How do you stay active with a demanding job and long commute?

Accept a smaller footprint rather than aiming for the ideal and doing nothing. Practical approaches that survive real schedules: two short strength sessions at home on weeknights, one longer session at the weekend, and walking built into the commute — getting off a stop early, taking stairs, walking during calls. Protect one session a week as non-negotiable and treat the rest as bonus. The biggest single win for most people with long commutes is not a workout at all, it is breaking up sitting during the workday, which is where the majority of the sedentary hours actually are.