Being a stay-at-home mom is already a taxing physical activity. You’re responsible for caring for the kids and the house, so you’re constantly moving and hardly ever staying still. That’s why, for most moms, it’s hard to find time to exercise and energy – after all, carrying so much responsibility and having so much to do can be quite taxing.
Also, some moms feel guilty about taking time for themselves, as they often assume it’s taking away from the time they could spend doing something “productive.” However, making the time for self-care is vital in helping you be at your very best in all other areas of your life – as a mom, in your marriage, and with all your other responsibilities.
With that said, if you’ve already decided to start working out again and are looking for some inspiration on what exercises you can do, this article is just for you. In it, we will talk about the best exercises for stay-at-home moms – that are easy to learn, don’t require a ton of equipment, and are incredible for toning up the body and making you feel great.
5 Best Exercises for Stay-at-Home Moms
One of the essential things for busy moms is finding a convenient way to get their workout in, and that’s entirely possible whether you have a home gym setup or not. But if you happen to have some glute resistance bands or light dumbbells, it could be even better. The exercises we will look at today can be done with only your body weight and light weights or resistance bands. You can choose the variation depending on how you feel during that particular day or how much you want to challenge yourself.
Squats
The squat is an essential exercise that mainly works the lower body but also requires core strength. It’s vital to do squats if you want to get into good shape, and for the ladies, it’s typically a favorite exercise as it targets the glutes and the hamstrings. Along with that, squats are super versatile. Once you figure out the correct form, you can add weight, do them with resistance bands, or even perform the jumping variation.
Pushups
The push-up is another essential exercise, but this one focuses mainly on the upper body. More specifically, the pecks and the triceps (depending on which variation you choose to do). For beginners, doing a push-up with legs straightened out might be a challenge, so one good variation to start with is on the knees. One of the best things about push-ups is that they are quite versatile, have loads of variations, and you can target different muscles in your upper body without buying additional equipment.
Burpee
A lot of the time, we want to get the heart beating fast and the sweat going during at-home workouts. One of the quickest and easiest ways to make that happen is by doing burpees. They are challenging exercises; even a few repetitions will get you out of breath. However, it’s super effective for burning calories and a must-do for all moms who want a sweaty training session.
Glute Bridge
The glute bridge mainly targets the lower part of your body and, more precisely – the hamstrings and the glutes. This exercise has many variations – some more suitable for beginners, while others are better for intermediate and advanced lifers. You can do the glute bridge with the feet elevated on the couch or a ball to target the glutes better. You can also use a dumbbell as additional weight or a resistance band to increase the difficulty of the movement.
Leg Lifts
Basically, all the exercises we discussed require you to have some power in your core and passively train it. However, your body’s abs and overall midsection are crucial for building strength correctly and without causing muscle imbalances. That’s why having at least one exercise isolates the abs and is focused on training them is vital. This one can be challenging for beginners, so that you can do variations with the knees bent until you build enough strength.
Example Workout
All of these exercises can easily be combined into one workout. You can do them in this order and for this many reps and do it as a circuit training session (meaning you repeat all the exercises for a few rounds).
- 10 Burpees
- 20 Leg Lifts
- 15 Squats
- 10 Push-ups
- 20 Glute bridges
All those exercises are one circuit; you must repeat them thrice for a good workout in under 30 minutes.
Exercises for Stay-at-Home Moms: Before You Go
Before you head off to your daily tasks, we’d like to ask what you consider the best exercises for stay-at-home moms and how you would design an example workout. Let us know in the comments.