Regular Exercise: Hard to fit in but critical
Dear readers, I love/resist my regular exercise routine. I love it because of what It does for my brain (a nice healthy dose of endorphins; the feel-good chemical in our brains) but I also love it because it helps me practice being present, reduces the risk of many serious diseases, helps me sleep at night, makes me feel strong and proud and ends up making me feel a little sexy. That can’t hurt right? Let me explain why there are times I resist it. Because exercising can be hard! When you exercise you strain and struggle and sweat. It’s even harder when you’re tired from the 1 million OTHER demands that come with being a human, not to mention a parent if you are one. And who has the time?! Finding time for exercise during a “prime” part of the day sometimes feels impossible.
I believe we all may feel this way about exercise. We know we “should” but it’s so hard to do it AND to find time. In this post I’m going to break down the “why” we “should” engage in regular exercise and I’m going to delve out some strategies on how to fit it into your life once and for all. I manage to fit 5 sessions of exercise into my life with two littles and what feels like a million demands and I want to share with you how I do this. But FIRST! Some education!
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What is the Bare Minimum?
The CDC recommends we exercise 150 minutes a week (30 minutes 5 times a week) at a moderate intensity which can include brisk walking or “active yoga” like vinyasa or 75 minutes a week (25 minutes 3 times per week) of vigorous intensity exercise like jogging or HIIT (high intensity interval training). In addition to this level of activity the CDC also recommends strength training at least 2 times a week that targets all major muscles groups (legs, hips, back, chest, abs, shoulders, and arms). These recommendations are the BARE minimum amount of exercise recommended. Are you meeting these recommendations?
What it does for your body...
Engaging in moderate intensity exercise from 150- 300 minutes per week can decrease the risk of all-cause mortality, heart disease, stroke, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, some cancers, anxiety, depression, Alzheimer’s and can also improve sleep, help you think more clearly and have an overall better quality of life. Need I say more? Anyone on the planet can benefit from ALL of the things I just typed out. If you want to continue to educate yourself on the plethora of benefits, then feel free to read pages 56- 63 on this is a very informative PDF provided by the CDC.
What it does for your mind...
Before I move onto how to consistently maintain an exercise routine, I want to say one last thing about what exercise does to help our minds. Physical activity can help you think clearly, can enhance your memory, can boost your problem-solving abilities, can reduce anxiety and depression. I think it’s safe to say that ALL of us can use some boosting of the brain powers and if exercise (something that’s easily accessible and arguably free) is one of the major components that can get us these powers then it should be high on the list of priorities.
How to Maintain an Exercise Routine
“Now that I’ve done my best to convey how amazing regular exercise is for your mind, body, and overall health I need to keep my promise and share with you how you can fit regular exercise into your routine. Let’s start with an example schedule.
Here’s what your schedule might look like
Wake, get ready/take care of EVERYONE ELSE, go to work or stay at home with the kids, come home, dinner and then evening routine, crash into bed. Now where oh where will you fit exercise in?!
Let me tell you ONE great thing: If you do the 75 minutes of “vigorous exercise” that the CDC recommends then here’s what your exercise routine can look like:
Monday-Sunday 11 minutes of jogging per day
Monday-Saturday 12.5 minutes of HIIT each day
Monday- Friday 15 minutes of any type of cardio or vigorous movement
Add 2 sessions of strength training that exercise your hips, back, shoulders, legs, abs, and arms in there (which you can do while watching TV) and you’re good to go!
Choose what time of the day is the best part of the day for you to try and fit this in little bit of exercise in? Ask yourself these questions:
1. What time of the day do you have the most energy? Morning, noon, night?
2. If you don’t have the luxury of choosing an ideal time then choose which time is best
3. Where can you do this exercise?
4. What materials do you need set out, set up or packed?
5. If a kiddo or two has to join you how can you make that happen? Stroller run? Exercise video while they dig into an electronic or special toy?
6. Can you delegate a task to a partner or family member so that you can make some time for exercise?
My Example Exercise Routine
Here’s what my workout routine used to look like when I accomplished 3 times a week:
Tuesday- Thursday:
Before both kiddos went to mother’s day out (MDO) I’d exercise either while they were napping OR while they were playing right next to me. I’d continue to exercise EVEN with all the interruptions to show them that I’m BUSY taking care of myself so that I can take care of them…I’d tell them that too.
After they started MDO:
2 HIIT group exercise videos using the Lifetime Fitness App in the morning (HIIT is great because it covers both cardio & strength training)
Saturday OR Sunday:
I’d recruit my husband to be with the kiddos and I’d literally LOCK MYSELF in our bedroom and exercise.
Now I manage to exercise 5 times a week:
Here’s how it looks now:
Tuesday-Thursday:
3 group fitness classes that range from 20 minutes to 45 minutes before OR after my kiddos go to MDO (my husband is available to be with them while I get a 6 am workout in)
**I NEVER would have thought I’d be a 6am exercise kind of person but if it’s only 20 minutes and it can be your ALONE time in the morning…then you might just begin to like it😊
Saturday & Sunday:
I recruit my husband again to be with the kiddos so that I can take time for myself in our bedroom to exercise and then shower…so relaxing…
If you CANNOT find the time...
You might be a reader that says “I’m a full-time working parent! I CANNOT find time!”
To this I say, are you absolutely positively positive? Let me ask you some questions to see if we can’t find some wiggle room and that jam packed schedule😊
- What chores can you decrease the frequency of attending to? For example, less time spent doing laundry on specific days.
- Can you back down from a chore and allocate it to someone else?
- Can you purge so that you have less things to put away/take care of?
- Can you do some prep of ANY kind ahead of time so it can free up time during the week?
Examples: Prep weekly dinner ingredients, ALL laundry done on Sunday, Crockpot meals.
- Can you decrease the time spent in traffic by leaving earlier for work and then leaving earlier from the office?
- Can you wake up 20 minutes earlier to fit in a 15-minute workout?
- Can you spend 15-30 minutes exercising right after work or during a lunch break?
These are all simply questions and ideas that might get some brainstorming going on how to fit exercise into your life.
There is one more question I want to pose to you before I stop with the questions!
Can you identify barriers?
- Are there any barriers, other than schedule issues, to you locking down that workout routine?
Examples:
- Unsupportive workout clothes, uncomfortable shoes, ill-fitting sports bra
- Don’t like the exercise that you’ve chosen such as group fitness classes or Zumba or bootcamp.
- Lack of support from significant others or from your social circle
Yet again, these questions are meant to help with brainstorming. If there are barriers, then identify them and try to find a specific solution for yourself. Figuring out a good exercise routine is NOT all or nothing. It’s always changing form depending on you, what’s going on in your life and what barriers are presenting themselves. What shouldn’t change is you consistently showing up.
Pep Talk!
The most important message I want to communicate is that an exercise routine WILL NOT BE PERFECT but simply getting dressed and showing UP is the first and hardest step. You may get dressed, exercise for 10 minutes and feel like it was a flop BUT you SHOWED UP. Therefore, you accomplished your goal. Show up over and over and you are succeeding at accomplishing your goal. That’s a fact. Don’t be hard on yourself or judge yourself or get discouraged. Remember, seeing results takes time. If you feel as though you’re not seeing or feeling results, then it might be that the way you eat needs to be evaluated and that’s a whole different blog post!
I hope this post was at least educational and helpful. I’m 100% positive that anyone, and I mean anyone, can find an exercise routine that will challenge them and improve their quality of life. What changes do you feel you can make so that you can fit regular exercise into your schedule? Can you identify barriers and knock them down? I think you can!
Until next time!
Kristi
Written by Kristi McCreight, May 24th, 2023