How to Stay Active When You're a Parent

A major misconception about exercising is that you have to be doing full-tilt, sweat-drenched mega-workouts to qualify as ‘staying active’. This is far too much pressure to be putting on yourself – especially in addition to the pressures of parenthood!

The reality is that any movement you do counts as staying active – pushing a pram on a 30 minute walk, kicking a ball around in the park, dancing your heart out during a kitchen disco; it’s all activity.  It’s not about what kind of activity you do, it’s about finding ways to consistently incorporate active movements into your daily life. Even if all you’re doing is taking the dog out for a walk every morning, it all goes towards having a positive impact on your body and mind.

Exercise doesn’t have to be a solo undertaking – and striving to make it one means trying (and often failing) to find pockets of time for yourself within a packed family schedule.

Instead, why not incorporate movement into everday life for all of your family? Going for a nightly walk after dinner, taking part in parkrun on a Saturday (or junior park run on a Sunday), or having a game of frisbee in the park – these are all fun activities that get you moving, with the added benefit of getting your kids into the habit of staying active too.

Not everyone is co-parenting or lucky enough to have a helpful family member living nearby, but those who do have the opportunity to ask someone to step in and do some occasional babysitting so they can take a short break and squeeze in a workout. Again, this doesn’t need to be for hours on end – 20-30 minutes for a quick run or gym session could be all you need – so rest assured there’s no need to make huge demands on anyone’s time.

Instead of trying to fit your hectic life around your workout routine, try to take advantage of natural opportunities in your daily schedule to stay active. For example, if you find there are moments when you get 5-10 minutes to yourself, why not do some quick exercises – a set of squats or star jumps, perhaps – in the meantime? This might be during naptime, or while you are waiting to pick the kids up after football practice.

At the same time, there are also ways to make exercise part of your daily routine – particularly when it comes to walking. If you live within walking distance of school or the shops, these are great ways to incorporate a bit of physical activity into the day instead of driving – and if you’re not quite within walking distance, you could park slightly further away and walk the rest of the distance.

Above all, you have to be prepared to be flexible – it’s unlikely you’re going to be able to get time to yourself every day, so embrace the opportunities when you can, and don’t be too downheartened when they fail to present themselves.

A big part of staying active is looking after yourself more generally – eating healthily, making sure you’re hydrated, getting as much sleep as you can, stretching when possible – so that you have the energy and fitness to get moving whenever the opportunity arises.

As a parent, you’re also likely to be spending a lot of time on your feet chasing toddlers and cleaning up after them, so you may find that you’re developing the occasional blister that can slow you down and get in the way whenever you have a moment to exercise. At those times, it’s a good idea to have some Compeed® blister plasters on hand, so there’s no chance of foot pain getting in the way of everyday life or staying active.

Life doesn’t always go according to plan, and as a busy parent it’s very unlikely that staying active can be your number one priority – so the important thing is to embrace and celebrate those moments where you are able to get moving, and avoid blaming yourself for not exercising on days when your schedule simply doesn’t allow for it.

Staying active as a parent means fitting active moments into your life whenever it’s possible, not fitting your life around an exercise regime. Because in the end, it’s those special moments with your loved ones that create wonderful memories – and anything you can squeeze in between to stay active is a bonus!