Moms and Exercise – Who’s Got Time for That?

Moms and Exercise! Does it look unrealistic? But it is actually quite possible!

I’m really bad at committing to exercise and I’m positive I’m not alone in this dilemma as there are so many moms that have busy lives and busier kids.

I do however think that I get enough exercise daily…..

My daily routine…

I get up early every morning to get my kids ready for swimming practice; I get up, make breakfast, and wake them up. After 5 min I’m back upstairs doing the same thing. I do this about 3 times; the stair master has nothing on me. Once my offspring has graced me with their presence, it’s a new set of issues. Where’s my bag? Have you seen my towel and my new costume? These questions are fired at me like bullets. So there I go up the stairs again, bending down to check drawers and cupboards that might have seen a clean 6 months ago! Seriously, I think I’ve done about 20 squats already looking for lost paraphernalia.

OK, so now they are off to swimming and school and I’m headed back home. I clean the kitchen, do laundry and vacuum the house. Yes, I do all of this every day, OCD much you might say…

For the first 2 hours of my day, I’m constantly busy and I don’t even really have time for my caffeine addiction. My exercise is my daily life and I try not to beat myself up about not going to the gym. I do have my occasional chocolate, choc chip cookie, ice cream, pizza… ok so I might not be that healthy but it’s all done in moderation and my life is stressful enough with 2 teenagers and their moods that I don’t need to add that to my list of worries. I make sure we have healthy lunches and suppers and we are an active family, who swims cycles, and hikes, so I’m covered in being active daily.

Don’t Be too Hard on yourself

I think that sometimes as mom’s we are too hard on ourselves and we don’t realize how active we are in a day. To those moms with infants, toddlers, and teenagers, you are doing the best you can, and if that means you skip a few exercise routines and you eat a packet of Lays for lunch it’s OK! As long as it does not become a habit you will survive, I promise.

Talking about habits, here are some exercise routines you might want to make a habit of doing when you have the time, and best of all you can include your children:

5 Easy Exercise Habits for:

Moms and Babies

• Stroller Cardio – Fasten your baby in the stroller and grab your running shoes. Go for a 10-15 minute jog or stroll to keep the mind and feet moving.
• The Aeroplane – lay flat on your back and extend your feet upwards and together. Lay baby with tummy on your feet and extend legs up and down. Your thighs get a workout and the baby loves the ride. Make sure that baby can support their neck on their own (about 4-5months old)
• Raspberry Plank – hold the plank – feet straight behind you with the up motion of a push-up and hold for 15-20 seconds, put your baby in front of you and put a raspberry on their tummy as you release the plank. Great for your core and fun bonding with baby.
• Squats away – hold baby firmly and do a squat bring baby down with you and extending your arms up when you straighten your legs. This gives your thighs a nice workout.
• Peek-a-boo Sit-Ups – Lay on your back with legs pulled up so that baby’s bum fits on your tummy and lies back against pulled-up legs. Do a sit up and as you come up play peek-a-boo with your little one while your stomach muscles work.

Moms and Toddlers 

• Hop – layout blocks about a meter apart 5 or 6 and hop like a frog over them
• Skip – skip along with the blocks from left to right
• Jump – at each block, jump into the air with your arms up – jumping jack if you can
• Run – from the first block to the last and back
• Dance – put on a favorite song and just boogie with them.

You can try and incorporate this into a mini obstacle course for them, they’ll love it. This gives you a bit of a workout and your toddler can work on his gross motor skills at the same time.

Moms and Teenager

• Hike/ go for a walk – it doesn’t have to be for long 20 – 30 min and you get time to chat with your kids
• Cycle – take a 30 min bike ride with them get some fresh air.
• Swim – if they do swim practice, why not do a 20-30 min swim workout at the same time
• Dance off – put on one of the popular songs the kids listen to these days and then challenge them to a dance-off. The favorite in our house right now is “The Git Up” – Blanco Brown. We have so much fun and laugh a lot.
• Plank Challenge – challenge your kids to plank and who can do it the longest and the one that wins gets out of doing one chore of their choice

The times you spend with your children are priceless and if you can incorporate some exercise you have a win-win situation. So, moms and exercise do go very well together! You’ll be full of energy, endorphins, and less stressed. So get up and get moving!