How to Fit Workouts Into a Busy Schedule

I used to have a proper program. Four days a week, 90-minute sessions, a squat rack and a plan. Then I became a parent, and that program died.

If you're reading this, you probably know the feeling. You've been lifting for years. You know what works. You just can't find the time to do it anymore. The good news is you don't need to find the time — you need to change the approach.

Here's what I've figured out after years of training around a busy life.

Stop Doing Bro Splits

This is the single biggest mistake I see busy people make. They try to run a body-part split — chest Monday, back Tuesday, legs Thursday. Then life happens. A kid gets sick. Work runs late. Suddenly it's been two weeks since you've trained legs, and your chest has been hit once.

A bro split only works if you never miss a session. And you will miss sessions. That's not a discipline problem, that's just having kids.

The fix is frequency. Hit each muscle group at least twice a week. If you miss a day, you're still covered. I never recommend bro splits to anyone with a busy schedule. The frequency is just too low.

Three Approaches That Actually Work

Which one fits you depends on what you've got — a home gym, a gym membership, or both. They all solve the same problem: getting enough frequency without needing hours you don't have.

Home Only: Push/Pull/Legs Mini-Sessions

This is the real secret. Instead of finding 60 minutes three times a week, find 20 minutes almost every day. As a parent, 20 minutes is realistic. An hour is a fantasy.

I run a push/pull/legs split across six days:

• Push: Dumbbell bench press, shoulder press, tricep work
• Pull: Rows, curls — kettlebell or dumbbell depending on what I grab
• Legs: Goblet squats, Bulgarian split squats, Romanian deadlifts, kettlebell swings

Each muscle group gets hit twice a week. Each session is 15-20 minutes. I'm usually training after the kids are in bed, and I'm done before my coffee gets cold.

The key is to treat these as real training sessions. Log them. I track every home workout in RepCount — the weights, the reps, all of it. If you don't log it, it's easy to just go through the motions. When I can see that I pressed the 20kg kettlebell for 3x8 last Thursday, I know I need to push for 3x9 or move up.

Gym Only: Full Body, Every Time

If you train at a commercial gym, do full body workouts. I know — it feels wrong if you've spent years on a split. But here's why it works when you're short on time:

• One session a week is enough to maintain what you've built
• Two sessions and you're making real progress
• Three sessions and you're in a great spot

You should be able to get a solid full body session done in an hour. And because you hit everything every time, a missed session doesn't leave a muscle group untrained for weeks. That's the whole point.

If you've ever come back after two weeks off a bro split and felt like you lost everything — this is the fix.

Hybrid: What I Actually Do

This is the approach I keep coming back to. I use gym days for the stuff I can't do at home, then fill in the gaps with home mini-sessions during the week.

I don't have a squat rack at home. So when I get to the gym, I squat, I deadlift, I bench. The exercises that need real weight and a proper setup. Then on the other days, I'm in the garage with the kettlebells and dumbbells doing my push/pull/legs rotation.

The gym session on its own would be too infrequent. The home sessions on their own would miss the heavy compounds. Together, they cover everything.

If you can do heavy squats, deadlifts, and bench at home — honestly, you might not even need the commercial gym. You've got an awesome setup and I'm jealous.

My 20-Minute Home Session

Here's what these actually look like in practice. No fluff.

Kettlebell Day

I have a 32kg for lower body and a 20kg for upper body. That's it.

• Kettlebell swings: 4 sets of 15-20 reps with the 32kg
• Goblet squats: 3-4 sets of 10-12 reps with the 32kg
• Clean and press: 3 sets of 6-8 reps per side with the 20kg
• Kettlebell rows: 3 sets of 10-12 reps per side with the 20kg

I move between exercises with minimal rest. The whole thing takes about 18 minutes. It doesn't look like much on paper, but try doing heavy swings and goblet squats back to back and tell me it's not a real workout.

Dumbbell + Bench Day

When I use the adjustable dumbbells and bench, I pick 3-4 exercises based on the split for the day:

Push day might be: dumbbell bench press, shoulder press, and a tricep finisher. Pull day: dumbbell rows, curls, maybe some hammer curls. Leg day: split squats, Romanian deadlifts with dumbbells, and goblet squats.

Same idea — 20 minutes, track everything, try to beat last time.

I log all of this in RepCount. Not because I'm obsessive about it, but because home workouts are where consistency actually happens. The gym sessions feel "real" by default. The home sessions only feel real if you're tracking them and can see the progress over weeks and months.

Why You Need to Log These Sessions

The reason home sessions fall apart isn't laziness — it's that they feel informal. You do some swings, some rows, call it done. Without logging, there's no accountability and no progression.

I use RepCount for every session, home or gym. It takes about 30 seconds to log a set — weight, reps, done. But that data turns a casual 20-minute session into something real. Next time I pick up the kettlebell, I can see exactly what I did and know what I need to beat.

A few things that make RepCount work well for short home sessions:

• Fast logging — you're not stopping to type notes between sets, just tapping in numbers
• Everything in one place — home sessions and gym sessions side by side in the same history
• Charts — see your goblet squat or KB swing progress over weeks and months

If you're not tracking your home workouts, you're guessing. Download RepCount free — available on iOS and Android.

When You Get to the Gym, Have a Plan

The worst thing you can do with limited gym time is wander around figuring out what to do. I open RepCount before I walk in, check what I did last session, and I already know what I need to beat. That habit alone saves me 10-15 minutes of wasted time per session.

Do full body. Focus on the lifts you can't replicate at home — squats, deadlifts, bench press. If you're also training at home during the week, you don't need to cram accessories into your gym session. Get the heavy compounds done and get out.

Building a Home Gym Without Losing Your Garage

You don't need much. I built mine up over time, and honestly, the first purchase was enough to keep me training for months.

Start Here: Two Kettlebells

One heavier bell for lower body (I use 32kg), one lighter for upper body (20kg). That's your starting point. Kettlebells are cheap, they last forever, and they take up no space. Two kettlebells and a bit of floor is a legitimate gym.

Next: Adjustable Dumbbells and a Bench

This is where it gets good. Adjustable dumbbells can seem pricey upfront, but they replace an entire rack. I use NuoBells — they change weight fast and feel like a real dumbbell in your hand. No affiliation, I just think they're great.

A bench opens up pressing movements and makes your dumbbell work way more versatile. The combination of adjustable dumbbells and a bench is probably the best bang-for-buck upgrade you can make.

If You Want More: Barbell and Plates

If you have the space, adding a barbell gets you close to a full gym. I don't have a squat rack, so I can't do back squats at home — that's what gym day is for. But I can do floor press, which is a surprisingly good bench press replacement. The strength carries over. When I get back under a bar at the gym, the numbers are always there.

What I'd Skip

Suspension trainers. They're fine for bodyweight work, and honestly they make a decent portable gym if you're traveling — sock one to a hotel doorframe and you've got something. But for your main home setup? Skip them. The problem is you can't meaningfully track progress. There's no weight to increase, no clear metric to beat. "I did rows" doesn't tell you if you're getting stronger.

If you can't log the weight and reps, you can't track progression. That's why kettlebells and dumbbells win — every session is measurable.

A Sample Week

Here's what a typical hybrid week looks like for me:

• Monday: Home — Push (dumbbell bench, shoulder press, triceps). 20 min.
• Tuesday: Home — Pull (kettlebell rows, dumbbell curls). 20 min.
• Wednesday: Gym — Full body (squat, bench press, deadlift, a few accessories). 60 min.
• Thursday: Home — Legs (goblet squats, split squats, KB swings). 20 min.
• Friday: Home — Push (shoulder press, dumbbell bench, lateral raises). 20 min.
• Saturday: Home — Pull (dumbbell rows, curls, face pulls). 20 min.
• Sunday: Off.

Some weeks I get two gym sessions. Some weeks I get zero and just do home sessions all week. That's fine. Every muscle group still gets hit twice. The system is built for the weeks that don't go to plan — which is most of them.

Let Go of the "Real Workout" Mindset

This might be the hardest part. If you've spent years doing proper programs with barbells and racks, doing kettlebell swings in your garage at 9pm can feel like you're not really training. You need to get over that.

Twenty minutes of tracked, progressive training is infinitely better than the 90-minute session you keep planning but never do. Five short home sessions a week beats two gym sessions you skip because you couldn't find the time.

The numbers in your training log don't care where you lifted the weight. They just go up or they don't.

Key Takeaways

• Frequency beats everything. Hit each muscle group twice a week. Drop the bro split — it doesn't survive real life.
• Mini-sessions are real training. 20 minutes, tracked and progressive, is enough. Stop waiting for the perfect hour that never comes.
• Track your home workouts too. This is where consistency actually lives. If you're not logging it, you're guessing.
• Use the gym for what you can't do at home. Squats, deadlifts, bench. Save the rest for your garage.
• Start with two kettlebells. You can build a real program with almost nothing.

You don't need more time. You need a system that works when time is short — which is always. Build a small home gym, track everything with RepCount, and stop letting a busy week be the reason you don't train.