Finding time to exercise as a parent!
Before I had my beautiful daughter I was oblivious to the time constraints having a child puts you under. If a client everr said to me they were unable to exercise due to time restraints with their child, I would just say ‘make time’.
Pretty unreasonable coming from a 28 year old who had no child, no responsibility, could nap when he wanted, eat when he wanted, train when he wanted and pretty much have full control of his time.
HOWEVER, now I have my very own little 2 year old, it is rare I can go to the toilet without her standing on my feet asking me to go play with some toys (providing my partner isn’t already with her). In the last 3 years due to a pretty awful pregnancy experience for us, I have not being able to establish a training plan that works for me consistently, due to having 90 mins sleep some nights, sharing a bed with a toddler who seems to take up the whole bed, sleeping on the floor next to her because she is demanding I sleep there with her, and the worst one is when you get ill with the germs she brings home from nursery.
Anyway, so I have had to chop and change from week to week but the main thing is that I have ensured I consistently get at least 3 ‘workouts’ in, whether this be a weights session in the gym, a hyrox themed HIIT session, some rowing or running occasionally too. This has kept me on the straight and narrow and kept me mentally above water through this time.
2 and a half years in to her crazy life and I have finally started to settle in to a little bit of a routine, my non-negotiables have changed so much in this time though. I used to put everything beneath me working out because I ‘wanted them gainz’, I wanted to look goood because that would make me feel good (at least that is what I thought). I was severely depressed during my most aesthetically pleasing time, mainly because I restricted everything I enjoyed in life.
However, now the first thing that goes on my weekly calendar is, on a sunday morning I will take my daughter swimming. This one on one time we have together gives me more joy than I ever thought possible, every time I ask her if she wants to go swimming she will run around screaming with excitment, she even goes to sleep if I tell her when she wakes up we will go swimming. Seeing her jump in the pool, splash around and throw toys at me is like something I have never experienced before.
The reason that goes on my weekly calendar first is because it is the most important thing in my week, then when I look at my exercise schedule I will try get my minimum 3 workouts in on a monday, tuesday and thursday. Why? Because that is when she is at nursery all day, I don’t want to waste any of my precious time with her on the other days with me in the gym when I can get at least 3 sessions in whilst she is at nursery. Then me and my Dani will try get out for a ‘family run’ together once a week as dani is training for a half marathon and some cardio never hurt anyone, plus my daughter gets to see the sheep too.
I saw something that said putting time aside for you away from your child to work out isn’t selfish, its actually selfless as you are prolonging your life with your child and increasing the amount of fun activities you can do with them.
I guess what I am saying here is that putting time aside for yourself to exercise and gain some mental clarity is probably the best thing you can do for yourself and your child/children. However this doesn’t mean that sometimes if you have only had 2 hours sleep one night due to a poorly child, it isn’t the end of the world if you don’t manage to get to the gym but go for a walk instead, or go swimming with your kid. It is priceless for your child to see you exercising too, normalising working out rather than sat in front of the tv can only be a positive for them in the short and long term.
We are all in this for the long game, and consistency is key as with anything.
If you want to come to the gym with your child, they are always welcome at FBC Harrogate in our classes or in the private 1:1 sessions