How to Fit In Exercise As a Full-Time Working Mom
As a full-time working mother of three, I definitely understand how difficult it can be to fit in exercise. With most jobs today being sedentary, we aren’t getting as much accidental exercise (or NEAT – non-exercise activity thermogenesis ) in our lives. With the popularity of Amazon and grocery delivery services such as Instacart, we don’t even need to leave our homes to shop anymore. Add to that the fact that most jobs are now done in front of a computer and it is easy to get in almost zero movement unless you are being purposeful about it.
All of these factors make it difficult to get enough movement in our day. However, being a mom (especially a mom to young children), adds another element on top of everything else. When your kids are very young (I’ll say under the age of 4), you basically can’t let them out of your sight. Leave a one year old alone for two minutes and they will inevitably find the most dangerous thing in the house to experiment with. Basically, if your young child is awake, you need to be right there with them. This makes working out while they are awake extremely challenging. Challenging, but definitely not impossible! Below are a few methods that will help you fit in a workout no matter how busy you might think you are.
Scheduling is Key
I can’t emphasize scheduling and planning enough. If you are a working parent, every single minute of your day is busy. Before kids, you might have been able to fit a workout in most days of the week without any real planning. However, once you throw a kid into the mix, spare time to work out will probably not magically appear. If you want to find time in your week to workout, you have to schedule it the way you would schedule any other meeting or event. This is far and away my number one tip for getting exercise in. Without a plan, it probably isn’t going to happen. Decide how many times each week you want to work out and then figure out where you can put those blocks of time into your week.
Efficient Exercise Programming
If you have limited time to work out, you need to get the most bang for your buck with the exercises you choose. I have each of my clients fill out a questionnaire when they first begin working with me. One of the questions is “How much time can you realistically dedicate to working out?”. If someone can only dedicate one hour two times per week, I write their workout program to prioritize the big lifts that will give them the best results with the small amount of time they have available. We won’t be wasting time doing bicep curls and tricep kickbacks with 5lbs dumbbells, that’s for sure! If you aren’t sure what to prioritize, you should definitely put strength training at the top of the priority list.
Get in some NEAT
What is NEAT? NEAT stands for non-exercise activity thermogenesis. This is just a fancy way to describe other movement you get in your day that isn’t formal exercise. If you can’t find time every day to get to a gym, you should at least be able to find blocks of time for movement most days of the week. One of my favorite things to do in the afternoon when I’m getting kind of sleepy at my computer is to get outside and walk around the block. I often do this with a coworker. We get to chat, get in exercise, and also get a much-needed energy boost from something that is not sugar or caffeine. You can also walk around your house and pick things up that need to be put away. Finally, pacing around while on phone calls is another great way to get in steps.
Skip the Cardio
Really? Did you just read that correctly? A fitness and nutrition coach telling me to skip the cardio? Believe it or not, cardio is NOT a great long-term tool for weight loss. While it may product some short-term results, the body will adapt very quickly to traditional cardio (ex. running, intense biking, etc.). Eventually, you have to continue to do that same amount of cardio just to maintain your weight. Further, cardio does not help to build muscle (and in fact, can have the opposite effect). If you are short on time, skip the cardio entirely and focus solely on weights and just getting in general movement.
Home Workouts
If you have the ability to work out at home, this will save you a ton of time. If you do have young children and can’t work out while they are awake, you can likely sneak in a 30 minute workout while they are sleeping. I like to wake up before anyone else in my house, head down to our basement gym, and get in a lifting session before anyone wakes up. This is usually the best time for me to consistently get a workout in. All of my children have gone through a 5am wake-up phase, but with the exception of those times, this works very well. Not having to drive to the gym is a big time saver.
Lunch Workouts
If your office (or home, if you work from home) has a gym, take advantage of it! When my babies were very young (think 4 months old) and not yet sleeping through the night, there was no way I was going to set an alarm for 5am. So instead of early morning workouts, I worked out over lunch most days while I was still in the sleep deprived stage. This isn’t my favorite time of the day to work out since meetings can always pop up that prevent the workout from happening. But if the other times don’t work, lunch time workouts can be a great option.
Weekend workouts
I like to schedule my longest workouts for the weekends. I can usually enjoy a good hour-long gym session while my husband is at home with the kids. Then we switch and he gets to go to the gym while I’m at home with the kids. As long as our weekend isn’t packed with activities, this works out great for us to get in long workouts. You could certainly get in a great shape with a lifting session on Saturday and Sunday plus another one mid-week. Add in some walking that doesn’t even require you to change clothes, and you have a decent workout schedule for a very busy working parent.
Workouts with kids
If you are having trouble finding the time to work out when your kids are either sleeping or in childcare, work out with them! When they are very little, you can put them in a stroller and go for a walk. My girls all got antsy in the stroller after too long, but I could usually get in a 20 minute stroller walk with them before they started crying. While I wouldn’t recommend lifting weights with a baby nearby, you can always use your kid as a weight! Hold your baby and do some bench presses, squats, shoulder presses…anything you can safely do while holding your baby. You can get in some strength training and they will probably love it!
The TV Test
I have become very anti-TV in my old age. (I’m also including watching YouTube on your phone, scrolling social media, etc. in this category.). I can think of about 100 other things that are much healthier mentally and physically than watching TV. If you are serious about wanting to get in shape, you need to take an honest assessment of your time. If you have time to watch an hour of TV each day, you have time to work out. Now the times of day you are watching TV likely do not correspond with the times you might want to work out. Most people tend to watch TV right before bed. You probably don’t have the energy to work out at that time. Additionally, working out right before your desired bedtime will likely make it very challenging to fall asleep when you want to.
However, one thing you can do is shift your wake time hours. If you are staying up until 11pm watching TV, go to bed at 10pm instead. Use that earlier bedtime to wake up earlier and work out. It might feel like a huge chore at first. But once you get in a good routine of going to bed early and getting up early to work out, you will likely never want to get out of it. Nothing gives you more natural energy than an early morning workout.
Other Options for fitting in workouts as a busy mom
I’ve done all kinds of weird things to fit workouts in! I was training for a bodybuilding competition once and had to fit in 20 minutes of cardio 5 times per week. I remember being extremely busy with meetings one day and knew I wouldn’t be able to fit in a traditional cardio session that required putting on gym clothes. Instead, I walked up and down my building’s 12 floors for 20 minutes and called it good! All in my office attire.
When my building’s gym was under construction for several months, I had dumbbells in my office. I closed the door, changed clothes, and would do some of my easier lifting sessions (shoulders, arms, etc.) in my office!
Before hotel gyms were common, I would travel with bands and create my own “hotel workouts”, which were basically just circuit-style workouts I could do with zero equipment.
Conclusion
These are some of my favorite tips for fitting in workouts. I have found that where there is a will, there is a way. Being a full-time working parent can be tough (that is an understatement!). But if you honestly assess your time, you will be able to find pockets of time to fit a few workouts in.
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