Here we are, at the start of another school year and the autumn term. Maybe you loved the long summer break, the rest from making packed lunches, the break from rounding up your offspring and cajoling, coaxing and threatening them out of the door each the morning. Chances are, by the end of the six week break you’ve run out of entertaining ideas, offers of childcare help (if you’re working), money and patience, and will be certifiable if you hear “I’m bored” one more time!
So you’ve sorted out the new uniform, polished the shoes, packed the lunchbox and waved a teary eyed goodbye to your little ones. Well, what are you waiting for? Now’s the time to focus on you!
Here are some top fitness tips for school run mums!
1. Invest in some fabulous fitness fashion
New uniforms aren’t just for the kids. Remember “Mr Motivator”, the “Green Goddess” or Jane Fonda? These 80’s fitness gurus have been consigned to history – as should one piece lycra suits and shiny thongs!
New sportswear will not only help you feel more confident but the latest fabrics wick away perspiration so you’ll feel more comfortable too. Don’t forget new trainers as well. If you’re new, or returning, to exercise don’t dust off an old pair of trainers you’ve found lurking in the back of your wardrobe. If you spend money on nothing else, be sure to invest in a properly fitted pair of trainers. If you visit a specialist sports shop they will be able to advise you on the type of shoe you need for the activity you intend to carry out.
2. Be brave – everyone was the “new girl” once upon a time
Whether you’re joining a gym for the first time, a new exercise class or a sports club you’re bound to feel a little apprehensive at first. Just like your children starting school, or moving into a new class, it can be daunting when you start something new. If you can enlist the support of a friend this could work really well for both of you as research has shown that people who exercise with a friend have higher levels of adherence than those who do so alone.
3. Book your fitness sessions as appointments on your diary
As a busy mum you’re already used to planning your week with military precision! In the same way your family wall planner shows when school friends are coming to tea, swimming class times, dentist appointments and football matches take place, you need to book in your exercise sessions. Preferably written in PERMANENT BLACK MARKER!
4. Learn to move like your children
Take the focus away from wanting to “lose a bit here”, “toning”, “inch loss” or thinking in terms of aesthetics. Instead consider movement and training your body to function better; then the body you have always wanted will follow. If you need a reminder about how your body should be able to function and move watch your children play. You’ll see them squatting down to play, swinging on monkey bars, climbing up play equipment, running, jumping,, bending, pushing and pulling. In short, all the movements your body was designed to perform. So your training should include plenty of whole body moves based around squatting, lunging, pushing, pulling and rotating.
5. Don’t be a slave to the treadmill/cross-trainer/stepper
One of the biggest errors people make is spending too long on cardiovascular machines at too low an intensity. Unless you are pregnant, have recently had a baby or have an underlying medical condition or injury you need to incorporate interval training to both improve your cardiovascular fitness and burn excess body fat. If you’re new to interval training a simple approach is to increase your speed or pace beyond your normal steady state for 1, 2 or 3 minutes and then follow this by decreasing your speed to recover for a similar period of time. As you become accustomed to pushing yourself harder you will need longer to recover particularly once you start hitting 30 second or 1 minute sprints. Yes, it will be hard work but you gave birth – right? You can handle hard work!
6. Enlist the help of an expert
Would you let your partner/best friend cut your hair?! Well assuming they’re not a hairdresser the answer is, probably, no! So be cautious about their exercise advice. I’ve seen plenty of partners take their girlfriends/wives around the gym and either successfully train them in poor technique or train their other halves like they train themselves. Chances are your needs are going to be quite different to your friends or partners. So why not invest in a few sessions with a Personal Trainer, or qualified instructor, to show you how to get the very best from your time spent exercising?
7. Inject more activity into your daily life
Stop thinking that exercise is something you “do” at a certain time of day – 9.30 on a Monday morning or 6pm on a Wednesday evening – instead start thinking about making opportunities to be more active in your day-to-day life. It might be walking the children to school, or riding the bike with them, you might decide to swim a few lengths whilst your children’s swimming lessons are taking place or you could simply decide, here and now, to never use a lift or an escalator again! There are many ways to be more active every day and small changes can have a significant impact on your general health and fitness and help with weight management.
8. Banish the guilt
A mother’s lot in life is to carry a permanent burden of guilt! Whether you agonise over working, not working, sharing your attention equally amongst all your off-spring, the food you serve your family, the food you throw away – you name it, we feel guilty every day! When it comes to exercise this can become a vicious circle of guilt – guilt if you spend time away from the home exercising – guilt if you fall of the exercise band wagon – guilt, guilt guilt! So cast your mind back to the last time you were ill and ask yourself what impact it have on the rest of the family. Chances are the washing piled up, no-one could find any clean underwear, school books went unread, and baked beans were eaten cold from the tin! Well maybe it wasn’t as bad as that, but you get my point. The efficient functioning of your family and the health, well-being and happiness of your children is intrinsically linked with yours. So tell yourself it’s not selfish to want time for yourself to exercise and that ultimately your family benefit from you being in tip-top condition!
Go on, reclaim a little bit of “you time” – you’ve earned it!
