Years before my kids were born, an older colleague with two kids once remarked, "Exercise is a dream now". As someone who's pretty committed to exercise, I found that comment somewhat depressing and remembered it ever since.
I am happy to report that I have maintained a daily exercise habit with one kid, and am now committed to doing so with two children. It definitely requires creativity and multitasking, though, as well as a willingness to break up workouts into chunks. Even if gyms and workout classes were and option now, a 90-minute or longer excursion would indeed be challenging with two little ones.
Baby Y is almost 6 weeks and I didn't feel ready to work out till about a week ago (much faster recovery than after the first childbirth, though), so I've been doing the following:
- On weekends, I jog with M in the Bob stroller most days. Thankfully she is willing to sit in the stroller for about 20 minutes, which is the typical duration of my jogs.
- Fit in strength training where possible. For example, yesterday I did this YouTube workout from my favorite YouTube fitness instructor. Actually, she's the only one I've tried, but I discovered her while pregnant and just love her.
- Yesterday M and I went to the park as part of our jogging outing, and I did some sets of squats, bench push-ups, leg lifts and tricep dips
- I also try to do lots of walking, including with Y in the carrier, which is also exercise, even if I don't get sweaty
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| From the park where I did strength stuff while M played with sticks, dried leaves and dirt |
We'll see how all this goes once my husband and I are both back at work, though I will say that working from home due to COVID will help fit in workouts. But for now, I can say that continuing to exercise, even in small quantities, when you have small children is not only possible, but essential - I will give up many other things before I give up my 20-30 minutes per day to stay active.
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