Exercising is hard work, especially when you’re short on time and have to look after the kids. But, regularly training is really important for your health and mind, so shouldn’t be overlooked.
If you’re keen to keep fit, but struggling to fit exercise into your lifestyle, you’ve come to the right place. We quizzed leading athletes on their top tips for how parents can keep fit…
Tip 1: Set an attainable goal
Athlete Martyn Rooney is also a parent of two young children. His top tip for parents on keeping fit? “Set an attainable goal, but one that’s actually going challenge them. If you’ve got a goal you can aim for then it’ll keep you motivated.”
Tip 2: Workout when the kids are sleeping
“Me and my wife have worked out that you just have to take opportunities [to exercise] when the children are sleeping. If there’s someone else in the house, go out and do 20 minutes of exercise.
It doesn’t have to be a long run – on our road we have a little hill and my wife will run up and down it to exercise. She gets a lot out of that 20 minutes – it’s all about making sure that when you have the opportunity to workout, you take it. Don’t sit and have a coffee instead!”
Tip 3: Listen to music
Athlete Dina Asher-Smith swears by listening to music to get her through a workout: “I use music to lift me up. It makes me happy and makes me smile and I think ‘yes I can do this!'”.
If you’re exercising with your kids, put on a feel-good Spotify playlist that you’ll both enjoy, and we can guarantee that both your moods and workouts will be boosted!
Tip 4: Snacks don’t have to be the enemy
“My diet is pretty straightforward, I’m not that fancy in the kitchen. I think with families it’s snacking all the time [that can catch you out],” said Martyn.
Martyn’s favourite family snack is yoghurt. “Everyone can have a Müller Corner yoghurt pretty easy, it’s a good part of your lunch, it’s a good snack for the whole family.” Yoghurt is a great source of protein which will help you build muscle, too.
Tip 5: Create an at-home circuit
British hurdling athlete Andrew Pozzi told us that there’s lots of easy stuff parents can do to keep fit. “There’s loads of body weights and circuits you can do, and you can buy weights like kettle bells relatively inexpensively. Do stuff like squats, lunges, side lunges with them.”
Remember that when you’re doing exercises with weights, take it easy and build up the weights gradually.
“There’s loads of circuit exercises you can do around the house, too,” Andrew added. We recommend doing things like jumping jacks, tuck jumps, squats and burpees. You can even do simple things like jogging on the spot and skipping for a minute long. “It doesn’t take very long to get fit, when the intensity is higher you often burn a lot more – you don’t need to do an hour on a treadmill,” said Andrew.
Tip 6: Most importantly – have fun!
“I feel like enjoying yourself is at the route of everything. If you don’t enjoy something, you won’t do it. So, if [your workouts are] really fun or you have an end goal in mind, you’re going to be way better at it and be able to do it for longer.” This is very true – if you enjoy your workouts you’re more likely to regularly do them. So, put on some uplifting music and have fun whilst you’re exercising!
Via Closer.
