Does this sound familiar?

• I don't have time to workout for an hour so there's no point.

• My kids won't leave me alone when I try to workout.

• I can't workout when my kids are awake.

• My kids wake up early so I can't workout first thing in the morning.

• I'm too tired to workout at the end of the day after my kids are in bed.

• I can't find or afford childcare so that I can go to the gym.

I get it. A lot of these phrases have circulated in my mind as well as I navigated returning to exercise after I had my first baby. It was a steep learning curve filled with many workouts cut short and often filled with tears (from both them and me) as I tried various scenarios to keep exercise as a main priority in my life for both my physical and mental health.

I have now been working out with my kids

around me for almost 4 years.

I have now been working out with my kids around me for almost 4 years. When you have young children your priorities often get shifted. The focus tends to go to them and their needs/wants or demands and yours fall into the background. And yes, their needs are important. But SO ARE YOURS! Your health matters. YOU matter.

And by showing them that your needs are important by prioritizing yourself, they in turn are learning that it's ok to prioritize themselves as well as they get older.

So here are the things I have learned that I hope will help you prioritize your health:

1. Accept that it won’t be perfect.

Small humans need a lot of attention so anticipate that you will be interrupted multiple times to help with a toy, open a snack, go to the bathroom or answer annoying questions about what you're doing. I have significantly lowered my expectations of how my workouts go - I know that I'll probably miss reps, have to pause my video or have to take longer rest intervals. This was hard for me to accept early on because I was used to VERY performance specific workouts given to me by my triathlon coach at the time, where the time intervals and intensity mattered a lot. But when I began to shift my mentality to exercising for the purpose of moving my body and restoring my strength postpartum, I was able to lower my expectations of performance (because I wasn't training for a race) and I began to enjoy my workouts a lot more.

I have significantly lowered my expectations

of how my workouts go.

2. Snacks. ALL THE SNACKS.

With my toddler(s) I usually prep a “special snack bowl” full of some of favourite snacks like Veggie Straws, animal cookies, Goldfish crackers, cereal bars, raisins and have an apple sauce pouch on hand. I tend to stick with dry snacks that are easy to clean up if they get dumped. When they're younger I like using snack cups with the soft lids that allow small hands to reach inside for snacks but prevent the entire contents from ending up on the floor. AND if they can only get one piece out at a time, they tend to entertain them longer so its a win-win!

3. Get them involved.

I make a big deal about going to the basement to exercise in our house. My oldest son (who is now almost 4) has a few outfits we’ve deemed “exercise clothes” that he gets changed into along with his “exercise shoes”! I hear from mommas ALL THE TIME that their toddlers just steal the yoga mat or light weights so it can be worthwhile to put out an extra mat and some "weights" that they can lift so they have their own special space to mimic the movement beside you. Or use them as your weights! For example, if you're doing a squats or lunges, rather than holding 10-15lb dumbbells, hold your 20-30lb toddler! Or if you're doing a plank or push up type exercise let them crawl under you and make it a game. Or if you're doing glute bridges prop them up on your hips. Trust me - they love being involved for a few exercises, especially when you make it silly. And then eventually they'll get bored and move onto something else.

4. Toys or activity centres.

Let them pick some of they’re favourite toys to bring to your workout area. Or have a special box of toys that they only get to play with when it’s workout time. Ideal toys are ones you don’t have to help them with or ones that spark imagination like cars, dolls, stuffed animals, wood train tracks, paint with water books, kinetic sand and mega blocks/LEGO. Think about the toys that they always gravitate towards or things that aren't even toys at all - for non-toys I've used a keyboard from a computer, plastic containers and lids that can be stacked within each other, an empty metal waste basket that they collect "things" or "treasure" in...literally just random things in my unfinished basement. Younger toddlers, or toddlers not yet walking can also be entertained in a "circle of neglect" activity centre - this worked wonders for me as my youngest didn't start fully walking until 18 months old.

Ideal toys are ones you don’t have to help them with or ones that spark imagination.

5. Expect that it will take longer than you planned for.

There’s often a lot of pauses in my workouts, especially when toddlers are in diapers or potty training. I have paused many workouts to handle poop explosions or emergency trips to the potty. Or they might want to just be picked up, given a little attention and then put back down to be distracted by a new activity. If you have more than one toddler aged child there also might be moments that you'll have to diffuse a fight over toys, snacks or space. This is why I aim to keep my workouts short and effective when my kids are with me - somewhere around 30min with exercises that work more than one muscle group per exercise and bursts of cardio in-between. And if you're not sure where to start when trying to figure out what workouts will give you the most bang for your buck, send me an email or DM on Instagram and I'd be more than happy to help a momma out!

6. Strategic screen time.

Yup I said it. seriously sometimes you just need 5-10min to finish a 30-40min workout and that’s usually the time when little people start getting bored with the above options. I’ll plan ahead knowing that and avoid screen time earlier or later in the day depending on what time I fit in a workout. If its first thing in the morning and my kids are awake before I can even start my workout I put on a 20-30min show while they have some milk and a snack. Or I let my older son play an educational game on the iPad. And sometimes I just don't want to try to entertain them with anything else and screen time is my go-to because I will more than likely not get interrupted and I'll be finished much more quickly.

There will be a learning curve that both you and your children will go through if this is something new for you and them.

There will be a learning curve that both you and your children will go through if this is something new for you and them. They might be used to having your undivided attention so the second you start doing something that doesn't involve them, they're going to be all up in your face wanting things from you. They will have to learn that this is "mommy's workout time" and you'll need to learn to be firm about your own boundaries during this time.

Also notice that I did not suggest working out during nap time - these are tips on how to include your children in your workout and have them adapt to your schedule, rather than you adapting to their schedule. There's absolutely nothing wrong with working out during nap time (I have used this strategy for many workouts) but it doesn't always work when you have children with different nap schedules or one of your children no longer naps. AND by working out when your kids are awake, this leaves you with the opportunity to do something else during nap time that's difficult to do with small humans around!

So tell me, which one of these tips are you going to try to incorporate into your workout with your kids around?