Minimum effort, maximum impact — daily exercises for busy moms

No time, no power, no people around. At least do your workout!

What are the main reasons moms all over the world struggle to feel better, to look better, to accomplish everything they plan to and to do it in a reasonable time? We have a lack of time. We create huge to-do lists and keep them in our heads, we feel exhausted most of the time and can do nothing about it as we live in a constantly changing environment.

Does this sound familiar? You’re not alone, trust me.

But the same magic that works when you do a whole week’s food-prep, or a thorough clean-up (have you tried both?), works for exercising too.

Not having it at all

I found that in the ever-changing conditions I have with my little one, I simply can’t stick to any of the work-out routines I used to enjoy. No yoga, no fitness, no running (oh, I wish I could go for a run in the mornings…) and no gym. In the morning I can’t gather myself together for a proper work-out, and in the evening I’m too tired for it. During the day I simply forget to do any exercises.

Paid apps worked for me a while ago (hmmm, it was a while before the kid). Asana Rebel for fitness-yoga work-outs is my favorite — it’s like traditional yoga, but more focused on strength building, with a lot of repetitions and using your own body-weight).

The more I tried to get to it, the more days I skipped, so I finally turned it off (for now).

Lazy exercises

Well, not that lazy, but really comfortable ones. I found that I can do a 5-minute work-out every day. It’s simple. I do it in the evenings mostly, when my child is sleeping and I have some personal time (yeah, those 15 minutes between clean-up, sorting out the mess, my real work tasks, and many other things).

The problem is that in 5 minutes it’s hard to include whole-body exercises. And the tempo of such a routine is going to be exhausting.

Let the challenge begin

I recently found this article (Eight most effective body-weight exercises for butt. Showing on gif) on a runners society website. I felt like this is what I was looking for! This is my way of doing anything!

I made an agreement with myself. I am going to do my 5 min exercises a day for a month. Then I will change exercises — or the agreement if it didn’t work. To make all this more official I posted results from week one on Instagram. I was asking for someone to join me, but no-one did. That’s okay, this is my goal — some company would be a bonus though.

I’m on week four now! And this actually works! Here’s why:
- 5 min a day is achievable
- the exercises are simple
- I can skip a day or two during the week — no pressure
- I have a day off on Sundays
- I know when this challenge will end

All the points mentioned above gives me freedom and opportunity at the same time. I’m not obliged to do more, but very happy by doing less!

This trick is not for everyone

I believe that beauty is not in a waist measurement, and if you are comfortable with the way you look that’s awesome! It’s not about me though. I like to feel tired after exercises, to know which of my muscles worked, to see my body improve after a while. But again — this is my choice.

You can also be one of those wonder-women who have time for a daily routine and who are able to repeat the same work-out over and over again. Unfortunately, that’s not me either.

For other stay-at-home moms, I highly recommend trying this trick and to set a one-month-challenge. Just to see what happens.