Evening workouts

[babycakes1970]

Today I had to take my daughter to the doctor for a check up. She takes meds for migraine prevention. They make her very sleepy and she takes them twice a day. A few months ago her doctor ordered her to start walking three time a week so I have been taking her with me when I go for my workouts. She goes to high school during the day and I work until 6pm so evenings are the ONLY time we can go. The nurse practitioner blamed her evening walks on the treadmill for the fact that she tends to nap when she comes home in the afternoons and then is up late at night.I mentioned that we finish at the Y at around nine o'clock and she asked why so late? So I explained that since I work all day evenings are the only time we have. She asked if we could go as soon as I get home from work. Umm NO because we eat dinner when I come home from work and then I have to change out of my work clothes and into workout wear ,make sure the iPod is charged ( I HAVE to have my tunes). If we are lucky we leave the house by 7:15 pm. Usually we end up leaving a bit later. I have already altered my workout to accommodate her walks and my new job schedule.

So does anyone else do evening workouts? I do not intend to start getting up for five a.m workouts so this is what I have to do.

[scarletleavy]

I only workout at night, usually at around 8:30 or so, but sometimes later. It's the only time where I can have at least an hour of solid uninterrupted time to myself. I would have to wake up at 4 AM if I was going to workout in the morning and that's just not feasible for me at this point. I also find I sleep better when I workout at night- that kind of exhaustion where you just fall right asleep, which is great for someone like me who struggled to fall asleep for years.

[Pat G]

I'm the same, i workout at lunch and or evening. As long as its not cutting into your sleep time then i can't see why you can't workout in the evening. there are only slight differences in morning evening workouts in terms of cardio or strength training.

Is your daughter taking naps every day?

[babycakes1970]

Yes she does take naps. The doc told her not to take them anymore and to go

To bed around 9 pm that is when I mentioned that we finish at the Y at nine.

[oystergirl]

First of all....stop letting some doctor or nurse make you feel bad about the situation. They are not you or your daughter and they are not going through what you are going through and most likely never have. It amazes me what guilt can be put upon a caring parent in this situation.

Have you thought to look into your daughter's diet related to the migraines? Eating saturated fats can really help to alleviate them especially if they are hormonally related. That said, if you can only get to walk with her at 8pm it has been shown recently that working out later does not necessarily inhibit sleep.

Additionally, the nap of course may be the problem but if you are not around when she gets home, you are not going to be able to influence her to stop that. You might ask her to eat a snack that is low in carbs so her sugar stays even and she does not get the crash that she is getting which makes her nap in the first place. Secondly, have her drink a HUGE glass of water when she returns home. Dehydration can cause fatigue as well as headaches. Best of luck!

[tazer]

my little sister used to get migraines when she was younger, and doctors tried putting her on medicine and telling her all sorts of things she should and shouldn't do. but when they still didn't stop, we went to a naturalist, and her fix was something so simple as not adding additional salt to her food at the table and drinking more water.

[Gainsdalf the Whey]

My wife and I head to the gym right from work. If hunger is an issue we have snacks at work to eat. Since I switched to leaning paleo, I haven't had issues with this, but she eats at a higher carb ratio than I do, so she keeps granola bars at her desk. I like it because after we work out I can come home and shower while she cooks. I also have an iPod charger at my desk for charging it.

[Waldo]

My evening workouts are after my son goes to bed at 7:30-8:00 pm. Its very rare that I'm finished before 9:00 pm. If anything it is helping me to go to bed earlier, before I worked out I regularly stayed up until 1-2. I occasionally stay up past 12, something I am trying to curtail, but most days I'm in bed by midnight.

[vwmarvin]

I head from work to the Y every day. Some days I teach swim lessons from 6-7 so I don't get to start my workouts till after that. I normally am out of there by 8:30pm and home by 9pm. Working out later isn't a terrible thing as long as it doesn't interfere with your sleep. If that's the only time you have to work out with your daughter then keep going with it.

[Moxie Hart]

Most of my workouts are at night... I actually just got done with mine for tonight. I'm just not a morning person and never will be.

['Roos]

I do most of my workouts right after dinner, or late at night (like, 10:30 or 11 PM). I have a flexible'ish schedule so I can go into work a bit later, but even when I'm trying to get to bed early, I find that the workout actually helps me get to sleep. I may lie in bed a bit more alert for 15 minutes, but then I'm out. Lots of doctors don't want to accept that teenagers' active times are later than 'normal people's', and that sometimes stuff has to get adjusted for that. I took naps a lot of times after school and then went to do evening activities - it happens.

[bprime]

I usually avoid these topics because my very un-expert non-medical opinion should be taken with less than a grain of salt against a doctor's (despite my feelings towards them), but simple logic begs me to ask the question: your daughter is in high school, able to reasonably take care of her self, why can't she go walking by herself when she gets home or on her own time? I'm assuming she can't drive or doesn't have access to a car, but still why can't she walk around the neighborhood or something to that degree?

And it doesn't matter when you workout. Just get it done.

And

Lots of doctors don't want to accept that teenagers' active times are later than 'normal people's',

My own mother harped on this all the time back in the day, with the whole school system and whatnot. All teenagers and college kids nap like it's their job. This is why I hate run of the mill doctors.

[Elastigirl]

Really?? The Dr blamed the walks for your teenage daughter staying up late? I would have laughed in her face. She stays up late because that is what most teenagers do. Walk when it works for you, don't worry about it.

[Guest guest4729]

Really?? The Dr blamed the walks for your teenage daughter staying up late? I would have laughed in her face. She stays up late because that is what most teenagers do. Walk when it works for you, don't worry about it.

Agreed. Almost everyone I know in college will stop and take a nap as soon as they possibly can. My schedule does not allow it or else I would some days, too! For adults who work an 8 hour shift it's impossible to nap, but when you're like me in college with 5-6 classes, two jobs and tons of other things to do sometimes a nap is exactly what you need (especially if you might be up late studying or finishing a paper).

[oystergirl]

My college aged daughter naps too....no biggie..

[JDCoyle]

My evening workouts are after my son goes to bed at 7:30-8:00 pm. Its very rare that I'm finished before 9:00 pm. If anything it is helping me to go to bed earlier, before I worked out I regularly stayed up until 1-2. I occasionally stay up past 12, something I am trying to curtail, but most days I'm in bed by midnight.

This is exactly what my wife and I do. We put our son down for bed and then we do our workouts. It's really the only time we have available, and it's nice to get to workout together.

[RossR]

I work out from like 8 to 10PM 3-4 times a week. It's not ideal but like you said, it's the only chance I have to go. I have not experienced any issues with going at night.

['Roos]

Gearing up for my bodyweight routine right now - 9:45 PM. HURGGGGGHRRRRR!

[alexgator]

I prefer working out at night. If I workout earlier, I tend to get distracted with all the other stuff I need to get done during the day. I like to get down to it after I've done my homework, studied, fulfilled social obligations, etc. I agree with what everyone else said.

I usually avoid these topics because my very un-expert non-medical opinion should be taken with less than a grain of salt against a doctor's (despite my feelings towards them), but simple logic begs me to ask the question: your daughter is in high school, able to reasonably take care of her self, why can't she go walking by herself when she gets home or on her own time? I'm assuming she can't drive or doesn't have access to a car, but still why can't she walk around the neighborhood or something to that degree?

And it doesn't matter when you workout. Just get it done.

And

Lots of doctors don't want to accept that teenagers' active times are later than 'normal people's',

My own mother harped on this all the time back in the day, with the whole school system and whatnot. All teenagers and college kids nap like it's their job. This is why I hate run of the mill doctors.

Also THIS. A thousand times over.

[Matow]

Doesn't matter when you work out. Morning, middle and night are subjective (yeah yeah, there ARE set times, but hear me out)..

I got made redundant, so I got a job a Dominos pizza, as I can easily earn 5 time more than benefits would give me per week, doing something I'm already awesome at (Worked there during uni and a coupla years after). My workday starts at 5pmish and will finish at about 11pm or 12am. Then Gym, then sleep. I'll wake up about midday.

So, I have breakfast when everyone else has lunch, Lunch when they have dinner, and dinner when they are asleep. Everything I do is fairly normal, just shifted along by a few hours, and my free time is 5 hours before work as opposed to after. Which is awesome cos the shops are empty, and businesses are all open!

Regardless of what the nurse/doctor say, Its always going to be better to go for a walk than not, once its not affecting studies. *shrug* all good in this hood.

[CalvinHobbes]

When I was a teenager not too long ago I would stay up late at night for no real reason, but it was no fault to my parents. I wasn't a napper but I was exhausted in the mornings and was a horror to wake up.

I think it's great that you and your daughter are exercising together because it is encouraging good habits. I give props to you!

[spatzcat]

I am a night worker outer as well. right after my son goes to bed, usually around 7:45, and I finish up before 9 pm....the only occasional back talk is from my husband, who is supportive, but says he misses me. lol. usually because my workouts fall on nights he has hockey, so I go downstairs, and then by the time I am done the workout, he is leaving for hockey...

[WizardTrip]

Add me to the list of night time workouts. I can't even remember the last time I got in a workout before 6pm. Last night was 8:30-9:15, after my volleyball league games.

[LRB]

Another night-owl here. I never really outgrew it from my teenage years. Back then, I'd be up until about 3 or 4 a.m., sleep til had had to get up at 7:30 for school, go through my day and swim team practice in the afternoon. Home by 5. Nap from 5 or 6 til 8 or 9, and then get homework done, chat on the phone, whatever, until about 3 or 4 a.m. again.

Now that I'm a responsible adult (by which I mean, an adult with responsibilities that cut into my napping time), I tend to get up at 6:30, get kids to school, me to work, etc., home by 6, dinner and evening w/kids, then work out at about 9 or 9:30 after the kids are in bed. Back home by 10:30, in bed by midnight. I'm getting slightly more sleep per 24-hour period than I used to, but not by much. It's just the way I'm wired.

I would bet good money that your daughter naps because she's a teen, not because of her meds or the timing of her workout.