Sneak in a Little Strengthening

Functional Fitness for Moms

The last thing I want to do as a physical therapist is add to the burden of the moms who come to me to feel better.  So often I hear how much she wants to start exercising (again) but…  (the laundry, the lack of sleep, the lack of a babysitter, the dishes, the yada yada yada).  So what should she do?  Just stop trying, give up, decide to get in shape when the kids are in college?  That would be a health disaster.   I have 2 answers to this question.

1. Trade-offs

   1. Get up 30 minutes early
   2. Give up 30 minutes of tv time in the evening (TV and books definitely replace exercise for me)
   3. Do your floor exercises while the TV is on in the evening.
   4. Try to sneak in 3 30 minute walks per week
   5. Put the kids in the stroller with a screen so you can walk around the mall for 30 minutes
   6. Promise the kids you can play at the mall play area after you’ve walked 2 laps at the mall and they behave
   7. Instead of cleaning while the kids are busy with their activity, do some bridges and double leg marches (see photo)

2. Functional Fitness

   1. Squats in the kitchen
   2. Parking far away
   3. Take the stairs
   4. Turn on the music and have a dance party for cleaning
   5. Stand on one leg for tooth brushing
   6. Heel lifts in line at the store

For those of you who truly enjoy your exercise, this isn’t a burden, it’s a relief to go for a walk, get to the gym, turn on an exercise video.  For those of you who don’t, there are a whole ton of convenient excuses to not do it.  But there are consequences to not sneaking this in.  Pregnancy takes a huge toll on your strength and fitness, only to be followed by menopause which further depletes your muscles.  If you do not take the time to sneak in a little exercise now, you’ll have to make a whole lot of time to deal with aches, pains and illness later.