The No Work Out Work Out

Hey there Fit Moms and Fit Girls! Do you sometimes feel like yelling, "I got no time for a work out"? I can totally relate! Family life can be so hectic at times, that carving out time to work out feels like just another chore. Mostly with zero priority. Don't beat yourself up about it, though! As a mom, you're getting exercise even without hitting the gym. Here's how...

The diaper change
Trying to change a diaper can be some serious cardio! Because here’s a heads up to you Fit Girls without kids: quietly laying on the changing table is something babies only do in movies. Especially with those poo nappies! Flipping, turning, flexing, pushing, crawling... I literally sweat after having changed a diaper. And now that my baby boy is a toddler, I can add chasing him before changing his diaper as a warming up drill!

The baby lift
You probably didn't know, but you're working your core when carrying your baby. With the extra weight on top, you need to stabilize your core when moving. This means working your abs and back muscles! Walking up and down the stairs with your baby on your arm adds drills for your glutes and legs too. You may not notice under your post-partum mummy tummy and your baby in front of it, but you're working on a strong core!

With toddlers it's even better: wanting to be lifted and carried constantly, you can add biceps to this workout. And it will definitely count as core training. I mean, do you lift 15k when doing dead lifts in the gym? I don’t!

Cyclomom
This is probably a Dutch thing, but I can recommend it to all fit moms of all nations: get on yer bike! In our little country, where parking space is tight and expensive, and everything is nearby, the mode of transportation of choice is the bike. In the Netherlands, even a special mom bike was put to market: a sturdy bike that can hold the weight of a mom and her 2 kids, 1 in the front and 1 in the back, the stroller and a day's groceries. How's that for pedaling with resistance?

Using the bike on your short commutes is the easiest way of working out without working out. A ride to school, to the supermarket, back to school, to any after school practice or to the gym: before you know, you've hit the target of 30 minutes of exercise. Check!

Savasana
Even when running around with the kids, you can use any quiet moment for some yoga meditation. However short it may be! My kids love to climb on top of me, making a family huddle. During this rough cuddling, I sometimes close my eyes, relax my body and take a savasana (aka corpse pose) mediation as long as I can get it. The kids love it, poking at me as if I'm dead. And they love it even more when I return back from the dead and chase them like a zombie. What can I say? Boys will be boys.

Quantified fit mom
Don't believe what I say? Download an activity tracker on your phone and see for yourself! I like Human, an app that gives you kudos for moving 30 minutes a day (or any multitude of that time unit). But of course, there are plenty more. Argus for example combines its activity tracker with a food log.

Watch out though, using the movement sensor in your phone will cost you serious battery life. And if you use the push notifications cheering you on too, you'll see the end of your data plan too! A perfect reason to invest in or to be gifted an activity tracker, don't you think?

How do you squeeze in a work out in your busy family schedule without hitting the gym? Let me know your secret in a comment!