He woke us up at 11:00pm, only an hour after retiring for the night. I was in charge of getting my wife water and food while she fed our son. I was woken up again at the god awful hour of 5:30am when my day officially began.
I wiped the crust from my eyes, put on my glasses and dragged myself out of bed to attend to our son.
I felt as if I’d been run over by a steam roller. My head hurt, my body disoriented and my mind a little less sharp than I would have liked.
My mornings used to begin at 7am, after 8 hours of well rested sleep. Taking my fiber, sipping on a hot tea, reading a fitness or health magazine and then heading off to the gym by 8 was the norm.
This was the old me, the gym rat and fitness nut. The me before I became a mom and life’s responsibilities forced me to make changes.
I was not willing to accept that becoming a mom meant letting go of who I was or the things in life that mattered to me most. No matter how many night wakings, how brain dead I felt or how much laundry had piled up, I knew that my sanity and well-being was dependent on my motivation to move.
Regardless of how tired or how little time I had in the day I was determined to make it happen.
I quickly realized that it was not the gym that I was addicted to it was the way I felt after exercising. The happy hormones, the strength, the energy training provided me with was what I craved and the very thing I could not live without.
Within 6 months of our son’s birth I perfected the in-home workout. I invested in a kettle bell and TRX Suspension Trainer to keep my workouts fresh and dusted off my old skipping rope and dumbbells. I knew I could find 30 minutes most days of the week to be active and I changed the way I viewed my fitness. I have never looked back.
If you want to make your fitness a priority and make in-home workouts a part of your day follow these tips:
1. Create a play list.
We all know that our choice of motivational tunes is not always what motivates others. Creating an inspiring and motivating play list will get you in the mood to move. Music stimulates certain areas of the brain and helps us push past fatigue and exhaustion sooner than exercising without your fave tunes!
2. Schedule it!
You put all kinds of appointments into your calendar each day. Making a commitment to exercise is just as important as making a commitment to meet a friend for coffee or take you child on a play date. If it’s not scheduled it’s far less likely to happen.
3. Follow a routine you enjoy.
If you like to attend boot camps or circuit classes then find workout videos that train you in that way. If you like to dance chose Zumba or dance videos. If you’re a hard core cardio enthusiast, seek out those resources so you will be motivated to do the workouts. If weight training is really your thing then do as I did and invest in a few pieces of gear (kettle bell and TRX Suspension Trainer) that make staying strong and lean at home effective and easy.
4. Ask for support.
The saying “it takes a community to raise a child” really rings true here. You cannot do everything yourself. Asking for help and relying on those around you is crucial. Trade off with a close neighbor. You watch their kid one day and they watch yours the next. Take advantage of family and friends who come by to visit. You know they’re secretly coming over to see the kids anyways. Asking for what you need does not make you a bad parent in fact, it’s the exact opposite.
5. Hire a Personal Trainer to get you rolling, safely and effectively.
You have to want to be fit, be motivated to do the workouts and be committed to making changes in your life but hiring a trainer to motivate and share their expertise takes the pressure off. We can set you up with an effective in-home workout regime so you get the results you are after and are able to keep up the routine. Creating safe workouts that are within your skill level and current fitness abilities is super important for your success.
Realizing how effective and easy exercising at home is really changed my life and I know it will yours. Don’t limit your thinking or close off to the idea that just because it looked a certain way before it must look that way again. Life is not like that. Change is inevitable but it’s what we do with those changes that matters.
Originally published at strengthandsoulwellness.com