How To Find Time To Exercise As a Working mom

Simple Tips For Finding time to Work-Out With A Full-Time Job (and Kids)

How do working moms find time to exercise?

Before kids, I made it to the gym pretty regularly. My Pilates workout videos and yoga mat were not just sitting around the house collecting dust.

After having a baby, things were different.

Most working moms know the struggle of wanting to find time to exercise but not having enough time to fit exercise into their daily routine.

If you’re feeling this way, you’re not alone!

Studies have found that parenthood is associated with decreased physical activity, particularly for mothers.

It makes total sense. 

You want to lose those last 10 lbs of pregnancy weight or fit into your pre-baby clothes. Maybe you just want to be healthier.

But you also have a full-time job, kids, and a household to take care of. There are dinners to make, a kitchen to clean, laundry to do (and then even more laundry…it’s seriously never-ending in our house). 

I’ve been there. I AM there.

But, we can do this.

Don’t have time to read it all? Here’s a quick summary of how working moms can find time to exercise:

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Why is Exercise Important? 

You probably have your own reasons for wanting to fit exercise into your daily life. They may even be the same as some of the ones I listed above. 

Those reasons are super important to help you stay motivated.

And, I’ll give you another reason right now.

Regular physical activity can lead to long-term health benefits.

There is evidence that physical activity has many benefits for brain health including:

• improved cognitive function (goodbye “mom brain”!)
• reduced anxiety and depression risk
• improved sleep and quality of life

Regular exercise can also lower the risk of many chronic diseases such as:

• heart disease and stroke
• hypertension
• type 2 diabetes
• certain cancers 

Some benefits may even occur immediately like decreased anxiety levels, lower blood pressure, and improved insulin sensitivity (lower blood sugar). 

Furthermore, studies have found positive associations between mothers’ activity levels and their children’s activity levels.

Since we know how important it is for kids to be physically active, this is another great reason why it’s important to make exercise a priority in our own lives. 

How Much Exercise Is Enough?

According to the current Physical Activity Guidelines, adults should do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity spread throughout the week (and more is better). This includes pregnant and postpartum women.

At least two days of muscle-strengthening activities are recommended as well.

One-hundred and fifty minutes of activity breaks down nicely into 30 minutes five days a week. Or, they can be spread out any way you want.

With that being said, even a small amount of physical activity has health benefits. 

If 150 minutes seems daunting, make that a long-term goal and start small.

How To Find Time To Exercise As A Working Mom

1. Make Exercise a Priority 

First, think about fitting exercise into your life in the simplest way: In order to make a change, you have to do something you haven’t been doing.

This may seem obvious but sometimes you have to see it written down in an obvious way for it to sink in. 

In order to exercise, you have to start exercising.

If you really want to be able to find time to exercise, you have to prioritize it.

Think about the things you do every day – like brushing your teeth, feeding your kids dinner, and getting dressed.

You do them every day because they’re part of your routine – and because you’ve made them into priorities. 

You have to treat exercise the same way. Make it a priority and then make it part of your daily or weekly routine. 

2. Find The Time To Workout (When?)

We’ve established that in order to start exercising, you have to start exercising. 

The next step is figuring out when. 

After I went back to work following my first maternity leave, I had trouble figuring out when I could actually work out.

I felt as though scheduling a time for exercise would take away from the already limited time I got to spend with my daughter each day.

I started thinking about my daily schedule and realized that in order to find the time to fit in exercise, I’d have to fit it into a time that was already being used for something else.

An extra hour during the day isn’t going to magically appear. 

If you want to figure out how to fit exercise into your daily or weekly routine, you will have to figure out what part of that routine you can adjust a little.

Take a Look at Your Current Schedule

Take a piece of paper and write out what a typical day looks like for you, hour by hour. Make one list for workdays and one list for weekends (or non-work days). 

Look at your schedule. Where can you make adjustments? Can you move anything around? What can you afford to cut back on in order to add in some exercise?

When my daughter was around a year old, my daily schedule typically looked like this:

• 6:00 AM: My daughter woke up between 5:30-6:00am. We got up, ate breakfast, got ready for the day
• 7:00 AM: Out the door for work and daycare
• 8:00AM to 5:00PM: At work
• 5:30 PM: I got home from work between 5:30-6:00pm (husband did daycare pick up most days and would be home a little before me). We made and ate dinner, cleaned up the kitchen and got ready for bed (bath, story, etc.).
• 7:00 PM: Put my daughter to bed. Then I would finish washing dishes, take a shower and relax.

I struggled with figuring out when in my hectic schedule I could fit in time to work out during the week.

Basically, my two options were before my daughter woke up and after she went to bed.

At the end of the day, I don’t want to work out. I don’t want to change out of my work clothes, put on gym clothes and get sweaty and out of breath. I’d much rather shower, put on my pajamas and catch up on The Bachelor or Grey’s Anatomy.

This left me with one option that worked for my schedule and my priorities, which was waking up early to get in some exercise. 

My daughter has always been an earlier riser. So that meant I would have to get up EVEN EARLIER if I wanted to have a kid-free workout.

Sometimes I managed to do this. Sometimes I ended up doing an exercise video while my daughter sat beside me watching CocoMelon videos on my iPad.

Regardless, early morning workouts were what worked best for me.

Until we had our second baby. 

Making Changes To Your Workout Routine

Keep in mind that what works for you in one season of life may not continue working for you as your family grows, your career advances, or life throws other changes your way. 

You may have to make adjustments to your schedule or routine. Sometimes over and over.

And that’s okay!

That’s normal, that’s parenthood. 

Now, with a baby who doesn’t sleep through the night, it’s a lot more difficult to wake up early to work out.

However, my work schedule has also changed. I now work longer hours four days a week in order to have Wednesdays and weekends off. So those are now the days I try to fit in some exercise.

If you think mornings might be the best time for you to fit exercise into your day but you’re not sure how to make it work, I highly recommend Crystal Paine’s Make Over Your Mornings course. This is a self-paced course you can do over 14-days and it only takes about 10-15 minutes each day! Make Over Your Mornings is designed to help busy moms figure out how to get more done and how to find time to spend on things that matter – like finding the time to exercise.

3. Figure Out Where and How You Want To Workout

Some moms might love getting out and hitting up the gym – time away from the kids where you can focus on YOU! 

Some gyms might even have daycare which can make it easier to find the time to go without having to worry about finding childcare. 

Others might hate having to spend the extra time driving to the gym. Maybe a gym membership isn’t in your budget right now. Or, you just need and/or want to be able to get in a quick workout from home. 

For those moms (like me), we have a wonderful world of exercise videos.

Try An Exercise Video at Home

There are so many (FREE) videos available online that you can try out. 

Many of them are quick and made for beginners. Many are even geared specifically toward moms.

Videos like these are also great if you want to get in a quick 10 or 15 minutes session WITH your kids. Turn on a video, invite your kids to join, or set them up with some books on the couch while you work out in the living room. 

These are some of my favorites:

Nourish Move Love – Lindsey has all different kinds of videos ranging from 10 minutes to longer sessions and targeting different parts of the body or full-body workouts. Most involve little to no equipment! 

Yoga with Kassandra – I love Yoga with Kassandra (and not just because we share a name). Her Youtube channel is fantastic and I can always find a video that fits with my mood. She has many 10 minute videos that can easily fit into your busy day. 

Maggie Brinkley – Maggie Brinkley’s 15 minutes workout videos (available free through Amazon Prime or for a small price without Prime) are THE BEST. These are how I started getting back to exercising after giving birth to my first baby. 

4. Have a Plan… Then, Have a Backup Plan

It’s important to make specific goals so that you can take actionable steps toward meeting those goals. 

Instead of just saying “I will work out more” or “I will start exercising”, you need to have an actual plan for how you are going to start. 

Making SMART Goals

As part of my job as a nurse, I help patients create self-management goals to improve their health. We work on SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound).

Here’s one example of a SMART goal for a working mom trying to find time to exercise: I will walk for 30 minutes three times a week at 7am on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

It is specific, measurable (for 30 minutes three days a week), achievable (this is based on your expectations for yourself and your schedule), relevant (it’s realistic and works for your life at this moment in time), and time-bound (this week). 

What is your SMART goal for fitting in exercise to your week? 

Having A Backup Plan

While it’s important to have a plan, I’ve realized having a specific plan doesn’t always work out when you have young children. 

Why? 

While children thrive on routines, they really don’t care about YOUR schedules. 

Things happen. 

Maybe you plan to get in 30 minutes of exercise on Tuesday after work but your baby is sent home from daycare with a fever. You have to leave work early to pick her up and then spend the afternoon taking care of her. That evening, you have to finish a project for work you didn’t get to complete due to leaving early and you never get the time to work out. 

So — you have to be flexible!

Why It’s Okay To Not Follow Your Plan 100% Of The Time

This is the important part that I really want you to know. 

Exercise is GREAT. Having a routine, getting to the gym consistently or working out 5 days a week will give you all those amazing benefits we talked about earlier. 

BUT for working moms, this is not always feasible. It’s not always an option. And that’s completely okay too. 

Don’t set yourself up to fail. 

You want to come up with a plan that works for you and your family at this particular time in your life. 

That last part is so important. 

Life is constantly changing. 

Your schedule with a baby will look so different in five years when you have a kindergartner. Or if you go from one kid to two kids. Your job might change. Your husband’s job may change. Maybe you move. Your kid has dance class on Tuesdays evenings and soccer games on Saturday mornings. 

You will constantly be adjusting your routine, rearranging your schedule, revising your plan. 

This is where the relevant/realistic portion of your SMART goal comes into play. Make sure your goals and your plan work for you at this point in your life. 

And if it starts to not work for you anymore, don’t be afraid to change things around. 

5. Keep Track of Your Progress

I like to see things written out. I find it helpful to use a printable monthly calendar and write down the days I exercise, what I do, and for how long.

You could also track your exercise days in a planner, on a wall or desk calendar, or on your phone. 

This helps give me a sense of accomplishment by seeing it all written out.  

It helps motivate me to find time to exercise so I can get to my goal of three days of exercise by the end of the week. I love checking off boxes! 

Fitness apps are also a great way to keep track of your activity. I personally like MyFitness Pal but there are a lot of other great workout apps.

6. Start Slow, Start Small 

If you are new to working out or have taken a bit of a hiatus in between birthing a child and trying to get your life together (like me), remember it’s important to take it slow. 

You don’t want to overwork yourself or jump into a workout routine that’s too crazy to keep up with. Start with a small chunk of time or a low-key exercise routine and build your way up.

Remember that physical activity doesn’t just have to be spending time at the gym or doing a 30-minute workout video.

Finding time to exercise can mean playing with your kids: swimming, hiking, sledding, running around in the backyard, or having a dance party in the kitchen. It can be taking a 10-minute walk on your lunch break. It can be climbing up and down the stairs five times before going into the office in the morning.

Physical activity is anything that gets your body moving and burns calories!

We talked before about the recommendation to get 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity each week and two days of muscle-strengthening or resistance exercise.

Here are some ways to fit both of these exercise types into your routine.

Finding Time For Aerobic Activity For Working Moms

With a moderate-intensity activity, you will be breathing hard but still be able to carry on a conversation. Or, you can think of it as being able to talk but not able to sing. 

Some examples of moderate-intensity activity are:

• Walking briskly (2.5 miles per hour or faster) 
• Jogging or running
• Bicycling 
• Vinyasa or power yoga
• Yard work
• Playing tennis

Start with what you can comfortably do or what will easily fit into your schedule. If you can only find 10 minutes a day for a quick aerobic workout, start with 10 minutes a day.

As your endurance builds and those 10 minutes of exercise become a habit for you, try to find ways to extend your exercise sessions. Go back to step 2 and see if there’s anywhere else you can make room for a longer workout in your schedule.

Finding Time For Resistance Exercises For Working Moms

Resistance or muscle-strengthening activity can be a little easier to fit in than aerobic exercise when you’re just starting out (or starting back again).

You can do resistance exercises practically anywhere and they don’t require you to follow along with a video or class.

Some examples of resistance exercises are:

• Weight lifting (Don’t have weights? Use soup cans or full water bottles)
• Planks
• Lunges
• Push Ups

A lot of working moms are able to find 5-10 minutes to fit in resistance exercises right after they wake up in the morning or even at the end of their lunch break at work.

7. Increase Activity Throughout the Day

If you’re really struggling to find time to fit in exercise, start focusing on just increasing your physical activity throughout the day. 

When I counsel patients with diabetes on the benefits of physical activity, I talk about 3 things: aerobic activity, strength-based exercises, and daily lifestyle changes. 

Daily lifestyle changes are usually the easiest change to implement but are often overlooked. Most people don’t think it can have a big impact. 

If you think that, I’m here to change your mind because it totally can! 

It can also get you in the habit of being more active which can have the effect of making it easier to start fitting structured physical activity into your schedule. 

How To Increase Physical Activity in Daily Life

Here are some ideas for increasing your activity day-to-day.

• Don’t sit for more than 30 consecutive minutes. Set a timer and get up and walk around or stand up and stretch. 

• I know it’s easier to park near the entrance of a store or take the drive thru when you have kids with you but if you’re feeling adventurous, park far away when out running errands so you have to walk a little bit longer. Further away = more steps = more physical activity. 

• Make it a habit to always take the stairs instead of the elevator (as long as you don’t have a stroller with you).

• Walk around while talking on the phone.

8. Find Your Will

There are so many reasons why physical fitness is important.

But the most important reason is the one (or ones) that matter to YOU at this point in your life.

You have to find the reason that motivates you and drives you to actually find the time to make exercising happen.

You have to figure out what’s important to you.

How can exercise help you achieve your goal?

What do you want that you don’t have? To fit into your favorite pair of jeans? To have pizza for dinner on Friday night without feeling guilty?

Find your will and you’ll find your way to fit exercise into your life, even as a working mom.

9. Give Yourself Grace

Once you make it a routine, it will get easier and easier to keep finding the time to exercise.

If you’re finding it difficult at first, that’s okay too. Take it slow if you have to.

If 10 minutes a day is all you’ve got to work with, make it matter.

Even if you just stand up, tell Alexa to play the Freeze Dance Song or the Hokey Pokey and dance around the living room for two minutes with your three-year-old.

That’s two minutes of physical activity that you can feel good about. 

Remember that ANY activity is better than NO activity.

You’ve got this, mama.

Still struggling to figure it out? Let me know, I’d love to help you brainstorm ways to find time to fit exercise into your life! 

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