The fitness landscape for working mums is changing…for the better!

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Staying fit and healthy whilst running a family and a career was never going to be easy, but thanks to a new generation of exercise professionals accepting and responding to the pressures placed upon the working mum, maintaining a healthy work life balance is now within reach.

The idea first occurred to me chatting to a friend over coffee. ‘The thing is Bayley, I have two young kids. The morning routine is a mad dash of breakfast, wash, get dressed and out the house by 7:45am. I have an hour’s journey home in the evening, so if I’m lucky I can be in the house by 6pm for the bathing and bedtime routine, then a precious hour with the kids before they go down at 7pm. After washing up, laundry, tidying the toy littered floor, the thought of dragging myself out to the gym just doesn’t appeal and I beg any other full time working mum to say otherwise!’

‘Well have you thought about approaching a personal trainer at the gym? They will work within your routine.’ I replied.

‘That’s not the point. If I think about the journey it’s still a valuable 90 minutes plus out of my day and what am I supposed to do with the kids!?’ she said in exasperation, promptly dumping another spoonful of sugar in her coffee as if the mere contemplation of this matter alone was enough to send her energy levels into deficit.

Hmmm, sound familiar?

A number of the larger gyms are attempting to respond to this scenario by offering crèche facilities and daytime classes, but this assumes in general that mums don’t work between 9 and 5, so still doesn’t fully address the problem.

You could try squeezing in a workout during your lunch break, but in all honesty how productive are our exercise sessions during peak times, when you have to wait for equipment or fight for floor space and attention during oversubscribed classes? More often than not the end result is 30 boring minutes on the cross trainer, the words ‘at least I’m doing something’ echoing round your head. And in this situation you can forget healthy eating, as grabbing something quick and sugary in an attempt to boost energy is the rule of the day, rendering any efforts made during your actual work out completely useless.

Shouldn’t working out fit into your schedule rather than you having to fit your work and family life into your gym’s timetable?
Bayleys-exercising-a-mum-at-home

So then it dawned on me. What if mums could work out whilst their kids were snug in bed or safely playing in the room next door? And that’s when I decided to turn my attention to being a home PT.

Plus, working out at home doesn’t have to mean an inferior workout. It is widely recognised now that moderate cardio exercise doesn’t generally get us the results we want, with a combination of cardio and resistance training being the better choice for improved strength, body composition, posture and mobility – the components that allow us to look and feel at our best now and in the future.

So utilising techniques of suspension training, resistance cables and body weight exercises, I take the gym to my clients, allowing them to fit in a varied programme of exercise when it suits. In this environment it becomes a moment of ‘me time’ rather than a rushed chore where you have to find childcare and everything else in between.

Looking at my client base today I note that over 90% of my clients are working mums and that’s no accident. They are probably the busiest people in our community with the tightest timetable, but often neglect their own wellbeing for the sake of keeping their family running.

About the Author:
Bayleys-Garden

Bayley is at the forefront of trying to bring back the ‘personal’ in personal training, allowing women to access exercise and nutritional guidance when and where they need it. Her approach is dedicated and specific to the needs of women, with a strong emphasis placed on building trust and rapport to help clients develop and overcome previous barriers to success.

If you would like to know more about training at home and how easy it can be click here.

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