As a mom, you’re constantly bombarded with healthy living advice, everything from what you should eat to how much exercise you should do. The government recommends that people get 20 minutes of moderate exercise three times a week. But if you actually investigate the science, you soon realize that the is watered down advice, designed to fit in with American couch-potato lifestyles.
When scientists investigated the relationship between exercise and all-cause mortality, they discovered that exercising for 20 minutes three times a week reduced your chances of dying by about 6 percent. But what they didn’t put in their recommendations to the public was the fact that exercising for 40 minutes three times a week reduced your chances of dying by 12 percent, and exercising for 80 minutes, reduced it by 20 percent.
As a result, moms should be doing a lot more exercise than many imagine. But how? After all, being a mom is a full-time job. You’ve always got to be thinking of your kids.
The good news is that there are things you can do to include more activity into your life. This is what to do.
Schedule Your Gym Classes Around Your Child’s Schedule
As a mom, you know your child’s schedule inside out. You know when they’re likely to be most active and when they’re quiet. Take advantage of these natural variations in their rhythm and start your classes during their down time. You can go to all sorts of classes, no matter what your level of fitness. If you’re super fit, try spin. If you want something a little less intense, try Zumba. The great thing about the science is that it says that any type of exercise or movement is beneficial, so take your pick of classes and be happy.
Buy The Right Tools
Getting fit is one thing, but you need the right tools, especially if you’re trying to raise a child. The good news is that there are many tools out there that moms can use to combine daily exercise with childcare.
Jogging Stroller Hub recently pointed out the benefits of using a jogging stroller. Rather than separating spending time with your kids and time doing exercise, the idea behind the jogging stroller is to combine the two, allowing you to workout and care for your children at the same time. Jogging strollers are essentially specially adapted prams which are able to be pushed at speed and have extra features like foldability and performance wheels.
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You could also try setting up a stepper or a treadmill in your living room if that’s where you spend a lot of time with your kids. You could interact with your children while doing cardiovascular exercise.
Ask Trainers For Advice
Worried you’re not using the right technique? Don’t be afraid to ask the trainers at the gym for advice. Trainers are often on hand to give a free fitness assessment and to point out which areas you might want to improve – great if you want to know more about fitness and doing it in a time-efficient manner.