Below is a share from my original blog 38 and Growing. With the close of this Olympic Games (and a flashback after a reel from my friend @mamahouli), I remembered this oldie and goodie from days gone by and thought I would share again.

Going for Gold

If you are looking for a hardcore, cross-trained workout routine, one need only look at the mother of two young children.

Aerobics

Chase after a potty training child while she runs giggling through the house with no pants on. Repeat 3-5 times daily.

Weight Lifting

Carry children who are clearly of age to walk themselves. Start with younger child and work up to school age child. Be sure to switch sides during carrying to ensure a balanced work-out. Add piggy backs, monkey hangs, and upside down swings, as desired.

Calisthenics

Lean down and pick-up laundry strewn throughout the house. Be sure that clothing is placed far enough apart to require a unique bend-down ensuring multiple bends at the waist and several steps between. Note: Toys, sippy cups, or other childhood accessories may be used in place of clothing, as appropriate. Hallways are especially effective for this exercise.

Rainbow of women doing multiple types of exercise

Cardio

(For those parenting in the multi-level home)

Run up and down the stairs. Sources of this activity can include but are not limited to the following:

running to children who are screaming incessantly due to an unending need for food, drink, or dispensation of an argument with other sibling,
discovery that any item needed regardless of its owner or home location will always be on the other floor, and/or
discovery that said item once retrieved was nonetheless left behind as one of the previous two events happened during its retrieval and thus a round trip on the stairwell is required yet again to retrieve the item.

For full cross-training effect, an obstacle course of laundry baskets, toys, and other misplaced household items is suggested. Repeat daily.

Olympics, here I come!

I once heard that an Olympic triathlete was hired to follow a two year-old for a day to test their endurance levels and he gave up after a couple of hours. And that's what we moms do everyday. Maybe we need to start our own games.

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Although I am quite a bit beyond this in years, I am not that far beyond it in reality. There is always someone calling me halfway up or down the stairs (sometimes I’ve forgotten which way I was heading) and the laundry is just bigger. I guess I am just in training for 2024!

Olympic Training, Mommy-Style