Timing of Training Matter or is Total Work Most Important?

With regards to consistency and gaining strength over the long term, can training work be spread throughout the week? for example,

  • deadlift (at home, by itself) 1x/week
  • goblet squat (by itself) 1-2x/week
  • bench press (once a week gym trip)
  • push-ups 150-200 total reps, pull-ups 100 total reps, other pull (db row, band pull apart) 100 total reps, kb swings 150 total reps

Sunday or saturday is the only day I have time for an actual gym trip. As I’m typing this, I have time to go do some push-ups or kb press and some db rows while my 2 year old is watching tv and my wife is napping with the 3 month old. It’s either that or become a fat slob.

Is there really a question then?

Do what you can. It is better than not doing it.

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Sure. Spread it out as best you can to allow for recovery. I dunno how accurate your example is to your actual plan but if it is pretty much bang on then you should be alright.

Out of curiosity, why is your time so limited? something beyond a family and a full time job?

What kind of deadlift - like do you have an actual barbell at home?

My two year old wakes up early in the morning and I put her back to sleep, while my wife deals with the baby. I can’t leave her to deal with a two year old at 6 in the morning when she’s been dealing with a 3 month old through the night. I work all day M-F and my wife stays with the kids all day, so going after work is not an option. Once the two year old more reliably sleeps through 7:30 it would be alot easier to go train in the morning, until then, it’s calisthenics and swings.

A trap bar, that uses standard weight plates. It’ll do for now.

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dude, that’s all excuses. Do whatever you want, but don’t pretend you’re more busy than any of the rest of us. That’s bullshit. I own/run a multi million dollar company, I have a 3 year old who wakes up in the middle of the night. We’ve all got stuff going on in our lives. I take my son to the gym with me. And I’m doing this as a single parent. And I have a 35 minute drive to get to my gym. When I was married and had help, during the 1st 2 years of his life, I did similar things. Took my son to the gym with me if my wife needed a break from him. You could also get up earlier if you wanted to. Ever been to the gym at 5? Nobody’s there. No need to wait for equipment. It’s a lovely time to be awake.

If it’s a priority, you find a way.

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How did you stop a 2 year old from killing him/herself on equipment? (Not being a smart ass, genuinely want to know)

a lot of commercial gyms have a daycare center in them. I went to a gym that had that a lot.

When I take him to the Metroflex gym I go to, it’s difficult, but manageable. He can play on his tablet or a phone, and that’s a decent distraction. Wouldn’t have worked when he was under 2, but that’s about the age when he learned to use personal electronics without my assistance.

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That is the absolute truth!

Get up at 4 A.M. head to the gym and be back before anyone even wakes up. As Flip elluded to: make the time if it’s important to you.

I don’t think waking up earlier is going to help OP. Kids don’t run on clocks and if the 3 month old wakes the two year old just once and you’re at the gym, that’s it - your nuts will be served to you for dinner and you will be branded a selfish bastard for life lol.

I like @flipcollar’s idea of the childcare gym (after work?) or I’d look at Jailhouse Strong (free if you sign up for a kindle unlimited trial) for great no equipment training.

My son took his first steps at the gym day care :sweat_smile::sweat_smile:

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I have a 1 year old that doesn’t sleep well. I work 2nd shift and my wife works 1st so we don’t have have someone else watch him while we work, also saves us money. So by the time I get home from work and get to sleep it’s about 1230am. On training days I wake up at 530am (5 hours sleep) train, come home so my wife can get to work, then I drop him off at my wife’s work at 2PM and go directly to work from there, then I’m back home and sleeping again at about 12:30am. You just have to make it work. What I found works for me is training at the gym 3 days a week for 1.5 hours each time. So the days I train I only get 5 hours sleep but all the other days I can get about 7. You just have to make it work, if this is something you really want to do then just do it, there’s always a way. Just wake up earlier or you could go once your kids go to sleep. Just don’t make excuses.

Hit the nail on the head.

Flipcollar is right about one thing, that is I can be more consistent than I have been. I have no excuse for not doing a daily dose deadlift program combined with frequency pull-ups/push-ups. There’s more than one way to get strong and the barbell is not the only way.

Before the 3 month old, I was getting up at 5, my daughter would get up soon after i left and go back to sleep with my wife. The equation is different with a 2 year old and 3 month old, and that equation demands efficiency.

You really don’t have time to squeeze a 1h30 workout on saturday and sunday? One push and the other pull

Could you buy some cheap equipment? Chin up and dip station, cheap bench, make some sand bags

I also have limitations on time and have decided it’s best for my family and relationship with my wife for me to train from home. Some days I get an over an hour, some days it’s only 20 minutes but I always get shit done.

If it’s only 20 minutes then some thing like EDT is great. Set a timer for 10 minutes, pick 2 exercises, do sets back to back between the two keeping count of total reps. Repeat for the next 10 minutes with a different 2 exercises. That’s a lot of volume in 20 minutes.

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That’s what i had in mind. I have a trap bar, adjustable dumbbells chin-up bar and dip bars