
The simple truth is you have to get up and get on with it. Do yourself a favour and go for short brutal workouts whenever you can fit them in. I’m working a three day split. I never train more than 30 mins at a time and in between I’m trying to get some HiiT done. If your AM workout doesn’t happen just do it in the evening. Don’t blow it off just cos you missed one. If you have the diet down your more than half way there. Go lift some weight.
I feel ya, JackZ. I have the same problem, I have two small kids who wipe me out when I get home from work. After I play, eat dinner & get them in bed I am toast. No energy, the couch is sucking me in. I fight it and usually win, but some nights I just don’t have anything left. You know what you have to do, my advice to you is don’t sit down for a breather, that is where you get defeated. You have to keep moving, finish that last task and look forward to that late workout as YOUR time. Think how bad you will feel in the morning if you just crash. HTH, Odin
Well, I think I?ve figured out my dilemma. I have enough time available on Saturday and Sunday to do two days on. I?ll take a day off on Monday and consider my activity with my daughter adequate active recovery. Then be back on Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday and Wednesday will be the two toughest days of the week, but I?m sure I can get back into the swing of things.
The energy will have to be mustered up from within, and I think I?ve gotten the adequate ass kicking to slap myself in the face and say, ?get on with it you puss!?
My whole point in posting this was to mind-f*ck myself a little and read your responses. In seeing how pitiful my actions have been over the last year, I?ve found the reverence to kick-start my program again. Your words of encouragement are exactly what I needed.
IL Cazzo sent me a private message and recommended using EDT. I reviewed it and like the concepts and decided to scrap my own custom designed program. I have a pretty good program, but it required too much thought and planning. With EDT, I simply work against the clock. This is good for me and will teach me to not worry so much about the specifics. As a certified personal trainer, I have a tendency to overanalyze every physical action to the point of defeat.