Training for the Olympics, Mommy Style
These were crazy days when seeing the light at the end of the tunnel seemed a pipe dream, and the phrase "Choose Yourself" would have made me laugh out loud. Now, as I sit on the other side, I know these are the times when finding even a solid minute for oneself is essential.
This post was originally published here.
If you are looking for a hardcore, cross-trained workout routine, one need only look at the mother of two young children.
Hardcore Training from a Toddler
Aerobics
Chase after a potty training child while she runs giggling through the house with no pants on. Repeat 3-5 times daily.
Weight lifting
Carry children who are clearly of an age to walk themselves. Start with the younger child and work up to the school-age child. Be sure to switch sides during carrying to ensure a balanced work-out. Add piggy backs, monkey hangs, and upside down swings, as desired.
Calisthenics
Lean down and pick up the laundry strewn throughout the house. Be sure that clothing is placed far enough apart to require a unique bend-down, ensuring multiple bends at the waist and several steps between. Note: Toys, sippy cups, or other childhood accessories may be used in place of clothing, as appropriate. Hallways are especially effective for this exercise.
Cardio
(For those parenting in the multi-level home) Run up and down the stairs. Sources of this activity can include but are not limited to the following: 1) running to children who are screaming incessantly due to an unending need for food, drink, or dispensation of an argument with other sibling, 2) discovery that any item needed regardless of its owner or home location will always be on the other floor, and/or 3) discovery that said item once retrieved was nonetheless left behind as one of the previous two events happened during its retrieval and thus a round trip on the stairwell is required yet again to retrieve the item.
For a full cross-training effect, an obstacle course of laundry baskets, toys, and other misplaced household items is suggested. Repeat daily.
Olympics, here I come!
(I once heard that an Olympic triathlete was hired to follow a two-year-old for a day to test their endurance levels, and he gave up after a couple of hours. And that's what we moms do every day. Maybe we need to start our own games.)
