I am SOOOO guilty when it comes to sitting my butt on the couch (or in my chair) after a long day. Whether your job is more mental, physical, in an office, work from home, SAHM, on your feet all day, or whatever, after a long day doing ANYTHING, it’s difficult to find the willpower or motivation to get yourself up and moving again.
To help make sure you’re getting the movement you need throughout the day, I have 3 key recommendations.
1. Schedule time into your calendar and guard that time like it is a sacred ritual.
Now, does this sound dramatic? Yeah, a bit.
But for some people, this is what needs to be done in order to make it work.
I have clients who treat their exercise time as a non-negotiable part of their day, and someone better be bleeding or missing a digit to disturb that time. If this fits your personality type, or if you’re the kind of busy mom who deeply needs to schedule each part of your day to make sure you’re getting all the things done, this might be the strategy for you.
2. Make your movement non-traditional.
What I mean by this is finding things that are not considered normal exercise routines (jogging, walking, biking, going to the gym).
Can you dance in the living room with your kids?
Jump rope or bounce on the trampoline with them? Play catch or basketball? Mopping
the floors, scrubbing the shower, or wiping the fronts of your kitchen cabinets?
Raking leaves? Washing the car? Anything that gets your body moving. If you
know you need to sweep, vacuum and mop the floors those activities can TOTALLY
count towards your daily movement. Then if you only feel like going for a 15-minute walk later, that’s just a bonus!
3. Break your movement into “bite-sized” activities.
So, what is that?
I can do anywhere from 50-100 squats, lunges, leg-lifts, toe-touches, etc., each day by doing them 10 at a time during random interval throughout my day. Usually if I find myself standing in the kitchen waiting for the microwave, or standing at the stove, or refilling my water bottle, I’ll do ten of whatever I’m pushing for that day. If I’m at work waiting for a client, I might do knee-raises, walk for 5-10 minutes, jumping jacks, etc. The point is I can get a LOT of movement into my day without taking up a large block of time to fit it in. So, if your day can be chaotic with many variables at play in your schedule, it might benefit you more to break up your 30-45 minutes of movement into smaller activities.
There is no “right” way to get movement into your day. I know we see a lot of social media posts/images/reels featuring people in their workout gear, getting their sweat on in the gym, jogging or hiking through nature, or doing power yoga in a studio. And there is nothing wrong with this! If that’s the way you prefer to be physically active, go for it!
But if you need to spend time after work playing in the backyard with your kids or everyone walking the family dog, that works, too. You can break it up into a few lunges while switching the laundry, a walk around the office during your coffee break, or pushups against the counter while waiting for the pasta sauce to come to a simmer on the stove.
Whatever works for you is the movement you should be pushing for. The important thing is to do the physical activity you will ACTUALLY DO!
And don’t forget to grab my FREE Healthy Meal Hacks for Busy Moms Guide! 21 Practical Tips, Hints, and Hacks for busy moms who are looking for convenience, budget-friendly ideas, or both!
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