I can GUARANTEE these words have been uttered by you, or someone you know! I have even seen the “I Hate Morning People” posts or memes on social media (which are pretty harsh). The reality is, we ALL cannot be morning people. Rest assured, we ALL do not have to be! The most opportune time is when every soul in the house is asleep, and you can get up, sneak about like a Ninja Turtle, get a prayer and stretch session in (a different type of FLEXIBILITY) and get ready to head to the Fitness Center or go for a run. That time usually starts at 0430 HOURS to 05000 HOURS. That was my weekday routine that I had on autopilot when I was not on travel status and we were just a family of THREE. Me and my wife had a grip on things fairly well.
Insert Baby Number Two
BABY TIRAS MALACHI! Just when we had life as a family of THREE figured out, my wife decides to get pregnant with baby NUMERO DOS. How dare she! I may have had something to do with that, but that is neither here nor there. From the get-go we had to adjust how we approached our scheduling. This meant, my coveted, glorious, EARLY morning slot for physical activity would have to adjust too. Now, change is tough for all of us. As human beings we may say we like change, but in reality, it is the concept of change that is appealing. The work involved and the necessary adjusting, makes us as humans prefer to keep things the way they are. Have you ever been excited about moving to a new location or moving into a better house, but then realize that the process of MOVING would be involved? How many of you have desired to lose some of that gut, but once you realized how much work that would involve (meal planning, calorie counting, cutting back on BEER, et cetera…) and said naw, I’m good or not now?!?!
A new addition to the family may not be the exact same thing, but you get the jist. So, we work around it. Fast forward to 2+ months with baby Tiras Malachi, and ALL of those early mornings at the Fitness Center have been replaced with three NOT-SO EARLY morning runs, one Fitness Center workout at 1800 HOURS (6 P.M. for the everyday dad) during the weekdays and two Fitness Center workouts at 1400 HOURS (2 P.M.) on the weekend. More on Weekend Warriors below.
Flexibility In Your Commitment to Physical Activity
First off, I must acknowledge how fortunate I am to have a wife that puts up with my requests. Secondly, you better believe it is reciprocated for her as well. The point is, you MUST be flexible in how you approach prioritizing physical activity. If prioritizing physical activity is a new concept in your relationship, I suggest first, you take the #LetUSBeGreat! Challenge and have the conversation with your significant other on how each of you can best support one another in this lifetime journey of prioritizing physical activity. Next, sit down and hash out the details in your schedule and solidify some specifics. Keep in mind, being flexible in your approach will be the most effective.
Bottom Line
The bottom line is YOUR BOTTOM LINE! I say that jokingly, and yet it is actually appropriate. Not just for the sake of your body weight, but for your health. You DO NOT have to be a morning person to get it done. Understand there are some trade offs with committing to evening workouts.
- The later it gets the more you are prone to internally negotiate with yourself on whether or not you want to get physically active that day. I have done this myself. When I lived in Arizona and would go to a Fitness Center in the evening after work, I had the entire hour drive back home to talk myself IN and OUT of going. I called it my Internal Negotiation. I’m too tired, or I’ll go home first and come back out later (rarely ever making it back out to the Fitness Center).
- The later it gets, the hotter it gets. This is generally speaking and depending upon where you are located and the time of year. In Arizona, California or Florida, if you are planning on going out in the evening to run outside or to a Fitness Center with no A/C, plan on it being exponentially hotter as opposed to the mornings. The sun has had all day to heat up the environment (air, land, PAVEMENT), so even when the sun goes down, the temperatures are not always immediately decreased, at least not by drastic measures.
- It may be harder to fall asleep at night after a workout. Me and my wife can attest to this. (Just today, I hit up an evening session at the Fitness Center and it is almost 2100 HOURS (11 P.M.) and I am wide awake!
- I may eat dinner later than usual. In addition to that, I reduce my eating during the day, so my lunches are light, so I will not feel sluggish during my session. As long as I do not overdo it and overcompensate for dinner, I think it is ok.
- Be prepared to devout sometime during the weekend to become WEEKEND WARRIORS. Weekends are a sacred time, so you do not want to be careless with your time. Let’s face it, for some of us working dads our weekdays are likely accounted for with small time pockets to carve out for physical activity. The weekend presents perfect opportunities to do things as a family or just utilize appropriately for personal sessions. During Tiras Malachi’s infancy, me and my wife used the weekend time to plug any holes of physical activity that remained from the weekdays. This worked tremendously well. As Tiras got older, our weekend reverted back to family sessions of physical activity. This includes hiking, brisk walking, etc.
The Point of It All
Find your time and be flexible about scheduling your physical activity. I have NEVER regretted a physical activity session I have been a part of. However, I have regretted plenty of sessions I made excuses for and did not take advantage of participating in. My experience is, YOU ALWAYS FEEL GOOD after a session of physical activity. Schedule in fail safes like drinking “Pre-Workout” prior to leaving your office en route to the gym. This way, you are energized to go straight to the gym, utilize you Pre-workout (rather than wasting it) and feel so accomplished that you made it to a session and now feel good about yourself.
Find you formula for success. Let us know how you achieved your goal and possibly help out a fellow ACTIVE-DAD. We look forward to hearing about your JOURNEY!