One of the biggest hurdles for me after having becoming a mom was to find time for my own workouts. Gone are the days of spending 2 hours at the gym followed by a nice long hot shower. These days I am lucky if I get to take a shower at all!
My time is no longer about me, so I started to believe if I couldn’t go to the gym for an hour, then I would just scrap it all and do nothing. (sound familiar?)
It took some time, but once I let go of that ‘all or nothing’ mindset, I started to give myself a little grace. I have since adopted the mindset of doing the best that I can, with the time I have available.
If I take my kids to the park, I do some pull ups on the monkey bars and do squats and lunges in between pushing them on the swings. I use the park bench for dips and step ups. I chase them up and down the hills for cardio. It is not my ideal workout, but it is definitely better than nothing!
Bodyweight exercises such as squats and push ups can be done anywhere. Waiting on the water to boil? Throw in a set of squats. Kids taking a bath in the bathtub? Use that time to work on your push ups! My kids love to count for me or tell me when I’m not going down far enough. (seriously?!) Wall sits are an excellent way to build leg strength and my kids love to do it with, or on, me!
Since becoming a mom, I have learned to adapt and let go of “perfection”.
I cringe when my friends tell me “I don’t have time” especially when they have time to tell me all about the latest on their favorite TV show. If you have time to watch TV or check Facebook every night, then you can certainly find short windows of time in your day to blast out some exercise!
I like to come up with short, yet intense, workouts that can be done in 15 minutes. Grab a kettlebell and do 20 rounds of kettlebell swings–30 seconds of work, followed by 20 seconds of rest. That is about 250 swings in a short amount of time. Not too shabby for a quick workout, huh?
No worries if you don’t have any equipment, use can use the stairs as your workout! Set up a timer to beep every minute as you run up and down your staircase. When the timer beeps, stop and do 10 air squats. Do this for 15-20 minutes without stopping and your legs will be on fire! If you sit at a desk all day long, schedule in short breaks for you to walk laps around the building. If possible, sneak in some squats or lunges in the office.
Anything that keeps your body moving and blood flowing is a good thing.
Finding time for fitness when you are a busy parent isn’t easy, but it CAN be done. So let’s lose the “busy” excuse and find the time to get creative, get moving and get results!