How to Sneak in Some Exercise When You Are a SAHM

I’m a runner.

At least, that’s what I claim.

I have been told that if you are a *jogger* you can call yourself a runner.

If you *run regularly* you can call yourself a runner.

It took me years – and many half marathons later – before I finally felt comfortable calling myself a runner.

Why?

Because I didn’t run every day!

I didn’t even run every other day!

And at this point in my life, I run maybe twice a week. If I’m lucky. If I’m really lucky, I can squeeze in three times a week.

*Real* runners run every day – or at least four times a week.

*Real* runners run in the morning.

And *real*runners RUN. (I just lope.)

At least, that’s what I always thought.

What I failed to remember is that I have children – A LOT of children.

Which makes it really hard to be anything but MOM.

It’s hard, to make time to exercise, no matter who you are.

But when you are a mom, the struggle is real.

First you have to find the TIME to exercise.

Then you have to settle on the TYPE of exercise.

And of course you struggle with MOM GUILT for exercising – you KNOW there are a million other things that you should be doing! It seems so terribly selfish to be spending time on yourself like that!

And if you can push past all of those obstacles….you still have to find the ENERGY to do it.

Oh, wait, what if you are a SAHM?

Home alone, with your kids all day?

Well, then you should just throw in the towel.

I had a much easier time squeezing in exercise when I was a working mom. It was easy. After a stressful day at work, nothing felt better than hitting the road for a run. I could do it because the kids were still in daycare. I went for a run, picked them up afterwards, went home and continued on with the normal evening activities (yes, I was all sweaty and gross….)

Now….ya, it’s not happening.

In order to go for a run, I need someone to watch the kiddos. I can’t leave them here all alone!

So just how do you squeeze in some exercise when you are a SAHM?

It isn’t easy, but it can be done!

1. Get up early

This one is hard for me. I can probably count the number of times I have gotten up early to exercise on two hands over the course of my lifetime. I like my sleep. And when you have little kids, you just don’t get enough of it. But for some people, getting up early is the way to go.

If you can, get out of bed before your partner leaves for work and your children wake up. That way you can have quiet time to sneak in some exercise – and if the kids do wake up – your partner can cover you.

2. Stay up late

Back in my younger days, this was the way to go. I remember running on the treadmill at 11:00 at night! I laugh now when I think about it, because my butt is dragging by 8:00 p.m. these days. But it worked well for me. The kids were in bed, the house was quiet, and all my chores and responsibilities were taken care of. I was free!

If it works for you, stay up after your kids go to bed and sneak in some exercise. It doesn’t have to be running, obviously. It can be whatever form you choose. As long as it’s quiet! Ha.

That’s the tricky part about exercising while the kids are in bed – you have to be quiet.

3. Use nap time

I actually use this one a lot. The twins no longer nap, but they do have a rest time, where they snuggle up and watch a movie. And I hit the treadmill. It works beautifully for the age they are currently at. It won’t work as well for infants and toddlers, however, because they haven’t always established concrete sleeping patterns – and they are not borderline self-sufficient if they get up early. The twins just come downstairs and start playing when their movie is done.

If your kids are a little older, it might work for you as well. Just take care to choose a quiet activity, so that you don’t disturb their rest. Oh – and keep your ears open. You shouldn’t put headphones in and crank up the workout music when you are on mom duty alone – you need to be able to hear your kids if they need anything.

4. Exercise with the kids present

This is something I’ve just started doing. I never used to actually exercise with the kids around. I always valued my alone time during my run, and didn’t want to be interrupted. But, I have a friend who once took up running to teach her children about boundaries. They needed to learn that mommy isn’t always available to drop everything to attend to their every whim.

That stuck with me. Since my kids are older now, I run when they are around. They might watch a movie while I run, or play cars or trains in the same room as me. I won’t put my headphones in so that I can hear them, and I have to stop quite often to tend to them, but it is slowly teaching them that sometimes mommy is off-limits and that they need to wait for her. A valuable lesson as they get older – they cannot have instant access to everyone in their lives. Sometimes they have to wait to get their needs met.

If you can tolerate constant interruptions during your workout (something that still is extremely hard for me) then this might be a game changer for you. If you can work out with your kids around, you are teaching them not only valuable lessons about boundaries, but you are also modeling awesome healthy behavior for them to internalize. My two oldest boys are runners – my oldest is training for his third half marathon and my sixteen year old ran his first half marathon last fall.

Now I wonder where they learned that from?

(Kinda helps out with the mom guilt now, doesn’t it?)

5. Enlist help

This is my all-time favorite way to squeeze in exercise. It is also why I am not a frequent flyer in the running department. (If you have to rely on someone else to cover your butt while you are out for a run, then the runs are few and far between.)

I love to run all by myself with absolutely no responsibilities or interruptions. It is my downtime.

I will wait until my ‘big boys’ come home so that I can sneak out for a run.

Or I will wait until the weekends, when everyone is home, so that I can sneak out. If my husband or big boys are around, I’ll leave. Ha!

I’ve also used my mom, when the twins were younger. She is a runner and so she totally understands my obsessive need. She’d come over and watch the little ones so that I could sneak out for a run.

Find someone in your life who values working out just as much as you do, and ask them to take over for you for a half hour or so – it doesn’t take much, and they won’t be hard to convince. They will understand your need.

Or, use your partner or older children, if you have them, to give yourself that much needed alone time.

If all else fails, you could consider paying a babysitter.

6. Use family play time to incorporate exercise

This is something I never do. Simply because I don’t count family play time as my exercise time. I’m looking for that runner’s high and my alone time.

But I’ve been told that it works brilliantly, especially if you are new to working out.

Simply find a physical activity that you can do with your kids – dancing, playing ball, going for a walk or a bike ride, and do it! You get your butt moving AND you get to spend some quality time with your kiddos! It’s a win for everyone. Bye-bye mom guilt!

7. Do child-friendly exercises

Again, this is something I don’t do, simply because I value my workout as my alone time. But I used to do it when my big boys were younger.

Find a workout program that you can do with your kids. There are a lot of “mommy and me” programs that are built around working out with your children. A quick google search should bring up plenty to choose from.

I used to do yoga with my older boys. They could model the poses – kind of. It was low impact, not stressful, and easy to tend to the children while we did it together. They thought it was a game. In fact, I quit doing it after one of them gleefully knocked me out of a complicated pose!

Game over.

Another good one is dance videos. I’d put in an exercise dance video and we’d have at ‘er!

8. Go to a gym that has a daycare

I live in a rural area that not only does not have gyms, but it certainly wouldn’t have one with a daycare. So I have never used this option. But I am sure many moms do. And I think, for the most part, it is a great idea.

The one thing I do caution though is to be wary of any drop off daycare center. I believe there needs to be a good, strong, healthy bond between a child and a childcare provider.

And that is often hard to come by in a drop off center, because you use it so sporadically, and my guess is that the childcare providers often vary from day to day.

It’s best to be extremely choosey when it comes to child care. Be sure your thoroughly check into the daycare’s credentials and pay attention to your child’s verbal and nonverbal behaviors towards the daycare setting and provider. Your workout will not be enjoyable at all if you are worried about your child the whole time.

Check out my thoughts on choosing a daycare in this article for Minnesota Parent – page 40.

9. Do a babysitter swap with another SAHM

Brilliant!!

So, I am a lonely SAHM.

There aren’t many near me. But if there were, I’d LOVE to swap services with them! It’d give the kids a chance to play together and the moms a chance for a much-needed workout break.

You should totally use this if you can. Find another SAHM near you who values exercise or wants to start exercising, and swap sitter services. Monday you work out and she watches all the kids; Tuesday she works out and you watch all the kids, and so on and so forth.

Brilliant baby!

10. Lower your expectations

This one is the hardest of all to do, especially if you faithfully worked out before becoming a SAHM.

We are moms, first and foremost. Everything else comes second, and third, and fourth, and 100th. Working out falls somewhere in there. Yes, it is important. Yes, it makes you feel good and look good. And yes, oftentimes it is the ONE THING keeping you sane.

But it is hard to make time for it. And you shouldn’t beat yourself up if you just can’t get it done at this point in your life. Give yourself some grace.

Your kids will grow, all too quickly.

You will have more time to do all of the things you love – including exercise – then.

Trust me.

Got a good tip of your own? Let us know! Post it below!