Ask most people when they're "supposed" to train and they'll say one of two times.
6am, before the day starts.
Or 6pm, straight after work.
That's the picture most fitness advice paints. Up in the dark. Or dragging yourself in when you're already running on empty.
For a lot of people, neither of those works. And I understand that better than most.
When your hours don't match everyone else's
Before I built "Be More", I worked in private security.
Shift patterns. Odd hours. Days that didn't line up with anyone else's.
My quality of life suffered. So did my time with my family. And there was no job satisfaction to make up for it.
That's a big part of why I left and started coaching.
So when someone tells me "I can't do mornings, I can't do evenings, so I suppose fitness isn't for me right now", I don't hear an excuse.
I hear someone whose day just doesn't fit the usual template.
Here's what's actually going on
You already know what to do.
Eat better. Move more. Train with some structure. Sleep properly. You've known all of that for years.
So knowing isn't the problem.
The problem is the plan. You go all-in for two weeks. Then life happens. The kids, the rota, the business, the diary. The plan falls apart, you stop completely, feel like you've failed, and wait for the "right time" to start again.
That's not a willpower problem.
That's a plan-that-doesn't-fit-your-life problem.
And a lot of the time, the part that doesn't fit is the clock.
Who the middle of the day is for
After 15 years of doing this, I've noticed something.
There's a whole group of people whose day has room in the middle, not at the edges.
- The newly retired, or nearly there. You want to stay strong, mobile and able to do the things you actually enjoy.
- Parents with the day free between drop-off and pick-up. You want one hour that's actually yours.
- Shift workers. You need something that bends around a rota, not against it.
- The self-employed. You run your own diary and already treat your time as an investment.
None of these people are lazy. They're just not 6am people. And they don't need to be.
That's why I built a weekday slot, Monday to Friday, 1pm to 4pm, at Stronghold PT Hub in Cheltenham. On purpose.
Why the afternoon works
The version of training that sticks is the calm one.
In the middle of the day the gym is quiet. There's no queue for kit. You're not rushing in from work, still half thinking about emails. And you're not fighting the tiredness that builds up by the evening.
That matters more than people think.
A lot of the people I train are nervous when they walk in. Some haven't been near a gym in 10 years or more. Some are coming back from injury. Some have had a PT before and found it dull, or felt they were only there to lose weight.
A busy, noisy gym at peak time doesn't help any of that.
A calm hour, with space to ask questions and learn how to do things properly, does.
And yes, people do ask. Ex-Army, so am I going to shout?
No. One of my clients in her mid-70s put it better than I could:
"I am challenged but do not dread the challenges." (Jenny, Google review)
That's the balance I'm after. Every time.
Three simple steps if your day has room in the middle
1. Find your real window. Not the window you think you should use. The one your week actually gives you. For a lot of people that's somewhere between lunch and the school run.
2. Protect one hour, once a week. Put it in the diary like a doctor's appointment. One hour you keep is worth more than five you plan and cancel.
3. Make it fit your life, not the other way round. If a plan needs you to uproot your whole routine overnight, it won't last. Start with what fits this week, then build from there.
That's it. No overhaul. Just a time that works, and the consistency that comes with it.
So the real question is...
When does your day actually have room?
Not your ideal day. Your real one, the Tuesday with the dentist and the late meeting and the dog that needs walking.
If the honest answer is "somewhere in the middle", then maybe the reason it's never stuck before isn't you. Maybe it was the clock.
If that sounds like you
I keep a small number of these 1-4pm slots each week here in Cheltenham. I call it the Daytime Reset: three sessions to find out where you are, build a plan that survives your actual week, and see if it's working.
It starts with a short, no-pressure chat. No pitch. Just an honest look at what's working in your routine and what isn't.
If you'd like that, book a free 15-minute call.
Onwards and upwards.
Time to "Be More"
L