The two protests I hear the most when a Mama talks to me about working out is “I don’t have the time” and “I don’t have the money”. I am here to bust that theory wide open. You don’t need hours. You don’t need dolla dolla billz. Those are just hurdles we place in front of ourselves. There are workarounds. I have talked about how to bust the myth that you need tons of time to workout so you can read more about that here.
I am not here to tell you that your excuses aren’t valid. Because they are. Time and money are important. I am just more interested in how we can fix those problems as opposed to just stating them over and over again.
So here are 3 easy ways to fit short workouts into your busy week.
- Get those workout clothes on.
When I was on Mat Leave I lived in my husband’s oversized sweat pants and a breastmilk stained shirt. When my little dude went down for his nap, I had to find my clothes, change, get my hair up, find my ipod, eat something, and then he would wake up. Argh! So here’s what I started doing. When I got up in the morning, I got ready like I was going to workout. My hair was in a tight ponytail, I put on those annoyingly tight crops and sports bra, I grabbed some nuts and yoghurt, and I grabbed my ipod. This way the very moment my little dude went down, I started working out. I had no excuses. I was ready to go.
- Lower your expectations.
I stopped the insanity that was 1 hour long workouts. What am I? A bodybuilder? An athlete? No, friends. I am a lady with a baby just trying to get my fitness on. I don’t need to workout for hours at a time. All I needed was 20-30 minutes. This outlook changed everything for me. I grabbed that time wherever I could. My little dude was totally happy in his vibrating chair for that long and became incredibly amused by Mama hopping around him. When I “lowered” my expectations as to what a workout had to look like, I worked out more. Putting the “I have to workout for an hour at 10am every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday” expectation away served me greatly. I became a master at grabbing that time whenever I could because you know what? Babies do not give one care about your schedule 🙂
- Ask for help.
Aren’t we stubborn creatures, us Mamas? We like to think we are superwomen who don’t need nobody, no how. Here’s a cold hard truth. YOU DO! “Help” can look many different ways though. You could ask your partner for 30 minutes to do your thing. You can set a standing date with another Mama to strap those babies to your chests and go for a walk/baby carrier workout. You can ask the relatives to have a standing babysitting time. You can ask me to give you some ideas on what to do if you’ve got 10 minutes. You can post on the Baby Mama Facebook group for some “Rah Rah!” cheerleading from the other Mamas to get your butt up and active. There is so much support around you. Utilize it.
If you can put all 3 of these pieces together, you got yourself time for a workout. Head on over to the Facebook group and tell us what you did to get a short workout in today. Need some quick workouts? Click here for my quick and dirty 20 minute workouts.
Happy sweating!