How to fit training around a full-time desk job

This guide is for people trying to organise training alongside ordinary work and family commitments. It is a planning framework, not an individual exercise prescription. Martin’s own background combines 15 years of computer-based work and serious fitness training. That makes the desk-versus-gym problem central to Movezy, without assuming every reader wants a stage physique.

Open last week’s calendar rather than imagining an unusually productive future week. Mark fixed work hours, commuting, caring responsibilities and the times you normally eat and sleep. Then look for complete training windows. A gap is not genuinely available if using it means routinely missing another obligation or cutting sleep.

• Write the earliest realistic departure time, not the time your workday is supposed to finish.
• Include the journey in both directions, preparation and any queue for equipment.
• Mark the slots that depend on someone else, such as childcare or a lift.
• Keep at least one ordinary evening unallocated if your work often overruns.

Now choose a starting schedule you can evaluate for two weeks. The number of visits is a planning choice here, not a claim that everyone should train the same number of times. A coach can help choose the exercise programme and frequency around your experience and goals.

Use this simple example to check a slot before committing to it. These times are hypothetical; replace them with your own journey and gym routine.

If your only window is 60 minutes, the solution is not to pretend the visit takes an hour. You might choose a nearer location, a different time, a home-based option or discuss a shorter session with your coach. Avoid squeezing the gap by improvising rushed exercises or ignoring the warm-up and technique guidance you have been given.

The following calendars illustrate organisation, not prescribed weekly exercise. Use the version that resembles your real availability, then discuss what to do within those slots.

Notice that the backup is not an automatic extra workout. It replaces a missed slot. If Tuesday runs late, move that visit into the agreed backup rather than piling it on top of an already full week. If the Saturday slot fails repeatedly because of family plans, change the main slot instead of treating the same collision as a surprise every week.

A gym appointment and a physically active day are not the same record. You can complete a session and still spend most waking hours sitting. Keep a second, simple note of opportunities to move: part of a commute, a walk during a break or an activity you enjoy outside the gym. Treat these as options you can fit into your own circumstances, not as punishment for a missed workout.

The WHO physical activity guidance says that activity includes movement during transport, work and leisure, and that some activity is better than none. That is population guidance; it does not prescribe your lifting programme or prove that a particular schedule suits your health. Keep the distinction when you discuss a plan with a coach.

Use the downloadable worksheet to capture appointments and reasons for change. Fill in your own times; the blank fields are deliberate. Do not use the number of checked boxes as a medical or performance score.

At the end of the week, compare planned and completed visits. Record the practical reason for each change: an unexpected meeting, travel, unclear booking information or a slot that was too ambitious. Keep the explanation specific enough to change something next week.

• Which planned visits happened?
• Which missed visits used their backup?
• Was the problem the workout, the time slot or the journey?
• What single change would remove the most repeated friction?

For example, “I missed Wednesday twice because a recurring meeting finishes at 18:30” points to a fix. “I lack discipline” does not tell you what to alter. After the review, change one practical element and give the revised schedule time to work. If energy, discomfort or recovery is the issue rather than logistics, discuss it with the appropriate professional instead of solving everything with a more crowded calendar.

Consider a fictional office worker who finishes at 18:00, needs 25 minutes to reach the gym and usually eats with family at 20:00. A session written as “18:00 gym” is impossible before exercise selection even begins. A more honest calendar reserves travel, changing, the session itself and the journey home. Start with the time you must be home and work backwards. If the available window does not fit the session, change the window or discuss a shorter session with your coach; do not make the travel disappear on paper.

Now add a late Tuesday meeting. The useful question is not whether this person is disciplined enough. It is whether the plan has another feasible appointment. A Thursday backup should be checked against the rest of the programme and recovery needs, not automatically added on top. If a booked class has a cancellation deadline, put that deadline in the calendar too. A missed personal session and a late cancellation that occupies someone else’s place are different problems.

Keep three calendar labels: planned, completed and changed. Record the actual reason for a change in a few words: work overran, transport failed, unsuitable session length or another commitment. “Bad week” hides the part you can improve. You do not need to record private health details in a shared calendar.

For a planning experiment, choose a schedule that you and your coach consider appropriate, then observe it for two ordinary weeks. This is a test of logistics, not proof that a training programme works. Count appointments separately from training outcomes. Completing two of three planned sessions tells you something about attendance; it does not tell you whether you gained muscle, improved fitness or recovered adequately.

• If the same appointment fails twice, change that appointment before adding reminders.
• If getting ready takes longer than expected, reserve the real preparation time.
• If the backup creates a conflict, replace it with a genuinely free window.
• If work changes unpredictably, plan the next week when your rota becomes known instead of pretending every week is identical.

Write one change for the next fortnight and keep the rest of the planning system stable. For example: “Move Wednesday to the Saturday morning window already checked with my coach.” Changing the gym, programme, app and schedule together makes it harder to tell what helped. If the difficulty is pain, unusual symptoms or exercise suitability, a scheduling worksheet is not the right tool; get appropriate professional advice.

Copy this short brief into your notes: “My normal work hours are __. My realistic training windows, including travel, are __. My backup is __. My experience is __. My goal is __. The thing most likely to disrupt the plan is __.” This is more useful for planning than simply asking for a demanding routine.

If you want help turning those details into an approach, explore coaching with Martin. Before the conversation, use the online-coaching questions checklist. If your main difficulty is remembering sessions or bookings, the fitness-app selection guide helps you identify the tool you actually need.

The examples and worksheets in this guide are original planning aids. The public-health context is sourced from WHO; the sample calendars are not WHO exercise prescriptions.