Do you wish you could find time to fit in fitness? GUEST POST: Vicky Warr

Do you wish you could find time to fit in fitness? Now you can. Here are 3 EASY ways for busy mums.. By Vicky Warr, pregnancy and postnatal fitness specialist and creator of TheBeezKneez Hive. Whether you are a mum with a new baby or you have toddlers or older children; whether you have one, two, three or more children and you’re juggling family life with work, fitness needn’t be something you don’t have time for. Exercise is a great de-stressor and seeing it as essential ‘me-time’ to take care of yourself and your health helps you feel better throughout your day and give you the energy to chase after your little ones. These three ways means exercise can slot into your life and it doesn’t need to feel like a privilege. You don’t need a gym, childcare or equipment for any of these, so having no time is really an excuse rather than a reason!  

1. Workout At Home.

Follow an online video which means you can workout whenever your fancy from wherever you are; your home or hotel room if you are on holidays. It’s a convenient way to workout and quicker way too as you don’t waste valuable minutes travelling to a gym. Working out at home also gives you the flexibility of finding a window of opportunity that fits in with your schedule such as when your baby naps or your toddler plays. Choose a 10-15 minute strength workout that uses exercises with your bodyweight to effectively tone your core and whole body and strengthen your back to lift your children! Think quality over quantity when it comes to the duration of your exercise. Mums are time pressed so your online video needs to be effective and efficient. Tip: If you’ve recently had a baby, avoid high impact style workouts for at least the first few months. It’s tempting when you want to lose the baby weight but instead be safe; I always recommend a postnatal exercise video with low impact moves and lots of targeted core exercises. That way you are not stressing an already weakened core, back or pelvic floor! Avoid any conventional stomach exercises such as crunches or sit-ups which aren’t suitable because of the risk of diastasis recti, an abdominal separation often occurring during pregnancy or childbirth which manifests itself in a ‘mummy tummy’ pooch.

2. Use The Great Outdoors.

Exercising outdoors whilst your children play in the park is a great way to get your fitness fix and be a role model to help encourage your children to live an active lifestyle. You’ll also get your vitamin D hit and elevate your endorphins to relieve stress all at the same time. So take your children to the park, put on your fitness gear and instead of sitting on the park bench, do step-ups on the bench instead. Take your baby out in the buggy or front sling and squat and do walking lunges to tone your legs. The extra weight of having the baby in a front sling will make it more challenging! You can also do running sessions, going from one tree to another and getting your children to join in with you.   Tip: Always do your core and pelvic core exercises when you’ve just had a baby before attempting to start running too soon.  

3. Join A Live Video Fitness Class.

This truly is the SMART way for Mamas to get fit. It’s becoming a very popular, convenient way as like a home workout you don’t need to leave your house so there’s no travelling time involved. If you are the sort of person that needs instruction and someone to inspire them but also enjoys the interaction of a group this is a great alternative to a gym fitness class but without the travelling time. With a live video fitness class you have to join at a specific time giving you a ‘routine’. A fixed time nearly always makes finding the time easier because it gives you that commitment which mentally makes you more motivated. It’s just like joining a class but without the hassle of finding childcare or the expense of a gym crèche!   Tip: I love the live video classes on offer from www.joinflex.tv from yoga to meditation and classes specifically designed for mamas.   Not sure how to get started with a fitness programme? My 5 Day Mummy Tummy Kick Start gives you a 10 minute daily workout you can do at anytime, your kids could join in too. Not only that each day you also get a delicious, healthy recipe to help flatten your tummy that’s easy to make and you’ll whole family will love too. #mummytummy #thebeezkneez Join it here today for free: www.beezkneezhive.com Vicky Warr is founder of The Beez Kneez Hive and a pregnancy and postnatal specialist online fitness trainer. She is accredited with the YMCA and is pregnancy fitness consultant for Mothercare and fitness expert for Gurgle Magazine. She is also a mum to Luca and Poppy.

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