It can feel like a grueling gym session in itself, keeping the family active, but when you’re looking at your own health and fitness, do you have the opportunity to get a solid workout in yourself? They say we should workout at least three times a week to reap the benefits on our body and mind, but if you spend most of your days chasing after kids, and then keeping on top of the housework, and not to mention the fact that you have a job to do, cramming in that all-important workout session can feel like a rarity. So, what is the best way to get workouts in when you are a busy parent?
Get a calendar
First things first, you need to set a goal, because if you don’t you aren’t going to stick to working out. So, look at your schedule in an average week. For example, when your children are in school, is there an opportunity for you to workout then? If not, do you need to get up that little bit earlier to exercise in the living room? Finding the time, and going through the typical week, hour by hour, gives you that opportunity to find the right times. Remember, if you can find three one hour blocks, that’s all you need.
Get motivated
There are many reasons we stop exercising just as soon as we’ve started; it’s either too much, or we just can’t be bothered. Instead, consider investing in an app to keep you motivated; techradar.com has a list of useful fitness apps, that provides unlimited exercises, but also gives you that gentle prod if you haven’t worked out in awhile. Frame of mind is vital to keeping on track. For certain people, investing in equipment and clothing is part of the motivation. A site like biopods.com provides insoles to make your feet comfier. This is important if you’ve been putting off exercising due to an injury, and you’d be worried about aggravating it. The fact is if you have an injury, there are ways around it, but also, if you found workouts difficult before, it could very well be the fact that you weren’t supporting yourself, without good footwear clothing, or just not motivating yourself in the right way.
Get clever with your workouts
If you don’t have time, it’s worth thinking about what you can do to get the maximum benefits with the minimum time. There is a market out there for this- you could either do high-intensity interval training (HIIT), or if you are looking to build up strength, there are products like the X3 Bar which you can find on x3bar.com, that you can do at home, but has the science behind it, so you know you’ve got a good quality workout in place.
Every moment is an opportunity to exercise
And even if you don’t have the finances to purchase equipment or a gym membership, it’s all about getting into that mindset of exercising when and where you can. For example, if you want to pick up your child, can’t you do it in a squat formation? Remember, working out is all about mindset. Once you have this in place, everything else will fall into line.
