If you are a parent with kids of any age at home, it can be incredibly difficult to find time to take care of yourself. Many parents become consumed with their children’s needs and schedules, and so one of the first things to move to the back burner is exercise.
Fortunately, there are at-home exercises that parents can do either with or without their kids to get in shape and provide some much needed stress-relief during the day.
Benefits of At-Home Exercise
When you exercise at home rather than going to a gym, you save time because there’s no commute back and forth to get your workout in. You also save money because gym memberships tend to be expensive. Exercising at home means that you can keep an eye on your kids (or possibly include them in the exercises!) and not have to hire a babysitter or pay for the gym’s daycare facility.
It allows you to work out at your own pace without fear of judgment from other people and cater your workouts to your specific health goals. You’ll also reduce your exposure to germs when you aren’t touching gym equipment and be able to work out at times of day that are most convenient for you.
Basic At-Home Exercises to Try
One of the best ways to work out at home is to do circuit training exercises that get you moving with different types of activities in sets. To give your body the rest it needs to recover from each exercise, try alternating between cardio and strength training. For 30 seconds each, do the following exercises in this order:
- Jog in place
- Pushups
- Jump rope
- Abdominal crunches
- Free dancing just for fun
- Squats
- Walk-in place while lifting knees high
To mix things up, you can do sets of other at-home exercises too, such as lunges, burpees, and planks. To stretch and strengthen your body, download a yoga app on your phone and follow the instructor’s movements to get a low-impact, full-body workout.
With at-home exercise, you don’t need to limit yourself to just the inside of your house though. Get outside in the yard for some fresh air and change of scenery as you do your circuit sets, or simply go for a walk or run around the neighborhood for a cardio boost.
How to Squeeze in More At-Home Exercise
Although at-home exercise may seem easy enough to fit into your schedule, many busy parents still struggle to find just 15 or 30 minutes to get their bodies moving. If this describes you, it might be time to hire a nanny to help out with childcare so that you can take the best care of yourself. After all, you won’t be able to take the best care of your children if you aren’t feeling your best personally too. Having a trusted professional come over to your home to take care of children or elderly parents can make all the difference in the world when it comes to sticking to your fitness goals and getting into the kind of shape you want to be in.
Household Staffing International can introduce you to a wonderful nanny or private in-home companion who can relieve you from your responsibilities for a little while so that you can get your workouts in. To learn more about our domestic staffing services, contact us at 212-683-7722. You can also browse candidates on our website or fill out our family application to start making at-home exercise a priority in your life.