“But I don’t have time to workout!”

A busy’s Mom’s guide to making it work

• Planning and Communication. Life is a never ending timeline of places to be and things to do. Finding time to fit in exercise takes planning and communication. If you expect to get a certain number of workouts in per week, but don’t carve out dedicated time or communicate that expectation to your significant other, exponentially increases the risk of “life” taking over and it not getting done. Right after having our first, Ian and I sat down to try to figure how we were going to fit working out in our hectic schedules. We loosely planned who was going to drop and pick him up throughout the week and who was going to fit workouts when. Fast forward 5 years and we are still doing the same at the start of the week. We each have a night a week we try to get to the Crossfit gym and Ian takes advantage of being able to get some workouts done during his lunch hour when possible. Long runs and more time intensive workouts on the weekend are staggered (one early and one leaving as soon as the first gets back).

• Make workout time “your time”. I know for me carving out some time for myself is 200% needed for me to be the best Mom, wife, and co-worker I can be. So why not improve your healthy during that time. A run or bike ride can help me to clear my head and unwind. A hard Crossfit workout or challenging spin class leave me tired, but energized. Exercise with a friend add accountability and can leave your physically and emotionally renewed. Of the 168 hours per week, don’t you think that you and your health are worth a few of them?

• Make a home workout area to eliminate excuses. Getting to the gym after work and home in time for dinner was getting more difficulty time wise. We try to eat dinner at the table as a family as much as possible. Ditching our gym membership and growing our home gym equipment has made this more possible. We can come home after work and get in a quick 20-30 minute workout before dinner. The internet is full of youtube exercise videos and body weight circuit ideas. You would be surprised how far you can get with those alone, but adding a few pieces of equipment (free weights, medicine balls, treadmill, stationary bike) and the interval possibilities are endless.

• Bring your kids along. The older the child, the more likely they are to be able to participate with you. We strive to teach our kids the importance of physical activity as a way of life, and what better way to do that then to see us in action. But as 5 and 3 year olds ours are still on the sidelines for now. The younger you incorporate your kids into the action, the more use to and tolerant they become. It is amazing the power of snacks and tablets. Investing in a jogging stroller or pull behind bike trailer lets you bring the kids along, and lets be honest is a killer workout. Our kids have been coming to the Crossfit gym since they were babies and what started with them in plastic traveling gate cages has progressed to them looking forward to coming (certainly the ropes, rings and bars at the gym have something to do with that).

• Get active next date or girls night. Our favorite date activity is getting to do something active we otherwise wouldn’t be able to do together, like mountain biking or exploring some new trails. With the increase of boutique gyms, most of which offer a first session free, get your girlfriends together monthly to try that new workout/class/boot camp everyone has been talking about.