Home Workout Tips For Stay-At-Home Mums

Speak to most stay-at-home mums and you're bound to get the idea that MANY (if not most) have already given up on their dream of being able to fit in a regular exercise program into their weekly schedule, let alone attain a figure that is Lean, Toned and Attractive! 

Indeed, having had the privilege and opportunity to work with many such home-based mums here in Singapore over the years (in my capacity as a Private Home Personal Trainer), and having observed - first-hand - my wife's own stay-at-home child-care experience in the early formative years of my 2 kids, I can attest to the fact that it can indeed be a real challenge for many stay-home mums to even THINK of exercise, let alone DO it, when faced with the myriad of tasks they confront on a daily basis.

Challenges Facing A Housewife

Just think about this - the chores that every stay-at-home mum inevitably faces one day or another include: doing up the laundry, cleaning up the kitchen, vacuuming the house, washing the bathrooms, preparing meals for the family, chasing the kids around, picking up after them, putting them to bed, waking them up for school, getting them dressed, sending them off to school, and then shuttling them off to tuition, swimming lessons, piano lessons, ballet lessons and other enrichment activities etc etc (just listing out all these is already TIRING in itself!!) - on top of a whole host of other motherly duties and nitty-gritty stuff, and then hoping to squeeze in some exercise time!!??

No wonder many stay-home-mums have the view that regular exercise is a LUXURY, if not a near IMPOSSIBLE dream!

Thus, I have written the following tips with the hope that they can offer some solace and help to each and every self-sacrificing, but oft-too-busy mum out there.

Hopefully, with these tips, you'll be able to FREE yourself to experience - first-hand - the liberating effects of regular exercise and its manifold benefits:

Enjoy The Many Benefits Of Exercising At Home

1) Schedule TIME For Exercise

Like any other worthwhile pursuit in life, exercise is something that we simply have to PLAN for. Otherwise, it'll be squeezed out of our daily schedule before we even know it! The most successful exercise-mums that I know of - consciously SET ASIDE or even BLOCK OUT time slots for their personal exercise time. It can be as easy as just setting aside short 15-minute time slots thrice-a week for a start. Once you get the hang of it, and exercise becomes a habit, slowly start increasing the exercise duration, followed by its frequency. 

2) Put Yourself Into The MOOD

One of the strategies that I've learnt from a former client of mine is to get yourself into the mood for exercise the very FIRST THING in the day. For her, this means getting into her workout gear once she's up from bed, and then keeping it on UNTIL she's done with her exercise for the day! The act of wearing the workout attire acts as a "uniform" for her, not only reminding her of  her "appointment" with exercise, but also serves to 'psyche her up' for the workout to come! 

3) Create The Necessary SPACE

In most homes, the most practical workout space is the Living Room. Even if it's currently cluttered with furniture, knick knacks and scattered with your children's many unwanted toys; with just a little forward planning and physical shifting (which can actually serve as a good pre-workout warm-up, by the way), sufficient space can be created - in mere minutes - for a one-person workout area. Of course, you don't really have to limit yourself to the living area. Any space within your home that is feasible or practical - such as the garage, balcony, attic, garden etc - can also be converted into your very own 'personal home gym'. 

4) Keep It SIMPLE

FORGET about multi-station machines,weight racks, home treadmills or even stationary bikes; most stay-home mums I know - will NEVER EVER contemplate having these stuff in their homes, let alone use them!! To be honest, the only training tool you ever need is your own Body-Weight! However, if you really insist on having some gear - then a Medicine Ball, or a couple of Resistance Bands, and a Skipping Rope and your surrounding home furniture will more than suffice for most stay-home mums.

Regardless whether you intend to workout with just your bodyweight, or with the help of simple functional fitness tools as listed above, try to stick to the following recommendation:

A) Pick ONE each of the following Compound or Multi-Joint Movement Variations and do them in a CIRCUIT Training Style, each movement lasting about 30-40 seconds:

• Squat Variations (eg. Standard Squats, Split Squats, Squat Jumps etc)
• Hinge Variations (eg. Deadlifts, Good Mornings, Hip Thrusts etc)
• Push Variations (eg. Dips, Push-Ups, Overhead Presses etc)
• Pull Variations (eg. Inverted Rows, Upright Rows, Pull-Ups etc)
• Rotate Variations (eg. Haybalers, Russian Twists, Rotational Lunges etc)

and then finish off the circuit with

B) ONE of the following Full-Body or Total Body Movement Drills to failure :

• Burpees
• Reverse Burpees
• Swings (with medicine ball or haversack)
• Chops (with medicine ball or haversack)
• Rope-Jumping
• Jumping Jacks
• Skiers
• Skaters

Depending on your fitness level, aim to perform 1-3 rounds of the above circuit.

Do also try to mix-and-match the above movements in as many different combinations as you can so as to create variety in your workouts, and to keep your body and mind stimulated each time you exercise! 

5) INCLUDE Your Kids 

For some stay-home mums, it might be near-to-impossible to workout in the absence of their kids. In such a scenario, try including your kids into your workout, instead of fretting over their presence. Try simple 'tricks' like: issuing a mini-challenge or a friendly competition (eg. "... let's see how many squats you can do, in the time I take to complete mine"), using active distractions (eg. "... see this skipping rope? Let's see how many rounds you can get in by the time I complete my workout") or even using them as dynamic resistance - especially if you have toddlers and kinder-aged kids; you can use your kids' actual body weight as resistance in movements like: lying chest presses, cleans, swings, overhead presses etc. (But please watch out for the ceiling fan, OK?) In the process, you kill 2 birds with one stone: your kids have FUN and LOVE you for it, while you get to do your workout. Sweet! 

6) Get HELP

Sometimes, despite your very best efforts, there will be days where things simply DON'T work out - whether it's an overly-clingy child, a broken down washing machine, or any other unexpected emergency. When faced with such situations, it's time to get HELP.

Rope in anyone you can think of - your next-door neighbour, your BFF, your mum, your in-laws, and of course, your spouse - and get them to help you out for that particular chore or area of need - just so that you can get your exercise done at the very least.

In such times, an extra pair of hands makes a world of difference! 

7) Just Do IT

Finally, all the advice in this world will be as good as NOUGHT, if you simply refuse to believe that you CAN make regular exercise a part of your life.

Tell yourself - once and for all - that you WILL commit yourself to regular exercise, and you WILL find a way to do it - come hell or high water.

Then like any bona fide stay-at-home mum would say (and do), just roll up your sleeves, dig-in and get down to it.

P.S. 

The above advice should be more than enough to get you started and raving to go.  

However, if for some reason, you still find yourself struggling to get started, or feel you need more advice, motivation, ideas or even supervision, feel free to get in touch with me. I'll see how I can be of help to you.

You may reach me at www.Body-By-Rick.com or at 96609457.

All the BEST!!

Yours Sincerely,
Rick Wong