Workout routine for parents

It can be hard to find a workout routine as a parent of young children. I have two daughters who are (almost) 4 and 2 and I share my experience.

1 - Lack of energy

First, you’re tired, SO TIRED, I know. Nights are short and your sleep quality is disastrous. Since I have kids, I never feel fully rested, it’s like they eat my soul some days. But they’re cute though, aren’t they? Anyway, most days, I have to bully myself to the gym because I am really not motivated and I feel like I won’t be able to lift a finger, even less a barbell. But most of my workout sessions end up being actually so good and give me energy to go through the rest of my day. Like most things that are good for you, sport doesn’t feel great before but amazing after. So how do I deal with lack of energy? I don’t wait to be motivated otherwise I’d workout once a month, but I write my workouts in advance in my calendar and I treat it like I would treat any client’s training and I show up on time and ready and I don’t cancel unless there’s an actual emergency.

2 - Sickness

I don’t know about school yet, but in kita there’s a new sickness every two days and kids catch them all and generously give them to us afterwards. As a young parent, you’re sick a lot, and your kids are sick a lot, that’s just how it is and you cannot avoid all the diseases. You can however make sure that you and your kids have the healthiest lifestyle possible to develop a great immune system: have a diet mostly based on colourful healthy whole food, keep refined sugar and additives to a minimum, drink mostly water, exercise (!) and well, sleep, but as we already discussed this one might be challenging.

3 - Unexpected problems

Life with kids never go the way you plan it. They break their leg, they throw a tantrum, the babysitter cancels last minute… It’s not always possible to show up to your workout because things happen and they always will. My solution for that is to have a great support system in place (which I know isn’t always possible) and to share fairly the tasks related to the children and the household between both parents. So it shouldn’t be always the same parent who run to the kita when there’s an issue. My husband has always made sure I have time to workout because he knows how much it is important for me (and he also knows I am in a terrible mood if I miss too many workouts!). Obviously, having a good support system is a privilege because we don’t always have family around, especially when we are expats, and our kids cannot always go to kita (and in Berlin kita is free but in a lot of other places it is really expensive). And some kids require more support than others. And some parents are single parents and have even less support in place. But when you have the possibility to delegate things to have some me time and workout, do it because it is important to take care of yourself to be the best parent you can be!

4 - Guilt

I know a lot of parents who feel guilty to leave their kids. I sometimes feel guilty too when I go for a run on a Saturday morning when I could be painting unicorns with my daughters. But I remember I’m just gone for a couple of hours and we have the entire day to paint unicorns and I will be in a much better mood after I get my workout in. Working out is not only for you, but it’s great for your kids as well. You show them the importance of taking care of ourselves and staying active. Kids will always do what you do, not what you say, so show them how important physical activity is for our health. If you’re consistent with your physical activity, you will also live longer and better and have much more strength and energy when you’ll take care of their own children later.

Working out when you’re exhausted, constantly sick, busy and overstimulated can feel like a huge mountain to climb with a 50 kilos backpack. The good news is that any activity is better than no activity, Start by moving with your kids: walks, cycling, random games outside when the weather allows it. Find other parents who want to workout to motivate each other and maybe to help each other with child care. Start small: plan a 30 minutes workout per week, then two, then longer workouts. Sport works usually like a good addiction, the more you do it the more you enjoy it. When I started running I couldn’t run more than 3km and each minute felt like hell. Now I can run 20km and enjoy the whole time and I actually feel bad if I don’t run. If you need extra motivation and guidance, you can hire a PT: PTs who also have kids will totally understand your limitations and how you feel. I actually know one in case you want ;)

Thank you for reading this post, feel free to reach out to me via email ludivine@berlin-personal-training.com in case you have questions or if you want specific content on this blog.