Lunchtime gym routine?
April 25, 2017 7:11 PM Subscribe
I'd like to start exercising on my lunch break. Right now, I usually eat my lunch and then go for about a 20-to-30-minute walk around a nearby park. That's all well and good, but I'd like to do a bit more with my time. How can I make it as frictionless an experience as possible so I actually go?
I'm trying to lose weight and recently joined Weight Watchers in hopes of losing (over the long term) about 60-70 pounds.
I want to start exercising as well, but I find that part to be a lot harder. I don't think getting up earlier than I already do is realistic for me, and it's all too easy for me to talk myself out of going in the evenings. (I finish work, go home and make dinner for myself and my family, get the kiddo to bed, and by then I just want to crash.) That leaves lunch time.
I have about 45 minutes for lunch, and a membership at a gym that's about a five minute walk from work. I've also considered running outside, weather permitting, but then I'd have to go to the gym to shower, too, and when the weather gets very hot and humid I worry about the sweat issue.
Some of my concerns are:
1) Cleaning up afterward. I sweat. A lot. I don't want to come back to the office dripping wet. This is especially a concern as the weather starts to get hot and humid. I've found that often, even after a shower, I'll still be sweating until I cool off quite a lot. How do I avoid this?
2) Managing equipment at the gym. I might just end up running on a treadmill or something, mostly because I don't want to waste time waiting for equipment (i.e. the gym has three squat racks, and it's not often that I don't seem them all in use by giant muscly people.) How do you handle how busy the gym is at lunch?
3) Stinky gym equipment (i.e. shoes, clothes) at work. What do I do with them in the afternoon when I'm back at work so they aren't just sitting there soaking in sweat?
4) Time management. How do I make the most out of the small amount of time that I have?
I'm male, mid-30s, with a fair amount of weight to lose. I used to be in good shape about 10 years ago, but have been mostly inactive since then. Office is business casual, if that matters. I have a locker and a desk. The gym has showers.
I'm trying to lose weight and recently joined Weight Watchers in hopes of losing (over the long term) about 60-70 pounds.
I want to start exercising as well, but I find that part to be a lot harder. I don't think getting up earlier than I already do is realistic for me, and it's all too easy for me to talk myself out of going in the evenings. (I finish work, go home and make dinner for myself and my family, get the kiddo to bed, and by then I just want to crash.) That leaves lunch time.
I have about 45 minutes for lunch, and a membership at a gym that's about a five minute walk from work. I've also considered running outside, weather permitting, but then I'd have to go to the gym to shower, too, and when the weather gets very hot and humid I worry about the sweat issue.
Some of my concerns are:
1) Cleaning up afterward. I sweat. A lot. I don't want to come back to the office dripping wet. This is especially a concern as the weather starts to get hot and humid. I've found that often, even after a shower, I'll still be sweating until I cool off quite a lot. How do I avoid this?
2) Managing equipment at the gym. I might just end up running on a treadmill or something, mostly because I don't want to waste time waiting for equipment (i.e. the gym has three squat racks, and it's not often that I don't seem them all in use by giant muscly people.) How do you handle how busy the gym is at lunch?
3) Stinky gym equipment (i.e. shoes, clothes) at work. What do I do with them in the afternoon when I'm back at work so they aren't just sitting there soaking in sweat?
4) Time management. How do I make the most out of the small amount of time that I have?
I'm male, mid-30s, with a fair amount of weight to lose. I used to be in good shape about 10 years ago, but have been mostly inactive since then. Office is business casual, if that matters. I have a locker and a desk. The gym has showers.
Maybe the walk- could be at the gym or not, I like walking at a moderate pace on an incline on the treadmill when I want an easy 20-30 minutes- in combination with a couple rounds of a likely non-super-sweaty bodyweight strength training workout like this? No equipment so you wouldn't have to wait around?
My gym duffel has a separate zippered end compartment for gross dirty gym clothes, which I like.
If you don't have time for or don't want to stop at the gym for a shower and just do the walk + some bodyweight stuff you could easily do at a park I find I can get pretty far with 5 or so generic baby/body wipes and reapplying deodorant. Start on your face and work down with each wipe and by the 5th one you probably won't actively smell anymore. This saves a whole bunch of time but is dependent on a less aerobic activity; I'm pretty sweaty and wouldn't feel too weird about this routine after a strength training workout, but running leaves me messy and gross and I probably couldn't get away with it as well.
posted by charmedimsure at 9:43 PM on April 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
My gym duffel has a separate zippered end compartment for gross dirty gym clothes, which I like.
If you don't have time for or don't want to stop at the gym for a shower and just do the walk + some bodyweight stuff you could easily do at a park I find I can get pretty far with 5 or so generic baby/body wipes and reapplying deodorant. Start on your face and work down with each wipe and by the 5th one you probably won't actively smell anymore. This saves a whole bunch of time but is dependent on a less aerobic activity; I'm pretty sweaty and wouldn't feel too weird about this routine after a strength training workout, but running leaves me messy and gross and I probably couldn't get away with it as well.
posted by charmedimsure at 9:43 PM on April 25, 2017 [1 favorite]
I work out on my lunch hours in a similar situation and to be honest there's no silver bullet. I come back still sweating a little (but I'm clean from my shower so I'm not stinky, just moist). I try not to schedule any meetings within like a half hour of my return to work to avoid the George Costanza sweating making me appear nervous problem. I have an electric fan on my desk.
I use a small laundry bag to transport clean/dirty clothes to/from work. That's in addition to my gym bag, and makes it easier to transport just a few items of clothing rather than hauling this whole huge bag home every time I need to wash my gym shorts. The gym bag stays at work, the clothes go back and forth.
posted by soren_lorensen at 3:48 AM on April 26, 2017
I use a small laundry bag to transport clean/dirty clothes to/from work. That's in addition to my gym bag, and makes it easier to transport just a few items of clothing rather than hauling this whole huge bag home every time I need to wash my gym shorts. The gym bag stays at work, the clothes go back and forth.
posted by soren_lorensen at 3:48 AM on April 26, 2017
1) I'm also a heavy sweater. The best, time insensitive way, is for me to eat and look at my strava feed immediately after running, before showering. A full 5-10 minutes of standing around letting my heart rate get under 100 before starting a shower.
The best way for me in a time crunch is to start the shower at a luke-warm temperature, rinse body. Turn the temperature down a notch to slightly cool, rinse the hair. Turn the temp down to noticably cooler and then add shampoo. Turn the temp down to definitely cold, but bearable and rinse out the shampoo. Finally turn the temperature down to "bracing" and do a re-rinse of the hair (mostly to chill the head a final time).
If I start the shower too cold from the beginning I find that I'm still sweating at the end, but the consistently downward gradient of shower temp I find stops the sweat.
3) if I have gym clothes at work, I just put them in a plastic bag and twist the bag shut, this is kept in my gym bag. Once I'm home I hang them up/out to dry. I'll note that I don't actually work out at my work that often (more likely it's a 50 minute bike commute which is distinctly less sweaty because of wind than a workout), so I don't know if this will have lasting effects on stinking up the fabric. Note that there are special detergents one can get that are good with destinking most technical fabrics.
4) pre-do anything that you can for the small amount of time. Unfortunately I can't think of much for in the middle of the day stuff. For mornings for instance I can have my workout clothes/shoes set aside, or have a gym bag pre-packed. I can pre-mix my recovery smoothy/oatmeal. However if you're going to be leaving in the same clothes you're wearing and you had to pack the gym bag in the morning, I think the main thing you can do is examine everything you do in the getting ready to start, and getting ready to leave process and try to think if there's anything that could be re-ordered to help.
For the scheduling; work backwards. How much time to walk back to your office. How much to shower (are there enough showers, or could there be a line up). How much to change. How long to walk to the changing room. This is when you stop exercising. Initially you'll need to do short workouts as you test how long things take, but in a week you should have things worked out well.
5) Sorry to question your premise but I absolutely find that I can't workout in the middle of the day. I wasn't an early riser, but I've become one because that's really the easiest/most effective way to have time to run/gym. I'm also at the point where my kids can wake up on their own consistently with alarm clocks and they know that anything they need from us (signatures, special things for field trips, etc) needs to be taken care of the night before and if they ask in the morning, it's "Nope."
posted by nobeagle at 7:27 AM on April 26, 2017
The best way for me in a time crunch is to start the shower at a luke-warm temperature, rinse body. Turn the temperature down a notch to slightly cool, rinse the hair. Turn the temp down to noticably cooler and then add shampoo. Turn the temp down to definitely cold, but bearable and rinse out the shampoo. Finally turn the temperature down to "bracing" and do a re-rinse of the hair (mostly to chill the head a final time).
If I start the shower too cold from the beginning I find that I'm still sweating at the end, but the consistently downward gradient of shower temp I find stops the sweat.
3) if I have gym clothes at work, I just put them in a plastic bag and twist the bag shut, this is kept in my gym bag. Once I'm home I hang them up/out to dry. I'll note that I don't actually work out at my work that often (more likely it's a 50 minute bike commute which is distinctly less sweaty because of wind than a workout), so I don't know if this will have lasting effects on stinking up the fabric. Note that there are special detergents one can get that are good with destinking most technical fabrics.
4) pre-do anything that you can for the small amount of time. Unfortunately I can't think of much for in the middle of the day stuff. For mornings for instance I can have my workout clothes/shoes set aside, or have a gym bag pre-packed. I can pre-mix my recovery smoothy/oatmeal. However if you're going to be leaving in the same clothes you're wearing and you had to pack the gym bag in the morning, I think the main thing you can do is examine everything you do in the getting ready to start, and getting ready to leave process and try to think if there's anything that could be re-ordered to help.
For the scheduling; work backwards. How much time to walk back to your office. How much to shower (are there enough showers, or could there be a line up). How much to change. How long to walk to the changing room. This is when you stop exercising. Initially you'll need to do short workouts as you test how long things take, but in a week you should have things worked out well.
5) Sorry to question your premise but I absolutely find that I can't workout in the middle of the day. I wasn't an early riser, but I've become one because that's really the easiest/most effective way to have time to run/gym. I'm also at the point where my kids can wake up on their own consistently with alarm clocks and they know that anything they need from us (signatures, special things for field trips, etc) needs to be taken care of the night before and if they ask in the morning, it's "Nope."
posted by nobeagle at 7:27 AM on April 26, 2017
The 7-minute or 9-minute workouts are pretty great and you can get free apps for them. Here's a NYT post about the scientific benefits of these types of workouts. I offer this idea because it is such a short amount of time that you might possibly be able to fit it into your morning or evening routine. If not, you could add it on to your lunchtime walk. Doing it at the gym would give you a cool place to complete it (as well as walls and mats and stuff that might be helpful). Good luck! Even walking at lunch is great, so congrats on getting that habit started.
posted by LKWorking at 7:39 AM on April 26, 2017
posted by LKWorking at 7:39 AM on April 26, 2017
I do this, too!
1) Cleaning up afterward. I sweat. A lot. I don't want to come back to the office dripping wet. This is especially a concern as the weather starts to get hot and humid. I've found that often, even after a shower, I'll still be sweating until I cool off quite a lot. How do I avoid this?
I splash cold water on my face, wipe off with paper towels, and re-deodorize.
2) Managing equipment at the gym. I might just end up running on a treadmill or something, mostly because I don't want to waste time waiting for equipment (i.e. the gym has three squat racks, and it's not often that I don't seem them all in use by giant muscly people.) How do you handle how busy the gym is at lunch?
My gym isn't busy during lunch--just before and after work. I use the elliptical machine.
3) Stinky gym equipment (i.e. shoes, clothes) at work. What do I do with them in the afternoon when I'm back at work so they aren't just sitting there soaking in sweat?
I put them in a plastic bag in my drawer at work. Air 'em out as soon as i get home.
4) Time management. How do I make the most out of the small amount of time that I have?
My routine: have bottled water ready to go. Walk to gym, change fast, queue up a podcast while I begin using the elliptical, work out for 28 minutes, birdbath and change, back to work. Been doing this 5 x week since November without any problems.
posted by sugarbomb at 9:56 AM on April 26, 2017
1) Cleaning up afterward. I sweat. A lot. I don't want to come back to the office dripping wet. This is especially a concern as the weather starts to get hot and humid. I've found that often, even after a shower, I'll still be sweating until I cool off quite a lot. How do I avoid this?
I splash cold water on my face, wipe off with paper towels, and re-deodorize.
2) Managing equipment at the gym. I might just end up running on a treadmill or something, mostly because I don't want to waste time waiting for equipment (i.e. the gym has three squat racks, and it's not often that I don't seem them all in use by giant muscly people.) How do you handle how busy the gym is at lunch?
My gym isn't busy during lunch--just before and after work. I use the elliptical machine.
3) Stinky gym equipment (i.e. shoes, clothes) at work. What do I do with them in the afternoon when I'm back at work so they aren't just sitting there soaking in sweat?
I put them in a plastic bag in my drawer at work. Air 'em out as soon as i get home.
4) Time management. How do I make the most out of the small amount of time that I have?
My routine: have bottled water ready to go. Walk to gym, change fast, queue up a podcast while I begin using the elliptical, work out for 28 minutes, birdbath and change, back to work. Been doing this 5 x week since November without any problems.
posted by sugarbomb at 9:56 AM on April 26, 2017
One idea is to not take a lunch and come in later or leave earlier or both. So if you currently work 8-5 with a 45 minute lunch, would your boss go for 8:30-5 or 8-4:30 with no lunch or a quick 15 minute break. then you can go to the gym directly from work and then go home without worrying about changing, or go before work, and every day take work clothes to the gym, then shower, leave the stinky clothes at the gym, at the end of the week take them all home and wash them?
posted by katieanne at 2:56 PM on April 27, 2017
posted by katieanne at 2:56 PM on April 27, 2017
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I carry a small gym bag with shoes, socks, shorts, and shirt, plus a couple of these mini air deoderizer bags to keep things dry and not gross. After the workout, I take a quick ice cold shower. If I still feel sweaty after the shower, I use a couple of these nonscented wipes. I also walk back to work with a clean smallish microfiber cloth (approx hand towel size) that I either keep around my neck or just occassionally wipe off any sweat. My face is still red by the time I am back at work, but that goes away after like 15 minutes. I also make sure to reapply deoderant and I have found that using Lush's Dirty solid perfume also masks residual "exercise smell." Because I didn't eat lunch on my lunch, I tend to either have a protein smoothie I keep chilled in the fridge, or I have small healthy snacks to graze on throughout the day.
posted by chaostician at 8:33 PM on April 25, 2017 [3 favorites]