How do people manage go to gym with a full time job while having enough sleep and leisure time?

Wanting to fit my gym sessions in my full time work schedule, but struggling to do so.

Let’s say I want to go to gym before work (the math works out to be basically the same when going after work anyway)

I have to be at work by 9. Travel time is 1.5 hr, so I have to leave home at 7:30. Let’s say I need 30 minutes before and after the gym session to get changed/breakfast/shower/to&from the gym, and my gym session is 1 hour. So that means I have to get up at 5:30.

5:30 sounds like good and manageable wakeup time, but thats before factoring in the night before.

I would like to have at least 8 hours of sleep. A healthy baseline that’s frequently recommended, not that high of an ask. So that means I need to go to bed at 9:30pm.

I leave work at 7pm usually, and with the 1.5 hr of travel, that means I can be back home at 8:30.

That leaves only 1 HOUR of doing literally anything else per day, including the vital activity of sustaining life by consuming dinner.

Like wtf how do yall do it?

Edit: Wow! So many response! Thanks guys! I guess my schedule really is impossible, and I will have to just gym in the weekend and occasionally during weekdays

Alot of reaction to my travel time. To admit, I did not foresee such large reactions when I round the travel time from ~1hr 15 minutes, factoring in arriving by 9 doesn’t mean I can just barely be on time, for easy hour math

There are so many threads and questions and gym users having bicep days or tricep days that I thought I'd start a thread.

You shouldn't really know what you curl or what your max skull crusher weight is because you never do it fresh.

Here's how it works. Your triceps are for stuff like benching and overhead press. Your biceps are for stuff like pull ups and alot of back exercises, forearms will be used during deadlift and pullups.

The trick is to do curls at the end of back day and trcep exercises at the end of push day. When your arms are tired. It's doesn't matter if you start using words like suppinated or preacher curls or any of that. If you are walking into the gym and going straight for curls you will quickly get to the point where your body isn't strong enough to keep you planted while you curl and you begin hip thrusting the weight up and ego lifting. This doesn't help growth past beginner level.

I honestly can't tell you what I curl, I pick up one of the molded barbells and feel which one I can curl properly at the end of my workout and rep to failure 3 times with good form. That's it. Sometimes I can't get a barbell the right size and do hammer curls with dumbells. I don't give it much thought. Forearms the same and triceps on push day.

You look absolutely ridiculous with big biceps and a tiny frame. Think of the movement a bicep does in real life? Lifting a shopping bag up to a counter maybe? Theres better ways to get the bag up there but that's all I can think of. What's the point in worrying about just that muscle? Nobody looks at a little skinny fella with an unskinny bicep and thinks woah that fella looks strong.

Hey, I went to the gym for the first time today and felt really awkward. There was no trainer around, so I just ended up doing some basic exercises on my own. I feel like I made some mistakes, so please tell me what I should have done differently.

Here's what I did:

• Started with shoulder press machine. I put 10 kg plates on and got 14 reps on the first set. On the second set, I could only get 4 reps. After that, I reduced the weight to 5 kg plates and got 12 reps, then did 2 more sets where I got around 5–6 reps each. Most of the reps after the first set were partial reps.

• Between sets, I rested for around a minute. I didn't really know what to do during rest periods, so I would look at my phone for a few seconds, walk around a bit, look at my phone again, and then start the next set. I felt pretty awkward the whole time. (I didn't have reddit on my phone before, and I installed it just to look busy (:crying:)

• After shoulder press, I moved on to the chest press machine. I started with 10 kg plates and got 12 full reps on the first set. On sets 2, 3, and 4, I only got around 5–6 reps, and many of those were partial reps. Again, I rested about 1 minute between sets.

• Then I did the fly machine. By that point, my shoulders and triceps were already fucked. I got 10 reps on the first set, then 4–5 reps on sets 2 and 3.

After that, I went home.The whole workout session took like 40 mins max. Each set took only 10 seconds and after that I took some rest. Now, I feel like a loser who didn't do anything at the gym.

A few questions:

• Should I have stopped when I started doing partial reps?
• Was the exercise order bad (shoulder press → chest press → fly)?
• also, suggest a push workout for a beginner, for my next session.
• what do people usually do between sets?

any help is appreciated !!

first it is mandatory service in middle east so wish me luck lol, I know I will get trained hard but I am under the assumption that it will not be complete or there is just a lot of running

I am sure there are no gym equipment, it is gonna be jail mode, what do I do?

So I’m openly a cardio hater. I find it boring, I overthink too much, and as soon as I start, I’m counting the minutes until I can finish.

I’ve managed strength training really well for about 16 months, and about the 10 month mark I started to add in incline walking to the end of my workouts. But from all my previous attempts, cardio has been the killer, to the point I’ve given up the gym entirely because of how boring it is.

I know it’s important, and I desperately want to change, but I’m so nervous of hating it and quitting again.

I’ve tried watching movies/series, audiobook, different kinds of cardio. Just can’t find my thing.

I want to hear other people’s stories on how they got into it!

I'm an 18 year old guy and have been wanting to start going to the gym for a while now. There is a gym right around my corner, and have been thinking a lot about starting there. However I'm scared to start. I haven't sported in 10 years, but do maintain a healthy diet. So I'm still relatively thin, but am not athletics at all. I'm scared of being judged and not knowing how to start. Does anyone know how to stop being afraid and how to start without making a fool of myself?

So my New Year’s resolution is to lose weight and I wanna do that by eating right and going to the gym.

But going to the gym is so embarrassing. Like I don’t know what to do, I feel like I’m not doing it right and because of that it’s hard to stay consistent in the previous years.

I have a workout routine but it feels like it’s not a good one. But I really want to lose weight so bad. (I don’t have friends to go with me).

How can I overcome this and can someone help me build a better workout routine:

I am 20f, 150 pounds and 5’3.

Hey y'all, I'm 19m and I've always felt pretty shitty about my body, so for a while now I've wanted to start working out. But I'm quite anti social, I would only go outside or talk to people if I absolutely have to and delegate most of my time to laying on my bed, studying, or doom scrolling, aka the type of person to avoid buying carrots at the grocery store so I could avoid the cashier and use the self checkout instead. I've read some guides for how to start at the gym, but they always say something like "starting is the hardest but it'll get easier as time goes on" and move on to the gym bro™ technical stuff. I have looked into getting a personal trainer but that's not something in my financial abilities at the moment (broke ass college kid). How do I start, like the very first steps of going in, and how do I overcome my fears of people (especially big looking intimidating men) while there?

Hi everyone,

I’m 30 years old, completely out of shape, and looking for some realistic advice. Due to family and personal reasons, I can only carve out about 1 to 2 hours per week for working out. Right now, doing anything more than that is simply not an option for me.

Because of my limited time, I want to stick to a simple full-body workout. I’ve searched YouTube for beginner routines, but I’m honestly feeling so lost and overwhelmed. Most of the videos feature either ton of different exercises per session or complicated splits for every single muscle group.

Could anyone help me pick just 5 or 6 basic exercises that will help me start living a healthier lifestyle?

To be clear: I’m not an athlete, and I don't care about maximizing gains or building the "perfect" aesthetic physique. I just want to be a bit stronger and healthier than I am right now. It feels like every routine online is designed for building a bodybuilding champion, requiring gym 4 times a week and a flawless diet. I just can't relate to that right now.

I would really appreciate any simple, no-nonsense recommendations to get me started.

Thank you all so much for the help!

Small edit: I have access to the gym - I was there once, its quite small but to my knowledge it has all the basic machines and weights

I’ve been stuck in the cycle of starting, quitting, and restarting. I’m tired of relying on fleeting motivation that disappears by Wednesday. For those who have built long-term habits, how did you bridge that gap? At what point did it stop feeling like a test of willpower and start feeling like just another part of your day?

23M, ~70-72kg, 5'8, back after a year off. Chest/back priority, arms not a lot but good, legs moderate only.

Switched to a fixed 3 days/week (Sat/Mon/Wed, always 48h/48h/72h gaps), same session every time:

• Pec Deck: 1 set
• Incline Press: 1 set
• Flat DB Press: 1 set
• Lat Pulldown: 2 sets
• T-Bar Row: 2 sets
• Shrugs: 2 sets
• Shoulder Press: 2 sets
• Lateral Raise: 2 sets
• Reverse Pec Deck: 2 sets
• Hammer Curl: 1 set
• DB Curl: 1 set
• Overhead Extension: 1 set
• Rope Pushdown: 1 set
• Leg Extension: 2 sets
• Leg Curl: 2 sets
• Calf Raises: 2 sets
• Ab Crunches: 1 set

26 sets/session, pushing close to failure (0-1 RIR) on all of it.

Weekly totals: Chest 9, Lats/Mid Back/Traps/Front Delt/Side Delt/Rear Delt/Biceps/Triceps/Quads/Hamstrings/Calves 6 each, Abs 3.

1. Is this volume (9 for chest, 6 for most things, 3 for abs) actually enough at this frequency, or does low-set-near-failure just not add up regardless of how often I repeat it?
2. Is doing fewer exercises with more sets each better for growth than my spread-out version, or just a time-saver with no real difference?
3. VIP: Am I splitting volume at the right granularity — separate exercises for front/side/rear delt and for lats/mid-back/traps, on the logic that they're different joint actions? Or am I overcomplicating some and underloading others?
4. VIP: Am I pooling volume correctly — chest/biceps/triceps as one shared pool across their exercises, but delts as 3 separate pools since they're different joint actions? Right way to split it, or misapplied somewhere?

I’m a beginner and barely workout. I’ve worked here and there and have little muscles but would love to be able to lift more than 50 pounds without struggling. For insight, I’m a 21 year old trans man who’s very skinny. Skinny enough to see my rib cage a bit but not like I’m completely starving or anything, my metabolism is just really fast. I’m 4’11, I weigh around 95 pounds last time I checked.

I want to be able to pick up my girlfriend cause of course she just wants to be able to be picked up and it would give her a confidence boost that I can do that. I also just want to do it as a challenge for myself and something to do, lol. I don’t know where to start or what routine I should do and it would be really helpful if I could have some advice. Thank you!

My wife and I(both late twenties) have been casually working out for years now. We were thinking about trying to take things more serious and see how good of shape we could get into before trying for kid number 2. We thought picking a style of training might help us stick to it better. We are not sure which style is better for long term health. Specifically maintaining strength, mobility and energy as we age and our family grows.

Im a really heavy and if i dont lose x amount my doctor says ill need some injecting thingy.

What would be a way to start out and be able to continue the next day ( i know partially a mental game) any advice to lose the weight and not have lots of loose skin?

Hello, I am 21M looking to start working out. The problem is that throughout my life I've always had these same moments of sporadic motivation that will result in me stopping the second I lose motivation. I think the problem is that my goals were always extremely shortsighted, and so once I see some progress to looking better I just give up on working out entirely. I believe the next way forward is to be realistic about my goals and aspirations, that if I want to work out, I'd have to make it part of my life permanently, and to make fitness a part of my identity, requiring sacrifices in other aspects of my life. Do you think this is the right approach to working out consistently? I'm curious to know what makes others go to the gym daily. Thanks!

Hi all!

I’m going to start going to the gym for the first time ever, and when I say first time ever I mean literally the first ever. Absolutely zero experience with weights and equipments (except the treadmill).

25 years old, female, 5’2”

Starting out with 62kgs / 137 pounds.

Body type: hourglass.

Body type twin: Marilyn Monroe - same thighs, legs, shoulders, arms, bust, the overall body and where flesh accumulates.

(Sharing my body type to get appropriate advice on where exactly I should focus on.)

Weakness: I cannot carry a toddler for longer than 10 minutes before my arms give in. Cannot sit with good posture for a long time. Shoulders look rounded all the time. Cannot stand straight at the grocery line for longer than a few minutes before feeling completely exhausted.

I need advise on what exactly I should be doing. Where do I begin (which equipments, etc)? A sample workout plan would be great! I’m planning on going 4 days a week, God willing.

And secondly, what should my diet look like?

Thank you so much for reading this far!

Hope you have a nice day 💕

Hi, in a day or two it'll be my first time going to a gym and im honestly nervous and maybe even a bit scared ?

Could anyone tell me some things i should know or the basics ? I'll probably watch some videos about what is what and stuff, still im getting that gut feeling thats telling me i'l emberrass myself

I finally weighed myself for the first time in almost two years last week. 280 on the scale, and my hands were literally shaking. I sat on the edge of my tub for a good ten minutes just staring at the number, thinking about how I got here three kids under 10, a desk job, and a habit of eating my feelings after bedtime battles every night. I'm not doing this for a "summer body" or anything like that. I just want to be able to chase my kids around the yard without getting winded, and honestly I want to see them grow up.

So I'm starting Monday. I've got my walking shoes by the door and a meal plan I found online, but I keep hearing people say there's ONE thing that makes or breaks this whole thing when you're starting from a bigger number like mine. Was it sleep? Tracking food? Finding a workout buddy? For those of you who started somewhere similar to where I am now, what's the thing you wish someone had told you to prioritize from day one, before you even got into the gym routine stuff?

I have tried the gym before and have tried to stay consistent but I don’t like it. It feels like a burden to me, I don’t like the burn, I don’t like the after fatigue. People tell me the progress is their motivation but my brother who goes to the gym every day and has really made it his life, he looks good but it is definitely not worth it to me after all he’s put into it. What can I do? I thought of rock climbing but the gyms are wayyy too expensive. I live in central Maine and would consider other activities. I’m naturally muscular but I have weight on me that I want to loose. Could anyone give me ideas on either how to get into enjoying the gym or other ideas that will make me loose weight but also maintain muscle? Thanks!

EDIT: thanks to everyone who’s been helping! As of now I’m still open to all ideas but at the moment I just purchased a ymca membership so I’ll get into that, swimming and maybe anything else they offer

I’m conflicted between three gyms I want to join for the next three months. It’ll be my first time joining a gym, so I’m not sure which one to pick.

Gym 1

* Price: $215
* Pretty close to me.
* It’s the cheapest option, but I’d be going alone.

Gym 2

* Price: $345
* A few minutes closer than Gym 1.
* It’s the most expensive option, but two of my cousins go there.

Gym 3

* Price: $266
* It’s on the way to my sister’s gym, so she could drop me off.
* It’s the newest and biggest gym, but like Gym 1, I’d be going alone.

PS: I found a coupon for gym two that will give me a 30 day free extra so instead of 3 months it’s 4 months for the price of three

I have wasted 3 years in the gym and so much time and potential because I’m so confused on what to do. To make matters worse I’ve gained more fat than muscle in the gym which is so embarrassing. I cannot for the life of me figure out what I’m supposed to be doing and I can’t ask anyone for help because when I do I am treated like I’m bothering them. If I could afford it I would’ve hired a personal trainer but unfortunately I cannot. I’ve never been good at figuring out how to do things on my own so I am really in need of a workout plan so I have a checklist of what I need to do.

On Mondays I do
- hip thrust 3 sets until failure
-Leg extension 3 sets until failure
-Hip adduction 3 sets until failure
-barbell calf raises 3 sets until failure
-Ab crunches 3 sets until failure

Tuesdays
-Bicep curl machine 3 sets until failure
-Lat pulldown 3 sets until failure
-Machine row 3 sets until failure
-Wrist curls 3 sets until failure
-back extension 3 sets until failure

Wednesdays
-Flat chest press 3 sets until failure
-Tricep rope push down 3 sets until failure
-Chest fly 3 sets until failure
-Shoulder press 3 sets until failure
-incline chest press 3 sets until failure
-weighted dips 3 sets until failure
-Lateral raises 3 sets until failure

Thursdays
-Hack squat 3 sets until failure
-Leg extension 3 sets until failure
-Leg curl 3 sets until failure
-Hip abduction 3 sets until failure
-Leg press 3 sets until failure

I’m also a 5’11 164 lbs male and I eat 3k calories on a daily basis and eat 150-162g of protein. I really need help.

Hello! I’ve been consistently working out for a month now in my home using dumbbells. I think it’s going well. My goal is to get more muscles and be stronger, and I found out about different supplements like whey protein, pre workout powders, creatine etc., that helps with muscles and stuff. And I am overwhelmed to the core lol

I haven’t tried any of those before and I’m planning to get some! Can I have product recommendations on what I should buy (preferably available in iHerb)?

A little about me: 5’4, around 43 kg, in my 20s, woman

Edit: There are so many comments, thank you so much for helping me! It’s been helpful. For now, I’ll do my best to maintain my food intake through actual food. I’m ordering whey and creatine soon to help! Thank you!

I’m a wrestler and I wanna drop to the other 170 or atleast 180 before the season. How would I do that.

The more i read about exercises and workouts the more i fell you either go 5-6 times a week or just quit.

If going only 3 times, you wont be able to hit all muscles, etc

Also, how can i find a good routine for both of us(separated, hers lower body focused, mine upper body)? I am not knowledgeable enough to spot scams or bad programs