How to fit exercise into your schedule when being a parent
In celebratory fashion of Mother's Day this week, we thought it was time to dedicate a post to all the parents out there, seeking a little assistance when it comes to exercise. It's completely normal to feel overwhelmed when becoming a parent, and feeling completely out of routine.
We've enlisted the help of these fitness enthusiast influencer mums to offer their advice on how they fit exercise into their hectic every day.
Mel
@little.runner.mel
"Training can be hard. I mean seriously hard, but training as a working-mum, is Chuck Norris hard. Here's my tips for surviving training with a job and a child...
Get your family on board. Training as a mum requires a whole team effort. It will take you out of the house for many hours a week and it’s much easier if you have the support of your family.
Plan, plan, and plan some more. Organisation is key! You are going to need to channel your inner Monica. Go through your calendar, buy those birthday gifts, make those appointments, and fill that freezer. Make your life as easy as possible.
Make friends with your alarm clock. To ease my guilt and minimise family disruption, my alarm sounds at 5.30am several times a week. This means I am home before the family rises. It’s hellish at first but it gets easier.
A family that trains together.. This top tip was given to me by none other than Super Mum, Jo Pavey. Bring kids and partners along on bikes or scooters and do some of your shorter recovery runs together.
Be a lady that lunches. Squeeze a run or workout into your lunch break. If your work place doesn’t have shower facilities, then even a brisk walk is better than a missed session.
Taking the term “school run” literally. To get my miles in, I run down to school everyday to pick my son up. Some days it’s the only way I can get any miles in, so I turn the short run into an interval session, sprinting/jogging to each lamppost.
Cut yourself some slack. Maybe you haven’t dusted in a week (ok, 2 weeks). Maybe you’re digging school uniform out of the ironing basket each morning. Maybe you’ve missed three sessions this week, as your child has norovirus and you haven’t slept for 2 days. But, does it really matter? You are still doing an incredible job.
Finally, be kind to yourself and most importantly, never forget who is watching."
Stacey
@staceylapira_mummy_revival
"I think we all understand the importance of exercise for our own wellbeing, but we often struggle to find the time to do it. When we first become a parent our whole lifestyle changes and we often forget to prioritise our own needs. Here are my top tips for new parents trying to get back into exercising...- Embrace the small chunks of time you have and utilise that for a quick workout. Workouts don’t have to be long, you can get an effective work out in 15-20mins. Any kind of movement is better then nothing and if you only have 15 mins then use that time to get it done. You have to learn to work with the lifestyle you have now. Always remember that things do get easier and please don’t be too hard on yourself.
- Exercise as a family! As a family go for a walk, hike or play sports together.
- Multi-task with your partner. When your partner gets home from work, use that time to sneak in a workout.
- Early morning! Before the day gets away from you, and people start demanding things from you, try and get some form of exercise in before your family wakes up.
- If you have older children utilise their activities. When you drop off your child at a after school activity, go for a walk/run/bodyweight training while you wait for them.
- Join in during play time with your children! Don’t sit on the side lines while at the park, join in and run around the park with them.
- Don’t compare your journey to anyone else’s. Everyone’s circumstances are so different and if you start the comparison game it will often put you in a negative headspace.
- Treat your exercise sessions like an appointment that you can’t get out of. That way it is of a high priority and we all know when something is scheduled in we usually always make it happen."