Episode #09: Tips to Fit Exercise into Your Life
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In this episode, Dayna and Rhonda provide 5 helpful tips to fit exercise into your life!
Workout with your kids around
You don’t need to change into workout clothes or running shoes
All movement “counts”
Have your workout station set-up in plain sight
A 10-minute workout you DID do is better than the 1-hour workout you DIDN’T do. Ditch the all-or-nothing mindset when it comes to exercise!
We hope you find these tips useful! Let us know which one worked best for you!
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Episode 09 - Tips to Fit Exercise Into Your Life
We're excited to have you join us for this episode of Pelvic Health and Fitness. I'm Dayna Morellato, Mom, Orthopedic and Pelvic Health Physiotherapist. And I'm Rhonda Chamberlain, Mom, Orthopedic Physiotherapist and Pre Postnatal Fitness Coach. On this show, we have open and honest conversations about all phases of motherhood, including fertility, pregnancy, birth, postpartum, menopause, and everything in between.
We also provide helpful education and information on fitness, the pelvic floor, and many aspects of women's health, including physical, mental, and emotional wellness. Please remember as you listen to this podcast that this is not meant to treat or diagnose any medical conditions. Please contact your medical provider if you have specific questions or concerns.
Thanks so much for joining us. Grab a cup of coffee. Or wine. And enjoy!
Everyone, welcome to episode 9 of the Pelvic Health and Fitness Podcast. Today, Dayna and I are going to talk about some tips and strategies to make exercise happen in your life as a busy mom. So both of us enjoy working out, but did find it was a bit of a struggle to adjust to a new workout life once we had kids.
And I think some of these strategies really helped us. So we hope that some of them will help you as well. So Dayna, do you want to start us off with the first tip? Yes. So our first, uh, big piece of hot news here is don't schedule around naps if you don't want to. Is obviously, obviously the caveat there. I think for myself personally, I would be parenting and I would say to myself, I'm going to work out.
During naptime today, and I would get those cute little beans down for a nap. And then I would think good grief. I can barely get to the couch. And then I would be in a shame spiral some days of why can't I just motivate myself? It maybe looks easier for other people. I know it's for me. I should be doing this for self care, et cetera, et cetera.
And so when I had it suggested to me, and I don't really recall where it was, it might've been Jessie Mandel. It might've just been social media that suggested the idea of working out around your kids. You don't have to schedule around your naps. You don't have to use that downtime, burn every last bit of energy that you have.
It was a game changer for me. Yeah, and I think a lot of that too is ditching the perfectionism when it comes to working out, right? So I think before you have kids, it's easy for your workouts to look very structured and you have everything there and you do it, you know, in a certain order. But I think with that, so if you're having your kids around.
understand and have the expectation that there's going to be interruptions, right? And, you know, if so, the workouts I give my clients, usually I have sort of three parts. So I always say to them, like, if you have to do part a, you know, in the morning, part B later in the day, Part C, never, that's fine, right?
It doesn't have to be perfect. And I think also taking away the guilt and shame about using screens and using TV and, you know, having your kids be okay with, if they're sort of upset. to like, I know Jessie Mundell talks about that, that if her daughter is approaching her saying like, mommy, I need this, I need this, she'll say, mommy, this is mommy's time right now.
I only have five minutes left in my workout. Can you wait a few minutes? Right. And I think just getting rid of the guilt around that. Absolutely. And. Yes, I think a little bit of patience for the interruptions. Listen, if you are waiting until nap time or bedtime and you, that's working for you and that's what you need to do for your workouts, all the more power to you.
You carry on, you do you. For me, I was way. Better off just building it into my day. And like you said, sometimes that looks like 10 minutes here, 10 minutes there, to be honest, full disclosure in this moment, my kids generally know that mommy's workout time equals Disney plus time. So we watch part of a movie and some of the benefits that I believe they get from that is they see me working on myself.
I say sentences to them like, yes. I will absolutely get you that snack, but I am just going to finish this exercise and so they see it's important to me. Um, I've heard my daughter say she wants to be strong like me. I love that. Burpees, like I love it. Oh, that's so good. Yeah. So I will say I was a little bit opposite from you that I.
use nap time as my time to do my workout. So I sometimes say as an option to clients, habit stack your workout. So that what that means is if there's something that happens in your day always, so that, you know, if baby's in a good nap routine, you know, they're going to nap at a certain time. So basically in your schedule, you know, as soon as baby goes for that nap, That's your time to do your workout.
And that worked so well for me. It was just, it became so routine that it wasn't even a question at one point, which was really helpful. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. That's why I said, it's not a, it's not a be all end all. If, if nap time works for you, you do you boo. It didn't work for me. Yep. Yep. Fine. What works for you?
100%. Okay. So I'll go into the next one. So number two is. You don't need to change into workout clothes or running shoes to do your workout. And this was, I think you were the same Dayna, such a game changer for me, especially on mat leave. So we got this wonderful idea from Jessie Mandel again, which we're, we're mentioning her a lot, but she's amazing.
Um, so basically when I was on mat leave, I had a couple strategies, either whatever I put on that day. You know, even if it was like a sweatshirt and pants in the winter, I would do my workout in that with a regular bra. And yes, I would be sweaty. And yes, halfway through, I'm like, Oh, I should have just changed into a t shirt.
But just taking away the barrier of having to go upstairs, change it to a sports bra, because sports bras are annoying to put on first of all, and just, you know, not having to take that step. And then just going right into my movement was huge was so huge. Um, and then the other way I'll do often now is if I know I'm going to do a workout at some point in the day, I just wear workout clothes, right?
First thing in the morning, keep them on all day. Oftentimes I don't even shower until later in the day. So I'm sitting in my sweaty clothes and it's fine. I get this another game changer for me. I remember thinking, wow, So simple and helpful. I can just work out. In these clothes, truthfully, I wear a lot of workout clothes, so some days it's not really that big of a deal, but there are definitely many workouts where my husband has walked in and said, well, that's an interesting workout outfit shorts and whatever t shirt I've got on.
But the point is, I got the movement in and that satisfies that workout need for me and I removed the barrier. Yeah. And I love, you know, you'll see Jessie's stories where she's in a dress and she's doing her workout. I'm like, that is amazing. Good for you. And I think, yeah. And a lot of that is again, that perfectionism, right?
Because I think we have in our heads that our workouts have to look a certain way. And in order to do that perfect workout, we have to have the perfect outfit, all of the above. Right. But again, if we take away that barrier, that workouts don't need to look a certain way, move all movement is good, which we'll get to that in a further tip, but just do some movement and whatever you have on.
Absolutely. And barefoot, if that works for you, you know, have any foot conditions that are bothersome, but yeah, just. Let's get it done at a time, which kind of leads us into number three, which is anything counts. All movement counts. I think you and I have both had this discussion many times as someone who was a very avid gym goer.
I grew up playing sports just recreationally, but. Sports always been active. I had this very hard mental block for myself that workouts were the structured 45 minutes have to be sweating buckets or it doesn't count. It doesn't count. And the moment I gave myself permission to just let movement be what it was and all movement counted another game changer.
I don't know if you've ever walked. To the park with a toddler, with a baby strapped to your front. That's enough. That's a hard workout. I'm sweating by the time I got there. Right. That counts. It absolutely counts as, as movement. If you're up and down the amount of lifting that we do in a day, pushing, pulling, lifting car seats and strollers into cars and out of cars and pushing, um, you know, grocery carts.
With kids in it, like all of that counts. Motherhood is physical. I think I say that sentence every single day, multiple times a day. Yeah. Um, it all counts. And certainly maybe your workouts look a little bit different, or maybe it is a structured workout, like you said, you do with your clients, you've given them kind of part a part B part C, and they're just doing them in 10 minutes.
Spurts throughout the day. Yep. It all counts. It does. Yes. 100%. And even with the walking thing, I know I've had clients say. You know, I go for a lot of walks with my kids, but my kids are at the age that they're stopping every two seconds, and they're picking up rocks, and it's a very slow walk, so then they again think that, oh, well, that must not count because it's not very intense, and yeah, I just remind them, no, you're still walking, it still counts, but fitness culture has taught us that, yeah, it has to look this very hardcore specific way, right?
Yeah. And that's just not true. Any movement counts, especially as a busy mom, just take that pressure off yourself. Just a little bit of movement is going to do wonders. And I think I always talk to my clients just about listening to your body. So I'm getting better at learning when my body needs to move.
And I think that's something a lot of us struggle with because we've lost sort of sense of that intuitive need. And so when you're getting that sort of itch, if you've been sitting for a long time, Again, it doesn't have to be something crazy, hardcore, just get up, go for a walk, do a couple of squats, do something just to get your body moving and see if that helps you feel a bit better.
Absolutely. Go up and down the stairs a couple of times in your house, piggyback your toddler around the room, dance. Be silly with your kids. I just really hate when you hear these stories from moms who are doing such a good job and they did all these fun things with, with their kids and they took them here and there and everywhere, or maybe it was a tougher day.
And so they spent a lot of time just carrying their baby around or whatever. And they're kind of beating themselves up because they didn't get their work at. And, and I always am just the first to remind you. So hear me listeners, the hood is physical. You are doing it every day. Exactly. Yes. Especially when your kids are little.
And I think you and I are in the same phase of motherhood. I hear from a lot of women who have older kids that get to a space in their life where they do have pockets of time back to themselves. And then structured exercise starts to fit a little easier into your schedule. But again, I think just giving ourselves that grace.
If. Structured exercise either can't happen or it can maybe only happen once or twice a week. That's okay. Just let that be okay. Yeah. All right. So the next one we have number four is have a workout station set up in plain sight. And this is something I definitely do still as well. Sometimes the barrier of pulling out the equipment that you might need for that workout is enough to make you not want to do it.
So I, for the summer, I've been working out outside, which I've been loving. So I literally have My yoga mat, I have my dumbbells, I have everything that I need, um, outside in a covered, in a covered area. Um, so that when I go to do my workout, they're right there for me. When I was on mat leave, I literally had my dumbbells sitting out in the living room.
So it might not look that nice, but again, who cares? They're there. So when I was ready to go do the workout, everything was there for me. Um, just again, takes away that barrier to entry. Absolutely. Our family room where the Disney plus zone is, is also where our kettlebells and our TheraBands are out. My running shoes are often there.
I don't put them away in a closet. It drives my mother crazy when she comes over, I think, but it's just all there. So I'm not changing. I'm getting it in when I have a second and it's there. I don't have to go searching for it. Yeah, exactly. Yep. Nice and easy. Okay. And number five we have is a 10 minute workout that you did do is always better than the one hour workout.
You didn't do the move. Yeah. Everything counts. Get it in. If, if today it's 10 minutes, maybe you'll make up for it later in the week and you'll get a longer one in that will kind of satisfy that need for you, but maybe you won't. And I think just a good, a mindset change is important here to, to know that you're.
You're getting it in and it might just look a little bit different. Yes. And this is, I love talking about this with my clients because it is such a common, um, way of thinking that we've adopted, that working out has to be this all or nothing thing. So sometimes then we get stuck in thinking, we get paralyzed in thinking that it has to be this one hour.
Super structured, hardcore thing. So then the thought of doing that is so daunting that we just do nothing. Yeah. So I always explain to my clients, yes, like, let's try to find that middle of the pendulum swing. So, you know, if you're someone that thinks that movements is going to add to your life, enhance your life, you're going to feel better with that.
Try to get to that point where realizing, yes, a 10 minute workout is going to do wonders for you, right? If you're, if you're not used to doing much movement, 10 minutes of movement is going to feel so good. And that is a much more sustainable way to continue moving versus expecting yourself to do these crazy, hardcore, long sessions.
Yeah, absolutely. For me, it's about bandwidth. I am somebody who requires some downtime in order to kind of balance the busyness of motherhood. I'm working full time. I like to sit still. And so, yeah, sometimes that's what I have left before I have my scheduled downtime. Yeah. For bedtime. So, And I think this goes hand in hand with all of them as well, whatever that is counts.
I know I hear a lot from clients. I encourage a lot of mobility type stuff or yoga type movements just to kind of not only mobilize the body, especially if there's any sort of discomfort, but to kind of downtrain our central nervous systems a little bit, you're living in crazy times. And I think it's really important that we work on settling our nervous systems as well.
But my biggest pushback is this idea of, ah, well, that doesn't count. That 10, that 10 minutes of stretch, 10 minutes of stretching I did while watching TV doesn't really count as a workout. It absolutely does. It does. Yeah. And I think this will be, you know, future episodes that all goes back to just the culture we live in, right.
Typically exercises sold to us as a way to keep us small and fit a certain ideal. So then with that, we think it has to be this hardcore thing in order for it to work to keep our bodies small, right? But if we start to expand our horizons, that there's so many other wonderful benefits to movement other than changing our bodies, right?
So if we start to focus on. those other motivations, then that all or nothing mindset is a lot easier to drop. Absolutely. And some days it looks like just going, I say, just going to the park with your kids. I think it's very physical actually. And some days it looks like your 10 K run and that's amazing.
Everything in between is fantastic. CrossFit workouts, yoga workouts, sitting on the floor and doing some stretching while your kids play with blocks beside you. It's all amazing. It's you taking care of your body, uh, listening to your body's need for movement. And I think our biggest point here is that.
Just get it in in whatever way feels good for you and kind of letting go of any concept of what we've been told that exercise has to look like in order to count 100%. Yeah. And I think with that too, I think it's okay to admit that. You need some accountability with that too, right? Again, if a goal for you is to add a little bit more intentional movement to your life, then sometimes hiring a coach to sort of help you with that is wonderful.
Or having a, you know, a friend or someone that you move with, you guys go for walks. That is great as well. And I don't think again, that's an admission of failure. Sometimes we just need someone to help plan things for us and sort of get that ball rolling. Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. Awesome. Well, hopefully that helps you all with just some easy strategies to get some more movement back in as a busy mom.
Dayna and I are right there with you. Even, you know, we know these things. Sometimes it's still a struggle. So it is a bit of a lifelong learning thing, but hopefully that helps. Yeah. Let us know. We'd love to hear if these tips were helpful for you. Thanks for listening to today's podcast. We hope you enjoyed the conversation.
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