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How Do Busy Moms Exercise?

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I am finding that my kids get busier as they get older. As a novice mother, I had assumed that once my kids achieved more independence, they would be less busy, but this is not the case. Because of a hectic schedule last fall, I began dropping my work outs because there was no time. About a month of rarely exercising, I found myself anxious and extremely stressed out. Once I realized that the only thing that had really changed in my life was a lack of exercise, I began incorporating it again. My anxiety greatly improved once I started exercising again.

Exercising is important for everyone’s health, but can be a benefit to mothers. It can help with stress and increase energy to get through long days. The struggle is real trying to find time and energy to exercise when you have young kids. They are busy, demanding and into everything making it feel impossible some days. How do mom’s manage to exercise?

Exercise while they sleep: Take advantage of nap time or the morning minutes before they wake up. Exercise can provide significant stress relief and exercising uninterrupted can aid the stress relief.

Join a gym with childcare: I have several friends who are members of gyms that provide child care during specific hours. For them it is safe place to leave their kids while working out without distractions.

Workout at home: Work out at home where you kids can play with their toys or take naps. There is an endless amount of workouts on video or streaming online. There are also numerous online accountability groups to provide some social contact with other mothers.

Include your kids: If your kids are like mine, they want to do what mom is doing. Include them in the work out. Mine often use stuffed animals in replace of weights and are excellent at downward dog. Working out sets a good example of a healthy lifestyle to children.

Join a boot camp: Most boot camps take place early in the morning. Get your work out in early before your spouse leaves for work. My kids no longer nap, and we go full blast after school gets out. I am discovering that I must work out early in the day in order to fit work outs into our schedule.

Take a walk: When the weather is nice, pop the kids in a stroller, give them some snacks and get some exercise. Ask another mom to join for some social benefits.

Writer Bio: Summer Bolte

I spend most of my time and days with my three kids, husband and dog. My kids frequently play near me as I garden, cook, DIY and volunteer. My most unusual paying job has to be feeding fruit flies in a research lab, and my most fulfilling job was being an oncology nurse for seven years.

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