“Woe, woe is me” can be a good substitute for the actual lyrics (whatever onomatopoeia follows the title during the song). Btw, if you know the reference, you just revealed your age… Alternate title: fitness while parenting babies/toddlers and running two businesses.
Pre-5AM: keep 4-year old in bed to avoid waking up 4-month old who’s been keeping Mommy up every 2 hours for cluster breastfeedings (Daddy is useless since infant won’t take the bottle). Sometimes, 4YO runs into parents’ bedroom where baby still sleeps bedside in middle of the night, afraid to sleep alone (night scares begin at this age apparently). Daddy gets no sleep, between feedings, snoring or 4YO bedmate kicking while sleeping (yes, sometimes, I just give in and go to bed in his room to try to preserve the peace in other room). Both parents sleep deprived.
Make breakfast (if no early clients) and get ready for 8:00-8:30AM drop off at camp/school. Pick-up is at 2:30PM with then commute to swim lesson at 3:00PM (Summer schedule) daily. Some camps finish earlier, so not such a rush, still being a taxi driver.
Clients start at 9:00 or 10:00AM and end at 2:00-2:30PM. That’s because load had to be reduced dramatically to help with logistics of 2 kids with no family in town to help, as well as previously tremendous work on the SmartFlex™ venture (still a lot, but took a step back with help from others involved). Between camp/school pick-up and delivery at home, count healthy dinner being made for family (to be eaten a couple of hours later cold, by myself) so it’s ready by 5:30PM so I can leave and train clients in the evening. Some days, not even time to finish prepping because current construction on route makes a 4-mile drive a 50 minute commute.
Not easy to sneak in a workout, but I’m a trainer, so I have to represent. What makes me a people’s trainer is that I can relate: the kids, the schedule, the commute, the craziness of being a machine in perpetual movement at home (cleaning up kid messes which are 3 per minute, screams by one starting screams by another, having no bed to call my own because I am a nocturnal nomad trying to preserve the peace, on top of shared chores). Not as glamorous as a celebrity trainer, not the same income, but results are real and count for twice those of an athlete or a genetic lottery winner.
“You need to make time if you’re serious about training!”
Er, I do and I am. And yes, I used to give that same speech to others! You may have been in my shoes years ago and now have independent teenagers, not walking kamikazes, or are blissfully single/without kids, or have the cash to hire help. I am not complaining here either. I’m giving you a glimpse into a regular joe’s day letting you know that if I can get clients the results I deliver, it’s not because I am awesome at being me. It’s because I get you, the client who is super busy with his/her own kids and hasn’t slept since the arrival of your firstborn. I’m your middle-classman who serves the elite, but delivers for the blue collar just the same. I have accomplished little in life, because it is not and never was about me. I didn’t climb Mt Everest at 18, graduated suma cum laude from Princeton, got my first house bought with the help of Daddy’s money. I salute the parents who run the biz, the fam and everything else in-between. It’s the hardest job, doesn’t always feel as rewarding, more often thankless, selfless and yet still we reflect and appreciate.
Relate by sympathizing. Stay in touch (with others’ needs). You’ll stay in business forever.