7 Ways Frazzled Parents Can Fit In Exercise

Many parents can relate to this scenario: You're on a walk, alone, without your kids or maybe even your dog. “They let you out alone?” the neighbors joke. 

When you have small children, the exercise you might once have taken for granted becomes something you have to schedule. Even when you do, you might have to rush home within an hour to feed a new baby, or hire a sitter just to be able to go for a run. If you have one child, you can pop him in a jogging stroller and bring them with you on workouts or swim laps during his lessons, but that gets trickier the more kids you have. And let's face it...you have to be really motivated. After all, you have to eat, and shower, and go to work, too...oh, and maybe sleep once in a while.

You have to get creative, and although most of us probably feel like we still have a long way to go before we're as fit as we’d like to be, here are a few tips to help busy parents fit in exercise.

Stay close to home.

When you’re nursing, or otherwise on a tight schedule, sometimes it’s just easier to work out near your house, or in it. Running, walking, and cycling are all great ways to fit in an intense workout by walking out the door or downstairs to your basement. If you can get your hands on a treadmill or bike trainer, you can run or bike in your basement or garage, or try yoga, dance videos, P90X videos, a boxing bag, and/or a weight bench with hand weights. If you’re lucky enough to have winter sports options within walking distance of your house, ice skating, snowshoeing, or cross-country skiing are convenient opportunities for cold-weather cardio.

Trade with another adult.

If you've got another adult in your household (your partner, parent, or roommate), or if you have a neighbor or friend in a similar situation as yours, trade off. One of you can head out to exercise for an hour while the other watches the kids, and then you switch. It might mean you cut down on other family activities, but your kids will see you making exercise a priority, and that's pretty important. 

Make it part of your daily routine.

If you have a dog, walk him--it's great for both of you! Walk or bike to work, if you can, or at lunch. Take an early morning run to get energized or an evening walk to wind down. The more you can incorporate physical activity into your day-to-day life and make it a habit, the better.

Pay a sitter or join a gym that provides childcare.

It might just be worth it to your peace of mind and physical fitness to pay a sitter to watch you kids so you can get outside and exercise. Or, you could join a gym with drop-off childcare, like the YMCA. Consider it an investment in your health.

Take your kids out with you.

In nice weather, you can pop one or two kids in a jogging stroller or bike trailer and bring them along on your walk, run, or bike ride (just be sure to follow all age and safety guidelines, like having kids wear bike helmets in a bike trailer and locking the wheel of your jogging stroller if it swivels). With a Chariot, you can even cross-country ski with a little one. It's not uncommon in the Midwest to see families out ice skating with infants in strollers with swivel wheels. Or, you can take your kids walking, biking, hiking, skating or skiing, depending on the season and their ages. Take your kids to play tag, soccer, or touch football at the park. You might not get as intense a workout as you would on your own, but it’s fun for everyone and sets a wonderful example for your children.

Be flexible.

Sometimes the sitter cancels. Sometimes the weather’s too stormy to swim outside or drive to the gym. Sometimes you wake up with a cold. Being willing to switch it up (run instead of swim, walk instead of run) means you’ll still be happy that you got some exercise, even if it isn’t the exact workout you had in mind.

Be patient.

Kids grow up awfully fast, and it only gets easier to find hours in the day to work out—with or without them. Practicing patience when it comes to your schedule and, perhaps more importantly, with your ability to stay fit or lose weight is the key to happiness in so much of parenting...and life.