The benefits of an active mom!
Most moms believe that physical activity is beneficial for their overall health - but did you know that when a mom participates in physical activity it has benefits that extend beyond her?
Who benefits?
When moms are active, it benefits the whole family. Research has found that this helps moms feel healthier and happier and makes her a better parent. Better yet, Mom enjoying exercise is linked to a more active family culture and a more connected family unit – basically, children are more likely to have fun and be active if they seem mom doing so as well!
This seems to be especially true for young girls. Girls throughout childhood and adolescence are 1.5 to 2 times more likely to play sports if their mom plays sports. They are also less likely to drop out of sport in their teens – which is a common problem at this age.
How can you set yourself up for sucess?
With all the amazing benefits physical activity and sport can have for us all – there are, of course, barriers to moms getting involved. Many people feel guilt and pressure, as well as lack of time, support, or childcare.
Reflect on TIme pressures
For those busy, stressed, and time-crunched moms reflecting evaluate your barriers and find some ways around them.
Movement, sport or whatever you choose to participate in will work best if it’s schedule and prioritized into your week. This might include fitting in exercise at work, getting up a bit earlier to fit some activity in on your own, incorporating your kids into your activity or finding a group to stay consistent with!
Being flexible with what type of exercise you engage can be helpful when things don’t go according to plan and you are able to pivot into something else (a home work out, jog, stationary bike, body weight work out).
Establishing a great exercise habit before kids not only helps with fertility, pregnancy and post-partum outcomes, but also helps establish routines before adding in kids schedules. However, there is no wrong time to start!
Ask for help
Everyone needs some support to achieve their goals. Finding dedicated time to fit in your exercise will likely involve asking for help. This may include conversations with partners, family, friends and childcare services to carve out dedicated time for you and your well-being in a week.
Many women have a hard time balancing their multiple roles and identities (athlete, worker, partner, mother) after having kids. Working moms especially experience stress from their own perceived challenges in balancing work, leisure and motherhood.
Seeking support to navigate these changing roles, identities and feelings can be beneficial for your mental and emotional well-being (in addition to feeling good about getting exercise in). Talk therapy can be a wonderful support for anyone, but especially moms who are navigating these feelings.
Build Community
Community can inherently build social support, but also foster team bonding, and keep us accountable to our work out and practices. Blending social activity alongside our exercise can help motivate us to go even when we don’t feel like it, or provide enjoyment even when the work out isn’t feeling our best.
Find your Why
Finding your own personal motivation around why you want to participate in exercise or sport can help frame it as an important value to you. Most people indicate their reasons for being supportive of their physical health, weight control, psychological well-being, achievement, enjoyment, and for social connections. But these reasons can be even more personal to you and your life (and are likely to be motivating if we can draw the connection to something you deeply care about!). Examples we have heard this be “I keep active because I want to see my children grow old” or “I want to be able to travel and climb tons of stairs in Europe when I’m retired”. Whatever your reason is the more specific and personal to you the better it will help support you!
What if I need more help?
Our naturopathic doctors can support you with your movement goals, including helping you manage other areas of your health to feel good enough to put them in. Book a 15 minute complimentary meet and greet appointment to learn about how they can support you!