Happy New Year!

A new year brings with it a whole host of new year’s resolutions. Maybe you’ve decided to start doing some exercise but aren’t sure what to do? Not sure how to juggle parenthood, jobs and life in general as well as exercise? Fear not! Here are 5 free activities that you can do any time of the day.

1. Walking

This may seem obvious, but walking really is a great form of exercise. It can be especially useful for new mums as a way to get you exercising again without being too strenuous. Start slowly with a 15-20 minute walk each day and over time you can build this up to an hour or more. You can also start slowly (especially if you’ve recently given birth) and build up the pace over time.

The good thing about this is that you can take your baby along! Pushing a pram whilst walking or walking whilst your little one is in the baby carrier can help you lose some of your pregnancy weight. After I had my son, I walked every day into the city centre and home again. It was only a 15 minute walk each way, but it helped me to start to get back in shape, was purposeful and easy to fit into my day. For parents of toddlers, you can take them out in the stroller or go for a walk with your little one (although pace might be somewhat slower!)

2. Dancing

I don’t mean joining a class or learning how to do professional ballroom dancing. I’m talking about good old dancing around in your living room.

Get together a playlist of your favourite songs to dance around to and put it on at home for a few minutes each day. It doesn’t matter if you only dance to one or two songs to begin with between feeds for instance. Maybe squeeze in a bit of dancing whilst you do the housework. If you have time for a full half an hour of dancing, even better!

Put the music on and have a full on, dance out. Whatever moves you have, whatever moves you want. No-one’s looking, no-one cares. Just dance around and enjoy yourself. You can fit a quick dance session in whilst your little one has a nap – pop in some headphones so you don’t wake them up!

Or get your kids involved! Dance around holding your baby (make sure their heads are still supported and upright) or get your toddler to join you on your private dance floor. If nothing else, at least you can just let loose and have some fun!

3. Yoga

Yoga is a great form of exercise and there are tons of videos online to help you to do this safely at home. As with any exercise, make sure you are fit and healthy before starting and check with a doctor before doing any exercises you are unsure of.

You can, of course, join a class. But if you can’t attend a class or just don’t want to, why not try doing some yoga at home? I used to do yoga before my pregnancy, so it was a very natural exercise to return to. Personally, I have found the stretching to be really beneficial. It helped to regain my flexibility and to work on muscles that I was using far more once I had a newborn. I also found it helped with back pain and is particularly beneficial to breastfeeding mothers.

I would recommend Yoga with Adriene as a good starting point. She has several different types of playlists available, depending on what you want to work on, as well as being varied by ability. It doesn’t need to be a long session. Try to squeeze in a 20 to30-minute session two or three times a week, maybe first thing in the morning or during a nap time.

Again, you can get your child involved. There are also some videos for yoga with baby, such as PsycheTruth or Yoginimelbourne. For older children, Cosmic Kids Yoga is a fun way to introduce children to yoga and is a firm favourite amongst pre-schoolers.

4. Running

This will not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it is great exercise and baby-friendly. Pop your little one in their pram or stroller and go for a gentle jog or run. You can go to the park and do a couple of laps or even just a quick run around your neighbourhood.

Set your own pace and don’t feel you have to go very far or run for very long. When I first started running, I followed a programme that started with 2 minutes of running, followed by 2 minutes of walking. You can adjust this over time until you find a good running regime to suit you.

A word of caution here: wait until you have fully recovered before resuming high-impact activities. Wait until you have had your 6-8-week postnatal appointment and check with a GP before starting running. Don’t be alarmed if your pelvic floor and bladder find this a bit tricky to begin with!

5. Exercise Videos at Home

The Internet and YouTube in particular, have a whole wealth of exercise videos just waiting to be watched. The trick is to actually join in and not just sit on the sofa watching other people exercise!

If you’re looking for some simple exercises that you can do with your baby, then BodyFit by Amy and Nancy Taylor have some good videos to begin with.  The NHS website also has plenty of advice on exercises to do at home, including some workout videos. Spend some time looking for an exercise style and length that suits you and that you will enjoy doing.

Finally…

It’s important to look after ourselves, but finding the time and motivation can be really hard. My advice is not to try to do too much. Pick one thing to do and try to find a regular time to do it. Find a length of time that is manageable for you; if it’s only 10 minutes per day then that’s what you aim for. This way you’ll be more likely to stick to it.

Don’t forget to mix it up! Maybe you’re running a couple of times per week. There’s no reason not to throw in a bit of dancing or a quick walk to the shops. Whatever exercise you do, remember to throw in some pelvic floor exercises when you can too.

What form of exercise are you aiming to try this year? Share your thoughts in the comments!