Five Workouts For Work At Home Moms

Twenty four hours a day barely seems like enough time for the work-at-home mom to juggle her business and family responsibilities. The work-at-home mom is smart though; she knows if she doesn’t take time to care for herself, other important facets of her life suffer. Exercising is non-negotiable. Here are five workouts for work at home moms, to make it happen and fit it into your lifestyle.

Strength Training — Muscle Building & Calorie Burning

“Life is easier when you’re strong,” says Steve Kamb of Nerd Fitness. Carrying groceries into the house. Taking a laundry basket full of clothes upstairs. Putting your kid in his car seat. With muscle strength and a strong heart, a mom—who’s part Superwoman anyway—can more easily perform her daily duties. Other optimal side effects of strength training include an increased metabolism, more energy, boosted confidence and less anxiety. You don’t have to lift a barbell or do bench presses for hours at the gym to enjoy the benefits of strength training. As long as you have a wall and chair, you can create lean muscle mass and manage your weight with these six strength-training exercises provided by YouBeauty.com, including push-ups, tricep dips and squats.

Fitness Videos — Schedule Committed

The full-time working mom can feel like a slave to her schedule. From replying to emails to sterilizing bottles, every minute counts. If your calendar is your sacred bible and you live by a regimented timeline, at-home fitness videos are an effective workout solution. GaiamTV.com offers a diverse collection of video workouts that range between 10 minutes to an hour. Schedule the type of workout you want ahead of time — and you’ll know that from 9 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., after the little one goes down for his morning nap and before your conference call, you’re going to get ripped with Jessica Smith or Mari Winsor.

CrossFit WODs — Varied & High-Intensity

You’re a CrossFitter at heart but had to give up your box membership to help fund your startup. Perhaps your demanding schedule kept you from making it to classes. There’s no shame in being a home WODer. Just because you can’t be in the gym doesn’t mean you can’t stay challenged and sweat hard. Invest in a couple key pieces of equipment, such as a kettle bell, jump rope, plyobox or medicine ball. Check out Reebok CrossFit One’s “no excuse, no equipment needed” CrossFit WODs that are bodyweight-focused. Then change it up and do workouts posted to the Pinterest board “CrossFit WODS I can do at home.”

Yoga — Stress Reliever

Rather than rant on Facebook or pull out a bag of chips from the pantry, turn to your phone and hit the mat, your yoga mat that is. A fussy toddler and unsettling email can put emotions into an uncontrollable whirlwind. It can happen any day, any time. Use yoga on your phone as your impromptu remedy for stress management. Even if you can’t dedicate time to an entire session, taking 10 minutes to engage in poses and breathing exercises can restore balance. The yoga app Pocket Yoga encourages a consistent yoga practice and offers 27 different sessions. 5 Minute Yoga offers quick-fix asana sessions that can settle the mind and body when time is limited.

10K Training — Goal Oriented

Is your business and livelihood founded on setting goals and achieving them? One right after another? You have the makeup to be a hardcore runner. For the beginner, make a goal to complete a 10K race. In order to cross that finish line of six miles, you’ll train so many days a week and conquer a certain number of miles per day. You may even want to sign up for a 5K race as momentum and inspiration. After you run that 10K, you can move on to train for a half marathon or strive to improve your PR (personal record) with a faster time. Envisioning the medal and glory of achieving what you set out to do will get you out the door and in your running shoes.