How To Fit In Exercise With Young Children At Home

No more sacrificing your fitness

I managed to still get to the gym and hot yoga classes after my first was born, somehow. But along came my second child and I just couldn’t do it. My exercise and fitness routine went out the window and I grew resentful.

I started reading up on how to fit exercise in around young children at home and didn’t like any of the suggestions.

• Get up early to work out…yeah, no thanks. With two young kids, sleep is a premium!
• Exercise late at night…heck no, again sleep is more of a priority. Not to mention by the time the children are in bed I am exhausted and the last thing I want to do is workout.
• Join a gym with a creche. Our gym memberships were the first to go with two kids, maternity leave and the need to tighten the purse strings.
• When your partner or family member could look after them. Not appealing as I am then locked into someone else’s schedule.

So I have learnt to fit exercise in around the kids at home.

I actually quite enjoy it now, they are my little cheerleaders. And they “exercise” alongside me. I love that I am instilling healthy and positive fitness habits into my children from such a young age. But it did take a change in my mindset, some planning and hard work to get to this point.

If you don’t want to pay for a gym membership with childcare facilities or hire a babysitter, don’t have family to look after your children and don’t want to get up super early or exercise late, try the following tips to fit it in around your children.

Change your exercise mindset.

This was a huge one for me. Pre-kids and before my second child was born I would work-out for an hour or so nearly every day. With two kids that is near impossible. So I changed the way I approached exercise.

I either break it into 15 minute chunks throughout the day, or I simply do a shorter workout.

The key is to plan what you are going to do and when. And if you have read any of my other articles you know how I swoon over planning! I love to plan. It is the BEST thing as a working parent trying to fit all the things in. So plan, plan and plan. Plan when and what type of exercise you are going to do, write it down in your planner and then DO IT!

I got onto this amazing app that is full of short workout routines tailored to mums. Some are as short as 10minutes, some are longer. When I am planning out our week and how busy each day looks I pick a workout that will fit and plan my days around that.

Key points to change your exercise mindset:

• Pick shorter workouts
• Break it up throughout the day
• Choose a workout that fits into your routine
• Plan, plan and plan!

YouTube is your best friend!

My kids love to be involved with “mums exercise”. If I try to do yoga they climb all over me. If I try to do a plank, push up or sit up I usually end up with one of them lying across me. Whilst this is a great way to get stronger, it is also a great way to hurt yourself!

Enter YouTube. There are amazing videos on there with routines you can do with your children. They may not be the more “traditional” workout that you are used to, but you still get to move your body and release those endorphins. Heck yes.

A few of our favourites are Cosmic Kids yoga, kids zumba and The Wiggles. They are created for children, but can give you a great workout too! Cosmic Kids yoga also has “family” yoga workouts, fun for the whole family!

Key points for YouTube:

• Cosmic Kids Yoga (seriously fun!)
• Dancing and zumba.
• Music videos to dance like a loon too.

Get a treadmill.

I never thought I would be a treadmill lover. I didn’t like them. I would prefer to be out running or walking in nature and feeling like I was moving forward, not just jogging on the spot.

However, during the height of covid lockdown we were limited with how long we were allowed out to exercise. I chose to use those hours to get the kids out of the house, rather than running. So we decided to buy a treadmill.

Honestly, best investment ever!

I set it up in the garage. Now whenever I want I can go out there and run on the treadmill. I blast some music and the kids have a dance party. If they don’t want to dance they:

• grab the bucket of chalk and draw on the ground.
• have a huge cardboard box laid out flat with driving tracks drawn on it and they race cars around on.
• play in the backyard or sandpit (they are still visible as the back of our garage is open).

Key treadmill ideas:

• Set it up somewhere your children can play safely nearby
• Set up an activity for the kids in eyesight before you jump on the treadmill (I also made sure they have water and snacks)
• Be sure to warm up and cool down.
• Stretch well before and after.

Hit the pavement.

Getting outside and walking or bike riding with the kids is an amazing way to fit in exercise.

We like to start our day off with a walk or bike ride, usually followed by a play in the park. When my second child was born we would walk whilst my son either jumped in the pram or rode his bike. Now I can walk/jog as they ride their bikes, or sometimes my daughter prefers to go in the pram. It is a great workout pushing her in the pram whilst my 6 year old races along on his bike.

The fresh air and moving your body first thing in the morning is a great way to start the day. You feel accomplished, and if you cannot fit any other exercise in, at least you have managed a walk!

Key points to hit the pavement:

• Be prepared to stop every metre so your child can admire the flowers, leaves, sticks, ants, or anything else that captures their attention.
• Invest in a pram that has plenty of storage underneath so when your toddler is tired of riding you can put the bike under there.
• Take snacks. Never forget the snacks!
• Try bribery. I would bribe both my children to sit in the pram so I could at least do a fast walk for 20minutes before they got out. I used smoothies as an incentive! Or the promise of a hot chocolate when we got home.

Fitting in exercise with young children is easy with a little planning and a mindset shift.

You can fit in exercise around your young children with a small change in your mindset and some planning!

Your exercise routine may not look how it used to, but you can still prioritise your health. And as your children get older it will become easier to exercise how you used to.

Rachel Maree is a writer, mum and registered nurse. Bringing you the real truth to parenting, nursing and writing (even when it is downright ugly). You can read more articles or hire her to write amazing content for you — Rachel Maree.

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