So I was just typing up an email to a client after our call troubleshooting some of her barriers to successfully making and sticking to her plan amidst the COVID chaos and I thought, “Hey, aren’t we all feeling a little stuck and overwhelmed and ashamed of our self care or lack there-of these days?”
YES, we are. I’ll just go ahead and answer that for you, too.
As someone who likes to shut down, or take out my wrath on the people I love when I’m overwhelmed, I have some simple tips and tools for helping ourselves slow down and create the inner peace we need to keep prioritizing our needs amidst the chaos of life and motherhood.
I’ll be rolling out a few more posts in this How To Handle Mom Life - COVID Pandemic Style series over the next few weeks, but since this is the question I get most, let’s start here.
“I just can’t motivate to start working out at home and I really don’t even know what to do if I did.”
For this post we’ll start with strength workouts -
Strength workouts are important to prioritize but they don’t have to be 45 minutes of torture to get through (Don’t worry, I’ll get to cardio in another post).
Here’s the simplest, onliest thing you need to do: Make them small and more frequent.
Even 20 min 3x a week is great! Or 10 minutes 5 days a week. Or 10 minutes once a week - some minutes are better than no minutes!
But now how we do find even this time/motivation these days to make it happen?
Here’s what I do that has been working well: Put on a TV show that both you and your kids like (we’re into Queer Eye for the Straight Guy) and let them have some chill time to de-stress (kids need that too!) and get some time with you that doesn't include any pressure to perform (ie. distance learning policing).
Here’s the key: It’s not them vegging out in front of Morphle or Peppa Pig so you can do your workout class, it’s “your time” that you are bringing them into. You are inviting them to hang out while you get in a workout and treat yourself to time with them, too.
Look, I know that’s not how you want to do your workouts. But that’s the reality of it right now. And you’ll feel good about having way to spend time with your kids that makes you and them happy. And they get to see you prioritizing yourself, too.
Role-modeling FTW!
Click on this for an awesome video of one of my clients getting in her workout while hanging with her 3 boys!
Do 10-20 minutes of exercises during this time and be available to interact with the kids while you do it. You may want a big workout or to have that time to yourself, but that doesn’t work these days with the lack of time and motivation. You know that or you wouldn’t be reading this. Then stretch a bit and sit and hang with them for as long as YOU want.
These quick strength workouts are great for your health, will burn a good amount of calories for your week, will increase your metabolism and calorie burn for your runs/walks/daily life, AND will allow you to spend quality time with the kids that isn’t playing Pokemon trainer while they tell you what to do and complain that you’re doing it wrong.
What about where to start?
Well, that one is a bit more complicated. But this is the main point: Don’t dive in to something crazy like your friends doing a 90 day intense workout challenge that makes you pee yourself and ache all over.
Start with your core and low impact movements - Yoga and Pilates are great for this. Move on to strength building with weights and body weight exercises, and then graduate to more power type movements.
If you start slow, your body and mindset will stay able to keep going. If you need a program to follow that you can be confident is safe and effective for mamas like you, check out my 12 Week Progressive Workout Program, or even browse my Youtube Channel for quick and effective workouts for moms.
Here are some mindless workout ideas for you so you can multitask:
Workout A: Run a timer and do one exercise per minute. If you need to rest during that minute, that's fine! Stop or modify to make it a bit easier until you are ready to get back to it. Just try to do as many of that exercise as you can in a minute. If you need to rest between minutes, just let the timer run and start the next minute at the minute mark you're ready.
Workout B: Circuits: Do 3 leg exercises 20x (or whatever number you want that gets you feeling pretty tired) each and then repeat. Then do 3 arm/shoulder exercises 15x each and then repeat. Then do 3-5 core exercises however many times you want each and then repeat.
Workout C: Pyramids: Pick two exercises - I like to have one of them be core each time - do each ex 10x times. Then do each 9 times. Then do each 8 times... all the way to one. Then pick two more exercises and do those. Do as many pyramids as you want! 3 is a good number to start your motivation.
Here's a list of some exercises to choose from:
Legs: squats, sumo squats, alternating lunges, jumping lunges, burpees, curtsey lunges, hip bridges, clam shells, side lying leg lifts, anything else you can think of!
Arms/shoulders: Bicep curls, tricep dips or bent over extensions, overhead press, bent over reverse flies, push ups (plank position, arms wide, hands together), downward dog push ups...
Core: Planks, walking planks (side to side, forward backward, in and out), downdog to plank, butt lifts, bicycles, leg scizzors, luges, toe touches (lying on your back with your legs up in the air and reach for the toes), side planks, side plank hip dips, supermans, swimmers...
It may not look like you want or like it used to, but life is different now and we need to learn how to enjoy it and thrive, not try to get back to how it was.
And I should also mention workouts you can do with your kids - Now, these are not the same as your combo kid-time and strength workouts described above, but here is an awesome resource for ones you guys can do as a family to kick off your kid-time/workout time or just put into a busy day.
And, if you do these plus 10-20 of your own strength workouts, that's a ton of activity in your week! The kids get in some fun and activity and so do you.
BOOM! Multitasking again. Rocking mom life and getting what you need, too!
Remember, you are not trying to get back to the routine you had. It’s like having a newborn all over again. Life it totally different now. Let's bounce forward and learn to embrace a new routine and restructured approach to healthy living in mind and body.
Check out this FREE guide to more tips for Solving Your Home Workout Hurtles!