Finding Time to Workout With Kids

You wake up at 6AM every morning to get ready for work. You put your kids to bed at 8:30PM every night. You work hard at your job, you play with your kids when you get home, make dinner, and don’t have any free time to yourself during that time frame. When the kids are finally down to sleep, you’re getting ready to go to sleep and then you crash from a long day only to do it all again the next day.

If your days look similar to this, you are likely wondering where you are going to find time to workout. Looking from the inside out, you don’t have the time to really do anything special. However, if you step back and take a look at things from a higher level, there are certainly a few places you can put some type of fitness routine into a busy schedule like this.

First off, realize that a fitness routine doesn’t have to be hours on end to complete. Any active minutes are better than none. There are thousands of short routines that you can easily do at home that are 10 to 15 minutes out there. These routines will get your heart rate pumping if you want to, but they can also be more relaxed as well. Whatever you choose to do, 10 minutes can be fit into any schedule somewhere if you actually want to do it.

Taking a look at the example schedule from above, waking up 15 minutes earlier (5:45 instead of 6:00) will allow you to get your quick workout in. If you’re really not a morning person, you could also do your workout at night around 8:45 before heading to bed. If you’re doing your workout in the morning, set out your workout stuff as you go to bed. It will make it much easier to get right to your workout in the morning.

There are other ways to remain active and get some cardio in your day as well if you don’t want to actually wake up earlier or go to bed later. The biggest way to make that happen is to walk. Walk more than you do now. Take your kids on walks. Walk around your house more. Add activities in your day that encourage you to walk more. Walking is a low-impact exercise that can be added easily into a daily routine.

In terms of being low energy, there are two places to look to help with that. A lot of times, adding a workout to start your day will actually give you a little more energy. Getting your heart pumping and the blood flowing will actually make you feel more awake and that you can do more than you do now. By the end of the day you will likely be exhausted, but getting up the next day will re-energize you for the day.

The other thing you really need to look at is your diet. Most of the time you’re feeling tired everyday when you’re getting enough sleep at night is because your diet is not inline with what you should be eating. How much junk food are you eating? How many simple and healthy foods are you eating? Are you eating out a lot, or buying pre-made frozen foods for all of your meals? How much candy and sweets are you eating?

Ultimately, you’re going to need to fix your diet to really help with your energy levels. Cut out the junk food. Work on making simple meals at home - they can be absolutely delicious with not a lot of work. You can still enjoy some of the less healthy foods at times, but not every day. Eating is more important than fitness for energy and losing weight.

Working out when you’re busy comes down to finding a few minutes each day. It will require you to be dedicated. There may be days you miss a workout, but you have to try again the next day to get back at it. Keep committed, even when you falter.