Staying Fit and Active at Home.

As a mother of two, I know how hard it can be to get to a gym, especially when your children are quite young. Whilst many gyms now offer excellent child care facilities these are often accompanied with extra costs, and these fees can begin to add up, especially if you have more than one child.

Just because you are finding it difficult to get to a gym doesn’t mean you need to give up on your health and fitness goals. In the final 2 months leading up to my first World championship I only managed to get to the gym on two occasions. With two children under 3, a full time job, two part time jobs and a partner at Sea I had no option but to work out at home.

I used daily chores as exercise, lunging with the washing, mowing the lawn, even strapping cloth nappies to my feet as a way of mopping the floors. On top of this I utilized the local playground to perform chin ups, step ups and push ups.

The quickest and easiest way to get started is by turning chores into exercise. They have to be performed any way so why not make them part of your fitness routine? Think of turning up the music and really getting into the vacuuming and mopping. Add squats to simple tasks like hanging the washing out, not only will using large muscle groups for these chores burn off excess calories, It will also help to add tone.

Once you are ready for the next level, consider short interval body weight exercises such as Tabata circuits. Setting aside 20 or 30 minutes four times a week can be of great benefit to your overall health and fitness.

If you find that your motivation dwindles when you are exercising at home consider involving a friend or neighbor. Often just having someone to be accountable to can be the difference between a great workout and sitting on the couch.